I had a new experience today, not one I was bargaining for.
You’ve all heard of, & listened to, karaoke. Some of you have even done it. (Not me, for which you all are glad no matter how many thousand miles you are from the sound of my voice.)
My wife got an invite from some retired folks at her church for a “sing along” at a local restaurant. Saturday, starts at noon. We were going to be nearby doing errands anyhow, so we decide to stop in & say Hi to her pals & snag some lunch.
As we pull in, we notice the parking lot is wall-to-wall with white Lincolns & Buicks.
Geezer-Raoke.
They had the back banquet room all to themselves, 40+ folks seated around large tables, the youngest closing on 70 and most around 80. The Geezer-Raoke Meister was in his late 60s, with a laptop full of MP3s and other typical karaoake gear. He had on a great 1940s lounge emmcee outfit & a Dom Ameche moustache.
Everybody was having appetizers or lunch and a few folks were enjoying a beer or a wine. Nobody was smoking. Other than the Meister, nobody was standing; everybody had a seat. Unlike a bar, everybody was listening to the singer & nobody much was chitchatting or just ignoring them. Sunlight streamed in through the lace curtains on the windows.
All the music was from the 1930s - 1950s. Sinatra was about the newest on offer. I looked through his 600+ song playbook & only recognized maybe a third of the song titles. I’ll be 50 later this year(!), so it’s not like I’m a youngster; these folks are my parent’s generation, plus a little. Still, the songbook was a time warp.
The singers weren’t bad, although you had to make allowances for the fact some didn’t hear so good anymore. One blind guy in his late 80s got up & was helped to a stool up front. His voice was perfect late Sinatra; just the right amount of gravel. He was a real showman and the fact a few words were forgotten didn’t seem to matter a bit.
It was silly as all get out; sort of a surreal anti-matter-universe version of your typical karaoke: late at night in a noisy smoky windowless joint jam-packed full of young folks singing, young folks shouting & carrying on, young folks wasted, and guys just wishing the noise would be turned down so they could work their lines on their chosen hottie du jour.
This was so, so, … Civilized.
And when it was over, everyone went home for a mid-afternoon nap. Even me.
There you have it. Geezer - Raoke. I just had to share.
