[FIPS Was There...] Karaoke Night at Old Carriage Inn

Image via yelp.com

Old Carriage Inn is one of the last strongholds of the old Park Slope. It's a working class neighborhood's bar dropped dead center in an organic hellscape lousy with strollers. They take cards, they don't make cocktails and no you shouldn't bring your kids there.  The regular customers are pulled right out of the 70's and it's a quiet place. Except for the two nights a week they have karaoke.

It's strange thing having karaoke at a place like this. It works though. The regulars stay and hang out. The kids come and everybody mixes together. A lot of similar situations would play out like it's hipster kids visiting the zoo. They'd point incredulously at that old man's bulbous nose. Or scream about how cheap the beer is. They wouldn't be wrong about either thing but it's weird. I've personally been falsely accused of doing that at the now shuttered Jackie's 5^th Amendment. A repugnant shithole of a dump that I loved and wanted to stay at forever until they kind of threw me out. I would have loved you forever if you let me, Jackie's. How many times in life do you have to express that sentiment before taking some time to seriously examine your choices? Over 20 right? Yeah, that's what I thought. I'm fine.

So I went to the karaoke night at Old Carriage Inn this Saturday. It's got an interesting client mix for karaoke. People are mingling and super friendly. It's great. I met a beautiful single woman at the door. She sang the first song. Well, half the first song. Then she just started dropping f-bombs. It was like a Rage Against The Machine concert. I found out later she thinks her dad is hot. Then I watched her make out with her fun gay friend, who kind of looks likes the hot dad. I think I love her. Her friends were great too. We might go to trivia together soon.

My friend sang. He forgot the words, which was strange because they are on the monitor. So I guess he just forgot how to read. They don't pull you off stage, though, at this karaoke and that's one of the things I like. Yes, let the hot girls just start screaming the f-bomb. Let the drunk guy mumble and sway back and forth to the beat. (He stopped talking -- is he going to puke? Everybody get back!) And like any other karaoke night in this great city, occasionally you'll see somebody with some real chops get up there and belt it out. Or even just somebody tackling "You Can Call Me Al" with fearless enthusiasm. It's all a performance and you can have a front row seat. I don't sing but I fucking love karaoke night. And Old Carriage Inn has a good one.