Scenes from Last Night’s "Spaghettioke"

Every couple of weeks, Carson T. Foster, host and creator of Kick Ass Karaoke, hosts a karaoke night at The Social, one of the spots that’s making West Queen West an increasingly popular destination. Not only do you get karaoke; you also get spaghetti (meat or veggie) at $2 a bowl and there’s always a chance that Rachel McAdams, who hangs out in the area, will drop by. Wendy and I dropped in early, which gave us a chance to hang out and chat with Carson, which is always interesting and always a pleasure.

I like the crowd at the Social, and Carson’s karaoke night there has an interesting feel to it that I think has been missing from the Sunday karaoke nights — it feels like his nights at the original venue, the Bovine Sex Club, circa 1999 when they were still new. Maybe it’s the crowd (a rather indie rock hipsterish bunch), perhaps it’s the Social’s nice open space; it might even be just having a new crowd to surprise with the accordion. I can’t put my finger on it, but I really like the vibe.

The other thing I like is the projector, which allows the lyrics to appear in large type behind the performer. With my flash turned off and the exposure turned up high, I was able to get some pretty nice arty shots: