OH, Sing Sing, St. Marks. We can never count on you anymore.
I have been going to Sing Sing for just about six years now, and I have to say that it has gone way downhill in recent years. Sing Sing was the solution for me and my karaoke crew to the closing of Jappa’s, which was located just next to and below Sing Sing, St. Marks (I keep referring to it that way because there is another Sing Sing on Avenue A, which I have never been to). Jappa’s was amazing. Sing Sing was very different, but had good sound quality in the rooms and bar, and good service. Then they changed management a few years ago, and I had a really bad experience there with a manager, who couldn’t get the equipment to work for about 20 minutes, but refused to restart our time for us. We ended up leaving and going somewhere else. Then, I decided to give it another chance. I had a few other frustrating experiences there and swore off it altogether. Then, several months ago, I thought I would give it another shot. This time everything went pretty well and the experience was pretty enjoyable.
The other night, at 5 PM, the bff and I went for happy hour (1/2 price per person per room until 7 PM). The first thing that happened was that we were told that the minimum for the rooms was three people. This is relatively new for Sing Sing, and too bad for us. The three-person minimum seems to be a trend that is spreading. Oh well, so we had to pay for three people – not the end of the world. We requested a room in which you can change the key of the song, so he brought us into one room in the back and spent about ten minutes trying to get one of the microphones to work (not a good sign). There goes ten minutes of happy hour time. Then he left and, not surprisingly, the mic he was fiddling with was producing massive feedback, and we had to call him back. He spent another ten minutes fiddling with it before having us switch rooms. Then we spent another ten minutes watching him try to get one of the mics in the new room to work. Are you kidding me?? Why does none of this equipment work? Isn’t this the business they are in? So now we have been at Sing Sing for over a half hour, without any singing and losing a bunch of happy hour time. Frustrating to say the least.
Once he got us all set up in the new room, with both mics working, he agreed to restart our time (much appreciated). Sure enough, the bff goes to sing and no music plays, but the words are up on the screen. ARRGGHHH. So we ring the bell. Nothing. We ring it again, and again, and again. Nothing. By the way, we are one of three rooms in use, and there is no one else in the place. So, I go back to the bar and ask the guy to come help us get the music to play. He does. All is well. Then one of the mics just stops working for no apparent reason. I give the bell a try and then give up and go get the guy. He fixes it. This is a nightmare. OH, and now we are in a room where you can’t change the key, which we are depressed about, but choose to let it go.
When we went to pay, we were charged from the new start time, but he didn’t extend the happy hour price the extra half hour (which I probably should have pushed for, but didn’t). The bottom line is this: unless Sing Sing St. Marks is the last karaoke place standing, I will never be going there again. They are a train wreck. There are too many other places to choose from (U2 Karaoke is right across the street – we will check it out soon).
Tags: bars, east village, entertainment, karaoke, sing sing, singing
