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ARTS & CULTURE
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KARAOKE FROM PAGE 14
its karaoke night recently when the original hosts quit the program. Hoffman said he came to the rescue to resume the program and "struck a deal to get it back on track."
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One of these groups of returning customers is a mix of Lawrence and Free State high school students who come to karaoke night after an evening of theater rehearsal at the Lawrence Arts Center.
Now, the karaoke night is back in full swing, with returning customers bringing their singing back every week.
Joaquin Dorado, a rising senior at Lawrence High, sang three songs within the first 45 minutes of the program: "Clint Eastwood," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," and "Don't Go Breaking My Heart."
"I just love that I can sing with all of my friends and have fun and not care about whether I'm hitting the notes right," Dorado said. "If I mess up, I can just laugh it off. It's just a great way to spend a Wednesday night with the friends."
Even though two of the songs Dorado sang
were released before he was born, he fit in with the older genre of music performed during the night. Oldies were a go-to for many performers that evening, and audience members sang along, contributing to a feeling of community and support.
It's this positive environment that keeps audiences coming back, such as Will Chatfield-Taylor, who attended karaoke for 4 1/2 years.
"I had a group of friends who originally got me to come out and start singing with them, and when they eventually stopped coming, I just came back here to socialize," Chatfield-Taylor, a 2015 University graduate, said.
Wednesday night, he sang "Flagpole Sitta" with Hoffman — the pair's signature song. With friends like Hoffman who DJ the karaoke night, Chatfield-Taylor said the Burger Stand is his one and only place to sing karaoke.
For Hoffman, being both a host and a performer on this karaoke night would seem to give him the insight into why the event was, and continues to be, so popular.
"It's makes people feel like they're the lead singer of the band," Hoffman said.
Looking for a place to sing karaoke in Lawrence? You're in luck:
Sundays: The Bottleneck, 11 p.m.
Mondays: Jazzhaus, 9:30 p.m.
Tuesdays: Replay Lounge, 6 to 9 p.m.
and Jackpot Saloon, 9:30 p.m.
Wednesdays: The Burger Stand, 10:30 p.m.
Thursdays: Wayne and Larry's, 9 p.m.
Saturdays: Set'em Up Jack's, 10 p.m.
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