9 Karaoke Joints in Newcastle

Even thirty years ago, karaoke was barely known in the UK but three decades on, every town and city seems to boast a few karaoke bars and lots of homes have their own SingStar or Lucky Voice set-ups. Karaoke – literally meaning ‘empty orchestra’ – is tailor-made for excited and possibly inebriated friends to get together on a night out, belt out a few cheesy eighties classics and then pretend it never happened the next day. If that’s your idea of a splendid evening’s entertainment, Newcastle has plenty of places for you to scratch your pop diva itch.

Image: Cosy Joes 

Cosy Joes, Groat Market

Cosy Joes is probably the first place most Geordies think of when they think of karaoke - this large and hectic palace of fun flying the flag for karaoke for ages! There are private rooms – complete with air con, touch screens and a push button drinks service – suitable for crowds of 4 to 25 people and hireable by the hour. Or if you have no shame left, there’s a public stage on the first floor. Oh my!

Lane 7, St James’ Boulevard

Another location offering a big range of entertainment for your night out is Lane 7, the Newcastle outlet of the ever-expanding chain that started out as a top-end boutique bowling alley but also offers beer pong, arcade games and darts (!) as well as street food and an impressive drinks menu. There are private karaoke rooms available to hire in a number of packages – check the website!

Image: The Karaoke Kave

The Karaoke Kave, Jesmond Three Sixty

Next door to The Holy Hobo, The Karaoke Kave really does go all out to make things fun: from the sparkly stage to a series of props to get you in the mood, the Kave might even convince you that you can sing. Open seven nights a week, available for private hire and offering a free shot if you sing a song, this is a must-visit karaoke destination.

As You Like It, Jesmond Three Sixty

AYLI is a large and lush Jesmond mainstay offering fine food, drinks, music (from DJs and live acts) and more across its three floors. And of course, there’s karaoke too, in private rooms you can hire for the evening that are perfect for a party or night out.

Image: Howlers

Howlers, Collingwood Street

Howlers really is determined to make your night out as fun as possible – from adult ball pits to bingo, absinthe and burlesque – and of course they’ve thrown karaoke into the mix. There’s a myriad of private rooms to hire for your karaoke shenanigans and crowd karaoke is a major part of their raucous and regular Bottomless Bonkers Balls.

Red Diner, Stowell Street

Red Diner is already popular as one of Chinatown’s finest restaurants, but did you know they offer karaoke too? Available from £20 per hour, depending on day and party size, their private karaoke rooms come separately or as part of a private dining package and they have Chinese, Japanese and Korean songs as well as English ones. So if you’ve ever wanted to try your luck with a BTS classic, now’s your chance.

Dojo, Stowell Street

Another Chinatown restaurant offering karaoke is Dojo – although the food here is Japanese. So you can enjoy some of the finest Japanese food the city has to offer and still belt out some Celine Dion afterwards. The sake selection is pretty good too!

Image: Gorilla Bar & Bowling

Gorilla Bar & Bowling, Eldon Square

Perched on top of Eldon Square shopping centre, Gorilla Bar & Bowling recently added a karaoke room to its menu of fun, tasty snacks and drinks. The room has a dancefloor and a seated area and is available in two packages: £200 gets up to 15 adults two hours and drinks options, £100 gets the same for under-18s but with soft drink pitchers.

Butlers, Nun Street

Recently taken over by new owners, popular city centre bar Butlers is known for its live sports, drinks deals and lively atmosphere. But at weekends you’ll also find Big Bill hosting his karaoke night in the bar, with state-of-the-art equipment and apparently 300,000 songs, so maybe there’s some Napalm Death in there after all.

Most of us secretly believe our career as a world-beating singer is just around the corner, especially after a couple of glasses of prosecco, and karaoke bars offer the perfect opportunity to prove our point. Or not. So get along to one of these Newcastle karaoke haunts for a night of strained notes and cringing friends?