SCARYOKE!!! Free Karaoke Bar With a Scary Twist in TriBeCa Art Gallery!

Women with short blonde hair singing karaoke at Apexart's SCARYOKE art exhibition

Here's something you don't stumble across every day. From now through December 21, at the Apexart gallery in Tribeca, there's a totally free pop-up Karaoke "bar" at which you can just show up, grab a mic, and belt out a tune or five to an audience of none-to-a-hundred, depending.

Running day and night. Go during lunch on a Tuesday! Take the kids after school on a Thursday! Show up for free beers around midnight on a Friday! The participatory art exhibition is the brainchild of Slate senior editor Dan Kois, who was asked by Apexart to curate an exhibition–"whatever you want", they said–for their fall/holiday season.   

Peeping through the shower curtain hanging at Apexart's Scaryoke with a crowd of people behind watching someone sing karaoke

Karaoke with a Twist!

And there's another fun twist to the whole thing too: you can't pick your song! That's why it's called SCARYOKE!!! [yes, all caps and with three exclamation points], because if you're nervous about performing in public, imagine how "SCARY!!!" it'll be to get on stage not knowing what song is about to launch on the teleprompter. True, it will only be one of 15 possibilities, but still, there is no way to practice in your head when you don't whether you'll randomly get, for example, Lorde's Royals, Pavement's Cut My Hair, or The Beatles's With a Little Help From My Friends. 

Crowd of people standing around drinking free PBR's at Apexart's SCARYOKE karoake exhbition with dimly lit with green and pink lights flashing

Opening Night of SCARYOKE!!!

I went to Apexart for the opening night party of SCARYOKE!!!, and the place was packed, the free PBR and Tecate flowing, the singing, shall we say, enthusiastic. There are three stages here, designed to get you the mood: one decked out with disco ball, etc.; one with a shower curtain you can hide behind; the third designed to feel like you're cruising in your car. For the opener Kois and friends had enlisted Baby Ketten to break out their thousands-long songbook, so it was really more karaoke than SCARYOKE!!!, but given the hours people were hanging out drinking, that was certainly a good thing. But for a quick pop-in with some buddies, I'm thinking the limited SCARYOKE!!! format will be great. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the neighborhood. 

Two girls sitting down at the drinking beers waiting for their turn to get up at sing karaoke

More Information: SCARYOKE!!! at Apexart

SCARYOKE!!! will be at Apexart through December 21. Apexart is located on Church Street between Walker and White. SCARYOKE!!! hours vary considerably, depending on the day, but you can get all that information, as well as a look at the Kois 15 songs playlist on the Apexart website!

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