Lunes al sol, la sí, do...(V.O.)

Monday is not the most boring day of the week anymore. Well, at least Monday nights, for those adventurous music lovers who discovered that there is such thing as an Anti-Karaoke right here, in the realms of Barcelona city. The bat cave is the club Sidecar (Plaza Reial, 7), at 22h.
Definition beyond the very literal name is a little tricky, but the idea of it’s creator and night host, the American comedienne Rachel Arieff, was to have and let people have fun, something only reached by consuming lots of booze in a normal karaoke...
At this underground karaoke, “people can totally loose control”, guarantees Rachel. And this state of very spiritual and enlightened shamelessness is not achieved by alcohol, but by music. This is the place where you should go if you love rock’n roll, punk rock, heavy metal, 70´s disco, pop, well, almost anything...
...within certain limits, established by our night host and her court. “We are a very rock´n roll people. We don’t do trendy sounds. But we need the kitsch, songs that have been here long enough. I can’t stand creepy karaoke versions of songs that I love. It makes me depressed when they put on those keyboards sounds”, confesses Rachel, voicing the number one aversion of any hot-blooded rocker.
So, to meet her public’s high standards of musicality and fun, this woman is capable of anything. “Comedians, we have no dignity”, scorns Rachel. At Halloween she covered herself from head to toe on fake blood and reincarnated Carrie in an Oscar worthy performance. Her painful monologue: “Have you ever felt that you don’t fit in?” before launching in Radiohead´s Creep, made people reach for her, wiping off the blood and smearing it all over their faces. At the end, Sidecar was a slaughter house.

Custom-made

We can say that costumes are virtually a must-have at the Anti-Karaoke. On stage, a big table provides plenty of masks, funny hats, boas and all kinds of accessories any star could need. And some people really do big productions, like the guy who once came on riding a bike, in leathers, with two body-guards and with his own purring imitation of a potent motorbike. “Even if you don’t know anything about Judas Priest you would had loved his performance”, points out the comedienne, who sets the example.
Expect people dressed as Kiss members, as the Grease cast, as an old and dirty rock star and, sometimes, even as a normal person. What is clear is that you don’t have to be outrageous to get yourself a taste of the stage. After all, the thing here is about music, as numbers can prove. A year ago Anti-Karaoke started with a set-list of 120 songs, now it has 427 and it’s growing every Monday.
High energy songs, as Rachel says. Whether punk, heavy metal, hard rock, punk rock, country rock, psychedelic rock, corny-enough-to-be-kitsch-pop, everything goes. You can sing Ramones, The Doors, Metallica, Sex Pistols, Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, John Cougar, Bad Company, Abba, Sinatra, Bee Gees, Queen, Tom Jones, Village People, Madonna, anything your heart desires in the kitsch/pop/rock world. The unusual healthy mix attracts both tourists and locals, and they all sing in English, the primary idiom of rock.
It seems that the Anti-Karaoke public is a very eclectic one. “People here love all music. They don’t have a¨ hard rock only¨ kind of mentality. They love to go outside this”, explains Rachel.
Take Daniel Muñoz, for example. Known as Dani "El Mutante" in this underground scene, the shy youngster became a legend for the faithful Anti-Karaoke goers and now has his own rabid fans, who don’t want to miss any of his Anti-Karaoke performances. “Besides the atmosphere, I like the music. I feel like I’m in a rock concert, like being a rock-star for one night”, admits Dani. And this star isn’t limited by the market. He can sing Queen as easily as he sings Metallica.
Don’t let his oh-so-sweet dolphin t-shirt mislead you. This guy is a tough performer, who plays with the public. Anti-Karaoke doesn’t have special effects, blinding lights, acrobatic choreographies or huge plasma screens, but it sure has the most hilarious, creative and unexpected music attractions. Mutante´s version of Metallica´s “Sad but True” was accompanied by a series of photos showing sad realities of our sorrowful times, such as the astonishing similarity between Pope Benedict and the Star Wars Emperor. Needless to say, by the end of his presentation, the guy was being almost revered and received a standing ovation (in that he was like everybody, given the lack of chairs) .
Mutante isn’t the only one who has a fan-club. Others are as well known as him, like the more mature King of the Night and his indefectible Bon Jovi´s “You Give Love a Bad Name”, with chorus by hysterical girls and everything. And The Wonkas, a group who takes it’s entertainer’s role to heart. Kiss characterization, black caps, long wigs and a catchy song. Who wouldn’t believe they were the most romantic group ever, when they incongruously sang “I was made to love you, baby, you were made to love me”?
Sometimes it’s true that the person who is the most enthusiastic about a murdering version of The Doors is the singer’s girlfriend, who swoons at each “Love me two times, baby”. Luckily for us, the fun is democratic! “I discovered Anti-Karaoke in July and it has been like an addiction ever since”, confesses Eva Cruces. Even lacking the courage (or the alcohol leverage) to stand up on the stage, she knows not only most of the songs, but the regular singers also. It’s the risk you take entering into the underground world of Anti-Karaoke

Text: Liana Rocha
Photos: Joao Alvarez