Today we were celebrating my good friend’s birthday at karaoke bar, Switch on Robson Street.
It was slow to start this Friday night. At 7pm we were the first guests and they kindly upgraded us at no extra cost. A 10 person plus room for the 5 of us, gave us plenty of space to sing and dance to our heart’s content. Our room was also the closest to the bar, giving us easy access to drinks.
There is no way to order in room. You have to exit the room and head to the foyer bar, place your order, pay. They then bring your shooters, cocktails, wine, or beer to you. They will also clear any empty glassware on their way out.
Regardless of this being your first time or not, I suggest getting the quick controls tutorial from the staff. The karaoke controller is fairly complicated with more buttons than most. Not only are you able to search your song choice by title or artist, but can also choose which backdrop the words are scrawled across.
You are only given two microphones per room, unless in the VIP unit. Each comes with a disposable microphone cover for your sanitary protection. Although, in hindsight, we didn’t really need microphones, considering how loudly we were belting out the lyrics we knew. It is good to know that the rooms are fairly soundproof and you can’t hear anything unless you pass by the doors with their glass windows.
You pay ahead of time for the number of hours you wish to occupy the space. When that time has elapsed, a staff member comes to alert you to vacate the room. You are able to extend your stay so long as there isn’t another group waiting for it. However, with over a dozen rooms, this does not seem to be a problem.
When our time was up, and we had yet to finish our drinks, we were able to take them back out to the foyer where they have tables for those waiting for rooms, or to sit and drink at in between sets.
I definitely don’t have a singing voice, but did enjoy the activity, especially when enough liquid courage was applied.
Switch
1339 Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6E 1C6
(604) 264-7026
switch-vancouver.ca
