Sing up, everyone: Tonight ... you’re a rock ‘n’ roll star
WE TRY OUT VOX BOX KARAOKE
IN the former Tofts venue in Newland Avenue, a new private karaoke venue, “Vox Box”, has appeared.
After weeks of anticipation, the business officially opened on April 30 and reporters from Hull Live visited to test the “Rockstar experience” on offer.
None of us went into the venue with any talent or confidence in terms of singing and, supposedly, that is the main thing that puts so many people off going to a karaoke bar.
However, as you book a two-hour slot in one of the six private rooms rather than performing to a bar crowd, customers don’t have to worry about any strangers judging their shaky vocals.
This private-room venue is the first of its kind in Hull and offers a unique, hilarious and all-round fun experience.
The Newland Avenue venue is unrecognisable from Tofts, with only the original bar remaining in place. The walls are filled with locally made multicoloured neon signs that read “Sing like no one’s listening” and “Are you ready for the time of your life?”
Before being taken to your private suite, you can grab a drink at the bar that serves up all the usual favourite drinks but also local craft beers. I couldn’t miss the opportunity to grab a lager from the Hull-born brand Atom, while others took advantage of the wide range of pale ales and premium beers.
Then, we were greeted by host, Matt, and given our very own lanyards with “VIP backstage passes” attached. The nine of us were shown into studio, which had a flatscreen TV, plenty of seating and disco lights.
We were given a tutorial on how to select and queue songs on an ipad with 100,000 tunes to choose from and handed two microphones.
There is also another ipad to order drinks straight to your studio, and a tab can be opened for you to pay at the end. This is one of the best features of the venue because when you’re halfway through smashing an Abba tune, it would be pretty rude for half of your audience to go missing.
Making the most of your two-hour slot is important, so it is also great that you don’t have to waste half of your night queuing at a bar or worrying about paying separately for every drink. The service was also prompt and as least disruptive as possible.
All there was left to do then was sing - and luckily one of us happily stepped up to take on Common People by Pulp. Once the first song is out of the way, everyone is ready to give it their best shot and have a great laugh, wailing to some classics.
Whether it was Islands In The Stream or Dancing Queen, there was a go-to karaoke song for everyone available. I noticed that even the shyest of characters in the group gave their performance their heart and soul.
Afterwards you could go to the bar downstairs and have a dance and more drinks with a larger crowd.
Overall, Vox Box is a real new gem. Personally, every pet peeve I have about a night out - long bar queues, big crowds of sweaty strangers, aimlessly wandering around and not knowing what to do - is all not an issue.
The venue is open from Thursday to Sunday. You can book your session at voxboxbar.co.uk/book-now and the price is £15 per person for the two hours (plenty of snacks also included).