Belting it out at the Voice Lounge

Saturday, 29 March 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Text and pix by David Ebert Karaoke has become somewhat of a phenomenon since the first Karaoke machine was invented in the 1980s. From a popular social activity for Japanese ‘salarymen’ or businessmen to unwind after working long hours in high stress environments drinking in karaoke pubs or snack bars for hours after they get off work.

The word ‘karaoke’ or ‘empty orchestra’ was coined from the two words ‘kara’ – which means empty, and ‘okesutora’ – meaning orchestra. Hence the term was brought to life and since then millions of people around the world have joined in to test out their singing prowess at the thousands of karaoke bars worldwide. One of the three Partners of Voice Lounge, Sajith Fernando, says his first experience with karaoke began with Sri Lanka’s first karaoke lounge back in the 90s – Showboat, and since then he’s been an avid karaoke patron, often to be found belting out his versions of The Beatles and Michael Learns to Rock singles whenever he gets the chance. His first love however is cricket. Having had a long career in the game through the schools format while at St. Anthony’s Katugastota, captaining the Sri Lankan A team, and playing 13 years of county cricket for Lancashire, he’s now back in Sri Lanka for good and is now the head coach of NCC, who I must add, are on the verge of becoming the country’s club champions under his stewardship this year. So what made him decide to start up a karaoke bar? “Well when I came back to Sri Lanka a year ago, my brother Jeevana and I came up with this idea to open up our own nightspot. It was almost a hobby of sorts. We both love a night out and we came across the location at the BRC and together with our other partner Dinuk Hettiarachchi, we put our heads together and decided to open a place that we would enjoy going out to - and hence, the Voice Lounge was born.”

Karaoke in a lounge This is what sets Voice Lounge apart from other karaoke spots in town – it is a karaoke lounge and not a karaoke bar. You can lounge at one of the many tables that dot the interior along with your friends and be assured of your own space while you choose your next hit from its vast

repertoire. It’s also got tables lining up against the large glass frontage that offers quite a nice view of the busy Havelock Road overlooking the BRC cricket grounds with the numerous high rises buildings up in the skyline. The Voice Lounge is a very cosy place to set yourselves up for a night out. It does have quite a well-stocked bar and a bar menu with both full meals as well as all of the usual night owl favourites. I particularly enjoyed the hot butter cuttlefish and the fried pork – the ideal accompaniment for any Sri Lankan on a night out of heavy ‘highlifing’. To add to this, Sajith comes across as the ideal host. He’s calm, polite and very hands-on, all necessary traits for running a place that can get very packed on the weekends. “We’re here every night and it’s a place where 90% of the people who come here are people I know and if I see someone new, I always make it a point to make friends with them so that they’re no longer unfamiliar faces, and ‘touch wood’ we haven’t ever had any problems or unpleasantness here still because of that,” he revealed. Events With the cricket season in full swing at the moment, Voice Lounge shows all the Sri Lankan matches on large screen with some really tempting beverage deals as well to make it a memorable night. Given the weather these days come evening time, indoors is the place to be. In addition, Voice also opens its stage up for an open mic night on ‘Acoustic Tuesdays’ with what Sajith calls just “a mic, a stage and the spotlight” for anyone to come by and try out a non-karaoke, live performance. Adding to that is ‘Flight Night’ every Wednesday with a special 22% discount for flight and cabin crews. For all of you that remember the famous flight nights at the legendary Blue Elephant, I hope this catches on soon and turns into a fun midweek option. Ladies can also swing by on the first Saturday of each month for Voice Lounge’s special ‘Ladies Night’ with special offers and surprises for groups

of ladies looking for a safe and comfortable place to enjoy themselves in private. All this is in addition to the usual Saturday nights with DJ Shane spinning your favourite club hits in between the hectic karaokeing that goes on come weekend. However the most exciting thing I discovered is that Voice is also open on Sundays. As Sajith revealed, the place opens up in a more informal setting from 4 p.m., letting in patrons wearing their Sunday casuals such as flip flops and shorts for an evening of pure baila! That’s right; Sunday is the day to get yourself over to Voice Lounge if you fancy trying your vocal cords on a bit of C.T. Fernando and Nihal Nelson along with your beverage of choice. All in all, Voice Lounge has the right ingredients for some clean after-work fun on weekdays, as well as the weekends, lots of activities and a relaxed setting safe for both large crowds as well as smaller groups. Voice also encourages corporate outings as well, with the place already quite a favourite for office get-togethers. For further information call Sajith on 777758568.