Though karaoke bars have a short history in Ukraine, the interest for this kind of entertainment has been growing for a long time already.
I am not keen on such fun myself, but some of my friends are real adherents of karaoke. Thanks to them, karaoke has become an essential part of my life, and I decided to search Kyiv to find the most comfortable places for karaoke activities. After all, there are plenty of cafes and restaurants offering karaoke in VIP rooms. But what about real karaoke clubs?
TsK
I happened to visit the retro club TsK to prove or shatter contradictory comments that I have heard about it. Knowing that the club is a three-in-one: a restaurant, disco club and karaoke bar, I checked their schedule online. It said that Thursday and Saturday are karaoke days. Yet, when I came in on Wednesday evening, the sounds of hearty guests singing pop hits reached my ears, and TsK from the very start justified its status as a karaoke bar. It offers karaoke five days a week from 6 p.m., excluding Sundays and Mondays, which are the club’s rest days. I decided to take as much as possible from the club that day, paying Hr 50 at the entrance. Take into account that on Friday and Saturday, the entrance fee goes up as high as Hr 100 per person and since TsK defines itself as a club for grown-ups, its doors are shut for those under 21.
The first thing to mention is that club’s interior is aimed to bring you into the atmosphere of the Soviet past and the very name TsK, Tsentralnaya Komisia, which means Central Committee of the Communist Party of Soviet Union, already speaks for itself. The place is divided into separate halls – there are four VIP rooms labelled according to the realities of the Soviet era – “The Isle of Freedom” or “The Flat of a Dissident,” for example. In the main hall, there is a tribune, presidium, and a stage. Moreover, the tables in one of TsK’s halls are arranged like a train buffet, signed with names of the Communist party leaders – Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov and Gorbachev. The halls are logically decorated with old photos, books and Lenin busts. The furniture was selected accordingly. Finally being seated at one of the tables, we could examine the menu, which also had lots of witty names to smile about, such as “Bright Future” (apples baked with honey and nuts) for Hr 43 or “Intrigues of Capitalism” (French fries) for Hr 27.
If you are a karaoke fan, you should be glad to find a list of 14,000 songs, which you can perform either in one of the VIPs or on the main stage and even be supported by musicians, at least during programmed karaoke parties on Thursday and Saturday. By the way, from time to time the club organizes a karaoke contest “Zolotoy Golos” (“Golden Voice”). Wednesday turned out to be a casting day for the contest so we had some fun, taking into account that I’m not a karaoke fan.
Solo
My visits to Solo and LyaLyaFa karaoke clubs appeared not so fruitful, but Sunday could just be the wrong choice of day. Our main destination at first was Solo, located on Sofiyivska street in the very city center. The sign “Solo,” shining in black, white and red lights, marked the hidden entrance to the club. After pulling a heavy golden door, as if barring the way to some underground refuge, we found ourselves in a dimly lit hall with a bar on our right and a line of low tables and couches on our left. Passing a narrow aisle in the middle we examined another hall, where only one table was occupied by a young couple whispering over the menu. Black walls with silvery adornment and lamps made of glass beads gave the place a rather pretentious look. But in the right mood it might really inspire to put out a little show, singing in the middle of the hall surrounded by blinking colourful lights.
We were asked to pay Hr 80 for the entrance, but understandably the atmosphere didn’t dispose one to jolly karaoke singing, so we left in hopes of coming back another time. If you feel like holding a karaoke party at Solo, note that the entrance fee for gentlemen constitutes Hr 100. The songs are performed according to the line – each table of less than four people has the right to one song. If there are four people at one table, there is the possibility of singing two songs.
I must say that Solo didn’t give me the feeling of a real karaoke club. If not for the entrance fee, it could easily go for a common eatery or pre-party place, but again – the visitors create the atmosphere, and as there were so few at the time I came in, it is hard for me to judge.
LyaLyaFa
After leaving Solo, we agreed to descend to Podil by funicular. Yet when we got as far as Sofiyivska Square, we realized that the transport we intended to use was being renovated, so we decided to cut our route and descend the hill by stairs. Why make circles if Podil is right under our feet? We encountered night alleys, crumbling stairs and narrow paths going around building sites – not the best option, but my feet remained safe by some miracle. And we got there fast. In some 15 minutes, we were already at the riverside. LyaLyaFa is located in one of the entertainment complexes floating at the pier, the one consisting of Japanese restaurants Mandarin and Yakitoria, and a night club Disco Radio Hall. These offered various possibilities for a good evening in one area. By the way, the food is brought to LyaLyaFa from the restaurants included in the complex and the prices are mid-range. I happened to drop by the karaoke club some months ago after eating out in Mandarin – just to gape for the sake of sheer interest. Practically all tables were occupied and some guests were singing karaoke on a specially equipped stage. The place was specially designed as a karaoke club, not a restaurant or disco.
Together with my friend, we decided to stay a bit longer this time. Already on the stairs, we heard a voice singing. As we saw in a moment, the voice belonged to a waiter. The entrance fee was the same as in Solo – Hr 80, but there was not a soul in the empty hall. But again – we had Sunday to blame for that, as obviously LyaLyaFa was a real karaoke club. The stage for karaoke singing is stylishly designed – it’s dark red, decorated with numerous small lamps, and supplied with a professional microphone, so that once you go up there, you feel like a real star in the limelight. But you can use one of the portable microphones as well, with which you can move around the hall.
TsK(1G Saksahanskoho (on the territory of the Stadium), 228-8608);
Solo (10 Sofiivska, 227-0362, with Afisha Card 10 percent discount);
LyaLyaFa (Naberezhno-Khreshchatytska, quay 6, 428-7388).
