It’s 11 on a Wednesday night at Wrigleyville’s Underground Lounge, and the emcee calls Garrett Brown onstage.
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“I don’t like regular karaoke,” says Scott Shell, who organizes the Underground Lounge’s weekly Rock ‘n’ Roll Karaoke evening. But he says this is something different. “It’s an extreme karaoke night. You’re not singing with a machine; you’re singing with a live band, so the energy is more intense.”
Shell plays in the band Cats and Jammers and delivers subs on his bicycle for a living. In August 2001 he was on tour with a night off in New York City and wandered into the Lower East Side club Arlene’s Grocery on karaoke night. The band onstage at Arlene’s had learned a dozen or so punk and metal selections, and people were signing up to sing along.
As the night wears on and the alcohol flows, the energy level climbs. The room is packed by 12:30, when Lindsey Pearlman’s called to the stage. The band launches into “Lady Marmalade,” and the floor immediately fills with young women in tank tops dancing with their hands in the air. Three guys grind together in sandwich formation for good measure.
