A River of Songs Flow at El Rio

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Deep in the Heart of The Mission is El Rio, a neighborhood bar with a reputation for being a Gay and Lesbian bar. Whatever the classification it's a fun bar. Wednesday is Karaoke night and the crowd seems to be a mix of everyone. The host is KJ Paul, the man with the song machine. If you arrive at 8:00pm you're in luck. You will get to sing a few songs in quick succession before the other singers arrive. Last night, the place was moderately busy with only KJ Paul, Scott, and myself crooning for the first 45 minutes. The rest of the evening saw a slim rotation of 7 to 10 singers. Yesss! Woo-hoo!

Yelper's rave about this place for the cheap and strong drinks, the outdoor patio, and the club room next door where live bands perform. Yeah, this place can hold a ton of people and the calendar is packed with interesting events. I would like to add my personal rave review about the two friendly, black-and-white tuxedo cats roaming the bar after hours, looking like chubby younger versions of my kitty! Sadly, they weren't too keen on being photographed last night. What Pussies!

With Elton John as the special Rock Block of the evening, Paul sang "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues,"  I did "Benny and the Jets," Scott sang "Levon," and we all sang "Daniel." FYI--soon KJ Paul will be posting a list of the songs that were performed each night on his website. And I will link his list to Karaoke Insider when it is posted. A convenient way for you to reference a song you sang on a particular night. Cool, wouldn't you say?

Conclusion

I never really thought twice about El Rio as I rode past it on my motorcycle over the years, but the with the mellow vibe, friendly bar staff,   and now Karaoke on Wednesday night, who wouldn't want to become a regular here?