If you’ve been to any karaoke night at a bar, you know the routine.
Flip through the song selection until you’ve found a crowd pleaser—not too long and no big instrumental breaks; you’re confident you know the lyrics. You hand your slip of paper to the DJ and wait for your moment to shine, and bring the house down with your best Freddie Mercury falsetto.
Now, imagine that same experience—except you’re doing it in front of a crowd of 5,000 people.
That’s the unholy musical monster the teams behind some of Chicago’s most popular karaoke nights will unleash on Thursday, August 8 when they host The World’s Largest Karaoke at the Salt Shed. At this free event, hosted in collaboration with the Empty Bottle, guests can sign up to be randomly selected to showcase their karaoke chops in front of thousands.
“When I did the walkthrough at Salt Shed, I assumed it was big but when I got on stage, I was like, ‘Someone is going to puke if this entire stage is full of people,’” says Ryan Murphy, who co-hosts the regular karaoke nights at Café Mustache. “It’s gonna be wild.”
Matt Ciarleglio, managing partner at the Empty Bottle and organizer of World’s Largest Karaoke, wanted to collaborate with Salt Shed on a free event to bring people together that would be “weird and different.”
“There's been a resurgence around the city of these dive bars and cool nooks where you can walk into a random bar and there’s this wild karaoke party happening,” he says. “This is also to shine a light on those small businesses.”
Among the partners Ciarleglio brought in were Murphy and his Café Mustache co-host Amber Mueller, who will host the evening at Salt Shed. Mueller used to be “anti-karaoke,” she says, but it’s grown on her.
“It’s inclusive,” she says. “Whether you want to sing or not, you’re included in the energy of the room.”
Ciarleglio says the sign-up process is essentially the same as any other karaoke night. Would-be performers can visit the Karafun website to see if their song of choice is available and sign up on a piece of paper, with about 30 people working in the audience to collect names. Guests randomly selected to perform will be notified via text message to head to a side-stage, “Karaoke Corral,” where the next five singers will be stationed to keep things moving. At five hours, Murphy estimates that if they move things along, about 70 people will be able to perform—especially if performers keep the extended version of “All Too Well” at home.
There is, however, another road to karaoke glory. Singers can warm up at one of four satellite parties, each with two guaranteed spots on the stage at Salt Shed up for grabs:
- July 12 at the Empty Bottle (1035 N. Western Ave)
- July 15 at Revel Room (1566 N. Milwaukee Ave)
- July 20 at Café Mustache (2313 N. Milwaukee Ave)
- July 21 at Alice’s Lounge (3556 W. Belmont Ave)
“The satellite events are gonna be where you see some crazy stuff,” Murphy says. “I feel like we’re gonna see some wild costumes, performances. I’m sure someone will try to take their clothes off. It’s gonna be nuts because people want that secured spot.”
Mueller, who is hosting the satellite event at Empty Bottle, says the hosts will be looking for wow factor in choosing their candidates for coveted Salt Shed spots as well—not necessarily vocal chops, but the ability to engage the room. She encourages people not just to attend the pre-parties for their pass to karaoke glory, but to explore Chicago’s burgeoning karaoke culture.
“There are so many people for whom karaoke is their thing,” she says. “They go to work Monday through Friday and then Saturday and Sunday they sing, and they’ve come every week for years, supporting events beyond [World’s Largest Karaoke].”
While Ciarleglio has some lofty dreams for World’s Largest Karaoke—a Guinness Book of World Records entry, a surprise onstage cameo from Bill Murray— what he’s most looking forward to are the on-stage reactions.
“It’s going to be really really entertaining seeing the absolute terror in people’s eyes as they get up in front of 5,000 people,” he says. “It sounds dark and mean, but it seems really fascinating to see people get up on stage and get really scared and then get into it.”
Murphy and Mueller agree.
“I wanna see some people really shine,” Murphy says. “I wanna see them scared and I want to see them take that energy and really use it. I think it will be inspiring for a lot of people and it’s something people will take with them, moving throughout the rest of their lives. When else are you gonna get up in front of thousands of people when you’re a hardworking individual who has a little bit of time on the weekends who sings karaoke at a bar?”
And for those who might feel overwhelmed or intimidated at the prospect of that massive crowd, the co-hosts are there to support the singers.
“If you get up there and you feel like you might puke, just look at us if you need something to hone in on,” Mueller says. “90% of the karaoke host’s job is being the ultimate hype man. You have people who are seasoned, but also people looking for that one friend who runs to the front and cheers them on, so if you feel nervous, hone in on one of us and we’re gonna do this together.“
Ciarleglio’s advice is simple: Bring sunglasses. “It’s less intimidating if you have some shades; then you can’t tell if people are looking directly in your eyes or your soul,” he says.
Murphy’s is simpler: Come as you are and just go for it.
“We want gasps,” he says. “We want to show people a good time. Stage fright drives people to do things they wouldn’t normally do. Be yourself and if your name gets called, go nuts.”
World’s Largest Karaoke takes place Thursday, August 8 from 5pm-10pm at the Salt Shed, 1357 N. Elston Ave. Tickets are free and available here.