The American bar takes on many forms and fashions, but in the last decade there has been an increase in a trend that ties many of them together. During the slow nights of the week, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, bars have been introducing the theme of Karaoke to draw a crowd and increase their earnings for the week. The space of these bars is inevitably transformed when the Karaoke machine in wheeled in. There is a new mood evoked, a new crowd drawn, in fact, there is a whole new space born, a themed space with an added value recognized by the throngs of people who join the festivities.(1)
On Tuesdays night in Poughkeepsie’s Dutch Cabin Bar
and Restaurant there is singing and merriment shared between
young adults, slightly older adults, and a few real adults,
where a night before there was only a few drunk friends
clustered by the bar. Strangers interact in this space in a
whole new way because they are openly allowing each other to
take part in their entertainment and their life. You find
yourself clapping along with a room of people to a
previously disregarded pop song that this throaty red head
has given you new respect for, or stomping your feet to a
country song, impressed at the courage and authentic whine
in the voice of some brawny blond. Strangers are brought
together and comfortable with each others company at the
Dutch’s Karaoke Nights in a way foreign even in the
friendliest bars. This isn’t about “everybody
knowing your name” like in the notorious sitcom bar
Cheers, or a place to share your sob stories with a willing
bar tender with a ready bottle. The Karaoke theme creates a
bar that satisfies a human desire on a different levels and
taps into different needs. This is a place that means
something slightly different for everyone who walks in. The
reasons why people like to sing in front of a room of
friends and strangers varies. For some, Karaoke is about the
thrill of putting themselves in an awkward situation. For
others, it is a chance to experience a taste of the
unrealized sensation of fame and recognition. Still others
are pulled into the Karaoke scene because it is a
sensationalized event that they feel they ought to try, and
then they keep on coming back for more. Regardless of what
Karaoke symbolizes to the singers, most people will partake
in at least a few drinks before braving the mike. This old
remedy to creates the needed “Dutch Courage” to
get people out of their seats and participating in the night’s
festivities, and gets the money flowing, which the bar owner
depends on.
What is it about Karaoke that transforms a typical slow
weeknight at the Dutch Cabin into the crowded, noisy, fun
house typical of its Karaoke nights? There is something that
this phenomenon has tapped into that is bringing people out
to drink and party on a night that used to be time set aside
for board games and sleep. The popularity of this theme is
not isolated to Poughkeepsie. Rather, Karaoke has reached
Poughkeepsie from its original site in a bar in the city of
Kansai, Japan. In Kansai it appeared and gained popularity,
and has since spread to far reaching night scenes throughout
Asian, Europe, and the Americas.
In its inception in Japan it was most popular among the
businessmen as a form of entertainment after work.(2) In the
Dutch, there is one diehard Karaoke performer who fits this
mold. Luther, an IBM employee and Karaoke performer in his
fifties, can be found at least five nights a week singing
into “the box.” But Luther’s behavior is a
divergence from the norm on many accounts. Most people at
the Karaoke night in the Dutch claim to go to one Karaoke
night a week or less. The crowd is also largely made up
people in their early twenties to early thirties.
One thing that Luther does share with many of the people at
Karaoke Night is that most are there to sing and would not
consider coming to the bar that night if the Karaoke machine
was not up and running.(3) Interviews with those in
attendance showed these points. The phenomenon of Karaoke
madness was further exemplified the following evening at a
local bar, Las Falces. On Wednesdays Las Falces is usually
bustling with an assortment of Vassar College students and
other local Karaoke fans. On one particular night the
machine broke down, and the evening went by with out the
number of people in the room surpassing eight at a single
time. Drinking just is not the same for Karaoke goers if you
are not allowed to sing. Some value seems to be lost when
the Karaoke machine is gone.(4) People are no longer willing
to stay and buy the multiple pitchers of beers and cocktails
that they surely would have had the Karaoke machine not been
on the blitz. This did not surprise the operator of the bar,
and he was sure that the following week when the Karaoke
machine returned, so would the crowd.
One of the most pressing questions that arose in my mind as
I became acclimated to the Karaoke scene was: Where are all
the people who come here on the weekends? It seems that a
large number of people who the owner assures me frequent the
bar regularly on the weekends, are adamantly lacking in
attendance on these particular nights. It seems that the
crowd that is being targeted for Karaoke Nights is
distinctly different than the crowd that the owners of the
bars expect to pull on the weekends. For many of the people
who come on the weekends, going to a bar would not be an
option even if they really enjoyed Karaoke singing. This
them space is not attracting working parents, nor is it
attracting those people below drinking age (or so the bars
would like to think), or the middle to older aged
generations. These people are not necessarily put out of the
space, but the logistics for most people outside of this
targeted population are complicated and likely to dissuade
the average potential user.
There are certainly other people who are more actively
dissuaded from using this theme space. While the room has
the air of a public space once you are in it, from the
outside of any private institution it is very obvious to
people who are traditionally not welcome that they will be
excluded. The presence of a bouncer at the door serves a
definite dual duty. This person has the primary job of
making sure that the people entering the bar have
identification that at least indicates they are of an
appropriate age to be consuming alcoholic beverages. But
this person is also responsible for “bouncing”
any other undesirable people from the premises. This
generally means people who are homeless or seemingly
emotionally unstable. One particular example that I observed
was a man being asked to leave the premises when he revealed
that he had with him roses to sell to the customers. This
has particular significance considering that these Karaoke
nights are probably one of the few places in Poughkeepsie on
a cold winter night where groups of willing consumers are
gathered in any density. This particular mans removal from
the bar most likely meant for him a much less productive
night economically than he would have had if he had been
allowed to remain within the bar.
This analysis reveals that the owners of the bars have a
very particular population targeted when they plan Karaoke
Nights. Some of this targeting is done intentionally, but
other targeting is a result of inadvertently dissuading
other types of users.
1. Chuihua Judy Chung et al (eds.), The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping p. 165
2. http://www.karaokescene.com/history/
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3. Fieldnotes, Sarah Macdonald
4. Chuihua Judy Chung et al (eds.), The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping p. 166
