Karaoke Night
Baba’s House
Oakland
Jan. 30, 2024
It was another not-so-secret party at Baba’s House, and everyone was welcome. I was back in downtown Oakland, on yet another rainy night this long winter. But the Oakland vibe here wasn’t anything like what you read in the papers.
You might have clocked the welcome just heading in: A few happy-go-lucky patrons sang along to East Bay rap songs at the mic and speakers set up in the parklet outside. I wasn’t sure if that was the karaoke night advertised at Baba’s House, but I ducked inside and headed upstairs just to be sure.
In the same tiny room that housed last week’s Cardi Spelling Bee, the seats were cleared away, a few tables were set up, and people stood around laughing, cheering, and drinking as two young women sang a Spanish-language pop jam in front of a pink neon sign that says, “Legacy, Community, & Munchies.”
There are a lot of variables to each individual’s enjoyment of a karaoke night, in my opinion. Singing verboten songs (in the Philippines, it’s “My Way” by Frank Sinatra; to some Bay Areans, it might be anything by Journey), the crowd’s acceptance, enjoyment, and support of your song, the song selection, the vibe, the drinks, the regulars … these all matter.
At Baba’s House, the neon ethos seemed to shine bright in the hearts of attendees. People shook my hand and introduced themselves as I walked into the room. Though this seemed like a group of regulars, they were, as ever, ready to make a stranger a friend.
The song selection was limited to what you could find on your YouTube app. (If you don’t know, that’s a pretty endless selection.) There were hiccups. A fearless woman chose to sing Queen’s “Somebody to Love,” but the wifi connection conked out midway. Undaunted, she continued to sing a cappella until the connection was back up: Even Freddie Mercury would have applauded.
All voices and all tastes were welcome at Baba’s, and the vibe was as relaxed as they come.
“The subtitles are wrong here whoo-oooh-ooohhhhh,” sang a man in glasses, in time and to no one’s disapproval. He crooned quietly along with Aretha Franklin’s “Say a Little Prayer,” not breaking his stride even with misprinted lyrics.
Another guy sang The Prodigy’s “Firestarter” with understandably less manic energy than the original. A friendly guy who regularly takes BART from San Leandro for Baba’s karaoke and mahjong nights sang “California” by Phantom Planet. Like all hardcore enthusiasts, he told me he keeps a list of his favorite karaoke songs on his phone. (My list includes David Bowie and a lot of Britpop.)
The song selection? As diverse as they come: Ariana Grande, old-skool hip hop, retro indie tunes. The crowd? Genial, party-like, lots of interactivity involving noisemakers and tambourines and backing vocals. Dropped wifi, indecipherable lyrics, unknown song? Don’t sweat it. The good vibes here — just like the verse — are the same as the first.
