Massaoke is the antidote for an overload of culture. There’s definitely nothing high brow about this experience, which is more club night than Sing-a-Long-a . But if you’re looking for an après-show activity with a live band, bar, the opportunity to dance into the small hours and you don’t mind hearing some of your favourite power ballads being murdered by the drunken hoards, then this is the place to be. It’s interactive, it’s fun and it offers something different every night, ensuring revellers can return as often as they fancy without getting bored. It’s also one of the few events for which you buy a ticket, but can come and go as you please for the duration of the two and a half hour slot – meaning those attending or performing in shows which end after this time, can turn up at any point and still get in on the action.
The band is very, very loud and and so the sound becomes slightly distorted, the cacophony making it hard to actually hear yourself sing (on the up tempo numbers in particular). It would benefit tremendously from being turned down just a bit, as the musicians are really very talented – on this night the guitarist brought in a very impressive solo bit, which became slightly blurred in the volume of noise. But, many people like to hear bands at this volume as so many clubs and venues will attest, so this may be a matter of preference and the benefit of not really being able to hear yourself, is that you don’t really hear yourself; removing any semblance of self-consciousness from proceedings.
Where this really scores in individuality, is in the involvement of guest acts who take the stage to sing lead vocals and who revellers will recognise as being performers in various shows around the Fringe. As these acts pick their own songs, this incorporates a diverse range of numbers into the mix and offers a good contrast to the karaoke favourites the band play. Naturally, these performers know how to work a crowd and their input is entertaining, each with their own unique style (the nightly line up can be checked on Massaoke’s Twitter).
This is such a great yet simple concept. There’s perhaps scope to also add in an early evening version of Massaoke that’s a bit more sedate (for those who are more serious about singing and aren’t late night revellers). But for those who are up for belting out tunes and dancing into the small hours, this will be a firm favourite on the Edinburgh party scene.
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