Hot Since 91 90s Karaoke, 29th October

If you didn’t know, I’m a bit of a fan of karaoke, and I especially enjoy a themed karaoke night. But the universe seems to be somewhat stacked against me when it comes to enjoying such things – the last time I had planned on going to Gospeloke I was struck down with a throat infection and so it was when 90s karaoke was on the agenda. At least this time I managed to make it, even if singing was off the cards for me.

It was a cracking night – held at The Macbeth every third Thursday of the month, they take over the whole building and put on a total 90s party. Downstairs is where the karaoke action happens, kicking off at around 9:30 but there’s plenty to do beforehand with facepainting on offer, 90s games (like Connect Four and Operation) and videogames (I think maybe a SNES) on the second floor, and free cotton candy being given away. They also brought out free fried chicken at one point too but getting your mitts on that was near impossible.

The music policy is definitely more old school 90s RnB than just 90s but the song selection for singing runs the gamut of pop to indie to RnB. We had someone doing Gangsta's Paradise and a group drunkenly doing Aqua's Barbie Girl! Quality from those performing was variable but that's half the fun. Everyone sang along anyway, and there was a lot of grooving in between people doing their songs. I just loved the host and the DJ in charge seemed to be having a whale of a time too. They had 'bonus rounds' of Guessing the intro which invoked a bit of carnage as people leapt to grab the mic as soon as they recognised the song - then you won a shit prize and had the opportunity to sing the intro. Definitely on my list as one to return to.

Places to throw a party!

Every now and then I do some serious research for particular nights - before New Year's Eve I will investigate everywhere I can think of for the night out, and list their features so I can decide which best fits my bill. Most recently I've done it for my birthday. What with running a meetup, I've acquired a fair few friends over the last couple of years and I thought I'd have enough people to hire a private room rather than just booking an area. So I started finding places I liked and I thought I'd share it with you:

Bohemia, Hackney

This is where I ended up choosing. They have a small cafe in the day that you can have completely for yourself for a minimum spend of 550. They can fit up to 60 with tables, up to 100 probably without and you can have full use of their PA system, mics, bring in a DJ and even decorate a bit if you like! I'm not bothering - I think the inside is nice enough as it is. You need to put down a 100 pound deposit in advance.

Dead Dolls House/Dead Dolls Club
The newish Dead Dolls Club at The Arch has a private area that overlooks the rest of the bar so you'd be subject to the same music everyone else is listening to. The Dead Dolls House has various areas you can have completely to yourself, depending on whether you just want drinks or a sit-down meal as well.

Callooh Callay
I love this place, with its quirky decor and cocktails. They have a couple of places you can hire out - through the wardrobe or the upstairs bar. The Upstairs holds 30 people and there's a minimum spend of 1500 pounds though that can be spent on food, drink and the service charge (and the cocktails aren't cheap so you'll probably get through it quicker than you think!). You have to put down a 30% deposit.

The Looking Glass
Another cocktail bar, and this one doesn't even have a minimum spend! Nor a hire charge. All they ask is for a deposit in case of cancellation, and you can get a part of, or even the whole area through the Looking glass depending on how many of you there are.

Mr Buckley's
They have a basement bar that you can again, have either part of, or the whole thing if there are enough of you. There's a minimum spend if you want the whole thing, otherwise there isn't but other people are free to wander down. Didn't get as far as finding out what the minimum spend was.

House of Wolf
I was *this* close to picking House of Wolf because it's such a cool, weird, splendiferous venue. THey have several rooms available - I had my eye on The Apothecary Bar (which also has the secret room) which would have been a 200 pound deposit and 1000 minimum spend before midnight. You would also be able to have your own music playing but after midnight they open it up to everyone and it would play the same music as the rest of the venue. Can take up to 40 people.

Paradise Inn
This can be hired privately but I didn't get as far as to ask for how much or really any other details as I'd pretty much decided on Bohemia by this point.

Tipsy Bar 
See above

The Macbeth
The Macbeth has an upstairs which is available to hire. It can take up to 60 people standing, there's a £1000 minimum spend and it requires a £100 deposit. 

The Star of Bethnal Green
This place has an upstairs that can be hired for £150 though you require at least 40 people to be able to hire it privately. There is then only a £750 minimum spend - not bad! 

The Red Lion, Hoxton
I didn't even think this place would do private hire but I found it on Barchick's list of private hire places. I was tempted by this one because it's a pretty cool, shabby old pub, laid back. You can hire one of the upstairs rooms and get access to its roof terrace. It can take up to 70 people and there's a minimum spend but I didn't end up enquiring about it because, it is such a basic pub - the wine is cheap and the beers aren't extensive. 

Other places to note: Shaker & Co, Pub on the Park, Far Rockaway...

Where have you hired and was it any good? Let me know!

So Tough So Cute!, 20th December

So Tough, So Cute play indiepop and pop punk but with a focus especially on girl groups and female music. They were playing their LAST EVER night in London just before Christmas so of course I had to make a special effort to go. It won't be their last ever event - but all the others will probably be happening in Sweden and that's a little bit further than I'm willing to travel.

It took place in the Macbeth, a pub I hadn't been to before, but which I really liked. It's quite out of the way, so not really the kind of place that gets passing traffic. Which might explain why, at 11 pm, it was practically empty. Or, it could possibly have been that the annual Christmas migration had started. Either way, when we got there we weren't entirely sure whether the night had actually started or not.

I thought it probably had though, judging by the music being played, and as more people turned up and some started making tentative steps on the dance floor, we finally started to feel like we were in the clubnight I was expecting it to be, rather than just a nice pub that had good music. 

And the music was good. They played quite a few Smiths songs, a bit of The Cure but there was also a definite favouring of girl bands and artists that you don't get so much on other nights. The Runways were played. No Doubt's 'Just a girl' followed Sleeper followed Elastica. It was nice to hear some female-centric music as there's some really good stuff out there. And then they played Trouble by Shampoo. I did say 'some' really good stuff. By 2 am when the night was over, we'd all been dancing for a good couple of hours and weren't ready for the night to end. It would have been great if they'd had extended opening hours considering it took so long for the night to get going.

Despite having a really good time there and liking the music, there are other nights around to fill the void So Tough So Cute will leave (like Blow Up or Great Big Kiss) so even though it is a shame to lose a good night playing good music, I'm sure London will survive. Malmo probably needs them more than we do. Farewell and good luck So tough!