As many are aware, Rickshaw, arguably the most popular karaoke bar in North Seattle, is under repair after a grease fire on March 24, around 11 p.m., in the middle of Joel Harvey’s perennially slammed Saturday-night show. No one was injured, and firefighters were able to contain the damage to the kitchen, but it may be up to two months before they can reopen.
Fans of Joel and his equally beloved associate, Patty, need not despair. It took barely a week for nearby venues to capitalize on their temporary availability. Kathy’s in Bitter Lake snatched them up for Wednesdays and Fridays, and the Baranof added Thursday and Sunday nights to their schedule to try to draw their loyal fan base. Joel already has an established Friday-night gig at the Ould Triangle five blocks from Rickshaw, so they’ve barely skipped a beat.
I attended a special event Patty hosted last Monday at Kathy’s, where a large group of staff and friends from the Century Ballroom (who regularly gather to sing at Rickshaw) were celebrating a birthday that night. This sports bar used to be a diner called Mr. Bill’s, and before that it was a Farrell’s. I have fond memories of my folks taking me here when I was a little kid. The big TV room with the glass-block windows where they have the stage set still resembles the old ice-cream parlor.
I was one of about three stragglers not among the 35 or so people who took over one side of the room. Patty was set up in a designated DJ nook at the entrance to the room. Singers performed at that end, with many monitors to read the lyrics from.
Everyone from that crew who sang appeared as though they had an extensive theater background, and most of them sounded vocally trained. They all had such great stage presence that it made me realize how much of a stiff I am up there. I felt like I’d been ambushed by a bunch of ringers. They turned the simplest songs into something special to watch. I witnessed the best performances I’d ever seen of the Eagles’ “Heartache Tonight,” Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You,” and “Don’t Cry” by Guns N’ Roses. Even a semi-botched duet of “Under the Boardwalk” came off sounding awesome. I delivered a decent rendition of Springsteen’s “Thunder Road,” but it wasn’t good enough to make me feel I was able to hang with these folks.
