the gaslite...always a good time on sundays.
it is def sunday funday :)
the dj devon plays great songs in  between
karaoke sets that gets people pumpin'.
very personable and also a great singer.
I understand when people are drunk they don't
hear their names being called..or they think they're
being skipped.. but RELAX folks, we're all here for
a good time and no need to be a d*ck about it..
it's singing okay.
the bartender niko is awesome too! treat him right!
This place is so much fun !!
The first time I came here was years ago back when I was in high school (a friend snuck me in..) and it was drab and dead..
nowadays, it's always packed full of people :) I'm pretty sure it's just about everybody's favorite dive bar
I think it's because of the staff really, especially the crazy / awesome karaoke dj guy with red hair - it's basically only worth going on a night that's he's working lol.
Anyways, if you've never been here, this is definitely the perfect place to be on a Friday night. Come prepared for a wild evening...
Here is why I gave this joint 5 stars.
1.) Â Love the employees here. Â These people really take care of us every time we go. Â (Devin and Nico). Â
2.) Â The location is excellent (close to my place).
3.) Â Un-pretentious. Â This is not your typical L.A. joint. Â Rarely, do the snooty types come here. Â
4.) Â You can really have a night to remember here and get lost in good company.
5.) Â No "pro-types" or "try-hards" come here. Â You won't be judged if you suck, we all suck. Â No matter what, you will get love from the people here. Â
I love the different feel of this bar. Â Its totally just a place to hangout, get wild, and meet other fun people that like to dance and get their sing on.
This place is unlike any I've ever seen before...in a good way!
Free parking around santa monica as well as valet parking in the back. No cover, which makes this place even more appealing. When we walked in around 11, the place was packeddddd. We were lucky enough to find two seats at the bar. They have karaoke that you can sign up to sing while everyone in the audience dances to the songs and sings along with you. GENIUS!
The MC got everyone hyped and played some dance music in between people's karaoke to get people dancing and in the mood. Depending on the songs people choose, it can really make or break the night. I noticed during some of the slower, sadder songs, most people in the audience were talking amongst themselves and not really into it; whereas during oldies or songs that pumped you up, everyone was dancing and singing along.
The bar staff is really attentive and sweet. The drinks were even fairly priced compared to a lot of other bars in the area.
I highly recommend coming here if your in the mood for a fun night, but for something different than the typical bar or club. I would say this is an awesome place to come on weekday nights as well to get out of the monotonous routine and sing a song or too or just listen and sing along!
I was having an okay night up until the bill arrived. We got charged for 4 extra vodka shots! Not one, not two, but 4! I let the bartender immediately know that this was a mistake and we never had that many shots. He had the guts to stare me in the eyes and insist that we did have those. Apparently he assumed that we were probably drunk and would not remember exactly how many we had, but boy was he wrong. My group and I were 100% sure we did not order any of those extra drinks. Because it was a special day for me, I did not want to make a scene, so I ended up signing the check and walked out angrily. Reading some other people's reviews, I'm noticing that apparently organized crimes of this nature are fairly common at this place.
If you don't want to go to a bar and walk out feeling tricked and deceived, AVOID THIS BAR AT ALL COSTS!
If you are 22, drunk, and think you can sing but can't, the Gaslite just might be the place for you!
Unfortunately, I do not fit that demographic. Â
We went on a Saturday night and it was CROWDED. Like, hot, sweaty, gross crowded. Â The Male/Female ratio was like 80/20 the night I went. Â You'd think that'd be a good thing for me as a female, but not my crowd at all. Â It reminded me of a frat party... there was even a keg in the corner! And there was something about this crowd of men that thought touching was okay... I get that it's crowded but that doesn't mean you need to fondle me as you try to get by me.
Karaoke - terrible. Not a person all night could sing and it was painful at times.
Cheap Drinks - good and bad. Â You won't break the bank here, but you'll feel out of place if you drink anything higher quality than Pabst Blue Ribbon in a can. Â Seriously.
Bathrooms are near impossible to get too.. you have to walk through the enormous pack of people crowded around the stage. Â Why these people crowd around awful singers is unknown to me.
I can see how this might cater to a certain crowd that might just love it, but so not for me.
Last week I ventured into The Gaslight for the first time in a long while and boy was I surprised. This place has gone downhill fast. I could go down the long list of things that have fallen into disrepair but I'll just mention a few: the bathrooms are horrendous, I could barely fit into the men's room because the door was jammed and the vanity is falling apart!
Out in the bar, things have also gotten a little rundown. Starting with the GIANT crack in the mirror on the back wall. I thought it was going to break off and kill me! Fleeing from the shattered mirror to the cozy confines of The Gaslight bar, I was searching for the popcorn that I was so used to munching on when I karaoke'd the night away with my friends. But it was nowhere to be found. This was a major letdown. I know it's only popcorn, but hey, I liked it.
Now for a little bit of the good. The service and prices are still great. I sat at the bar the whole night and ordered quite a few drinks - am I an alcoholic? I hope not! - and it didn't break the bank. Just $35 for five drinks including a healthy tip for the bartender Jess - who was great BTW! Bard the KJ was great too.
This place may have fallen a little on the dingy side, but service hasn't been compromised. Still a great place to stop into for a drink or a sing if you're in the Santa Monica area.
P.S. It's always great to have free parking :)
I was drug here a couple weeks ago for a friend's birthday party so I didn't really have a choice in venue. The place looked like a basement of a frat party I used to sneak in when I was in high school haha! Maybe I didn't enjoy myself because I arrived late and everyone was already smashed, but I think how much fun you have is directly related to how much you drink. Apparently this is a hotspot for one night stands, I couldn't even walk to the bathroom without being harassed 3-4 times. sorry gaslite, I won't be back.
Review Source:I went to The Gaslite to sing karaoke for a friends birthday. As soon as we got there I signed my name up. I waited an hour and a half for my turn and when I approached the DJ in charge of karaoke to ask when I would be called, he rudely brushed me aside and signaled the bouncer to kick me out. The DJ was calling his friends up for karaoke the whole time and not giving other people a chance. Â I was so turned off by the way they operate the karaoke that I will never go back again.
Review Source:Had a long day at work and decided to stop by the Gaslite on Thursday. I like to come early because I like to get a good seat at the bar and talk to the bartender Steve before it gets too crowded.
He will take care of you and will come up with a drink for you if you're not sure what you want. He never disappoints and always cheers me up!
Thanks Mr. Adkins!
This is a cool place to go and hang with friends and listen to drunk people sing karaoke. Its really tiny and the and very dive bar-ish. The only reason I can't give it five stars is because the karaoke guy isn't fair... you sign up to sing a song and then he skips around on the list... my friends signed up to perform and we waited two hours and ee kept checking the list and she should have been up after 8 people but never got called.
Review Source:Seen some CRAAAAAAAZZZZZY Sh*t go down here before.
Good times.
Use your imagination, and it could happen here.
Fun crown with majority of people there to get TRASHED.
Oh ya - and they have a Karaoke scene which is very forgiving for even the worst singers. Don't worry, no pros here at all....Your below average singing will still be danced to and applauded because everyone here is so damn drunk.
I don't know if there is another bar in SM that is a local hangout. I have been a total of 5 times and can always point out the same people that come here every weekend. The atmosphere is a combination of fun, odd, enthusiastic and carefree.
I am not a karaoke person but I do enjoy the atmosphere from time to time. People really go all out here and everyone participates which makes it fun. You also have to be in a particular mood to come out here and fully enjoy yourself, I've sung once and it was fun but I like to be a spectator more often than not.
When I first got there, it was a little barren and I was a bit disappointed. As the night progressed and more people started to fill the place, I started enjoying it much more.
The crowd is super friendly, no hoity toity d-bags here...that in itself gets an extra star! Â There was a diverse group of people and although nobody was an amazing singer, we all sang together and still had a great time. At the end of the day, that's all you can really ask for, right?
And the DJ was AWESOME. Played great music in between singers.
I like the Gaslight! Â And I have Love C to thank for introducing me to this place. Â It's not one of those fancy bars in Hollywood. Â This is more of a dive bar, with Karaoke! Â Who doesn't like watching people sing?!
There weren't too many people who were great singers the last time we were there, but it was still entertaining. Â They also have their own parking lot in addition to street parking.
My friend's review on this place mysteriously disappeared a day after it was posted, so I'm going to put in my two cents since we went to the Gaslite together last week...hopefully THIS review doesn't get removed, too.
My experience here was absolutely HORRIBLE. My friends and I have been to the Gaslite many times before and always have had a good time, but after last week, we vow never to come back. We came on 11/7/12 and the bartender Steve was completely WASTED. We were waiting at least half an hour at the bar while he argued with a girl about her tab. The bouncer came in to deal with the situation and Steve started yelling insults at the patrons; the whole thing was insane. The cops were even called on him! I've never experienced anything like this. We all left at midnight or so because he seriously pissed off EVERYONE.
Both my friend and I held back on writing a review because we all assumed that this guy would be fired and never be allowed to work in a bar again. We came back a couple nights later on Friday and brought some friends who were in town...and were absolutely SHOCKED to find that the bartender Steve was still working there!!! My friends and I left right away. We don't need to go to a place where the management clearly doesn't care about its customers and what kind of people work there. It's such a shame because we used to love coming here. So be forewarned - the Gaslite can be a fun place, but get out of there if Steve is working, unless you like being called derogatory names and getting horrible service from a belligerent bartender.
Went on a Saturday. Â Let me start off with something good - the crowd was fun and the bartenders were very attentive and friendly.
The bad, which is really important since it's a karaoke bar... is the karaoke. Â I do karaoke often and this was so poorly run! Â The KJ was a tall, thin, blonde guy with sort of an emo haircut. Â Why play music so long in between songs? Â It delays everything. Â This place is NOT first come, first serve... this KJ would call someone that would not come up, go to the next person, and then call the previous person up again. Â I'm sorry, but if you are not around when your song is called, tough cookies. Â A number of times, I saw someone he looked familiar with come up and talk to him, and they would suddenly be up next.
I would *maybe* go back if I just wanted a couple of drinks, but I will never choose the Gas Lite for karaoke again. Â Maybe other KJs that work here run things differently, but avoid this guy!
My experience here this past week was absolutely HORRIBLE. I've been to the Gaslite many times before and always have had a good time, but after this week, I vow never to come back. I came on 11/7/12 and the bartender Steve was completely WASTED. I was waiting at least half an hour at the bar while he argued with a girl about her tab. The bouncer came in to deal with the situation and Steve started yelling insults at the patrons; the whole thing was insane. The cops were even called on him! I've never experienced anything like this. We all left at midnight or so because he seriously pissed off EVERYONE.
I held back on writing a review because we all assumed that this guy would be fired and never be allowed to work in a bar again. I came back a couple nights later on Friday and brought some friends who were in town...and was absolutely SHOCKED to find that the bartender Steve was still working there!!! My friends and I left right away. I don't need to go to a place where the management clearly doesn't care about its customers and what kind of people work there. It's such a shame because I used to love coming here. So be forewarned - the Gaslite can be a fun place, but get out of there if Steve is working, unless you like being called a bitch and getting horrible service from a belligerent bartender.
My husband and I just got home from here, it was a blast! This happens to be Halloween weekend, so everyone (including myself) dressed up for Halloween. The place had a really cool vibe, great mix of people... older and younger crowd, I would stress on the younger crowd... lots of mid-late 20s. Possibly because it was Halloween...
Very comfortable, low key, laid back place. There wasn't like a script being read for the karaoke rules, just really chill... which I love!
We sat at the bar for 2 drinks and the bartender was great... very relaxed, offered another drink, but not too pushy about buying more.
We went up front near the karaoke for a bit and had a great time dancing and singing, never felt like the crowd was out of control or anything.
I would highly recommend The Gaslite for a fun, low key night out!
The Gaslite is unique and pretty awesome. It gets crowded and you can't get your name on the karaoke list after a certain time in the night, but it is fun listening to what others choose, and it's a break from what usually plays at clubs and bars.
Fun crowd, not pretentious, don't need to dress up. Also, the crowd is all ages from 21 to Seniors, which is a great mix. Bartenders are nice and service is good. Unfortunately they do not have food, however they do let you order from other restaurants and they have popcorn.
Overall, not the cleanist bar, and parking stinks, but the experience is very worth it and very fun.
I'm not usually a bar person, but for what it is, this bar's fun. Â Is the bar a little grimy? Â Yes. Â What you come for though, is the karaoke.
Great selection of music for karaoke - everything from hip hop to classic to pop. Â No pretentiousness. Â Check your ego at the door and enjoy the eclectic group of people having a good time.
What sets this place apart is the DJ. Â There was a great DJ tonight who handled transitions super well and backed up the singers when needed. Â He kept the energy going between songs and kept people on the dance floor. Â Not to mention, he had great style and rad hair which made karaoke seem just a little bit cooler.
My boyfriend and I were physically assaulted by a bouncer at this bar because we didn't tip. I had bruises for weeks. I strongly recommend against going to this bar.
I heard good things about this place, but I was shocked beyond belief at the service. My boyfriend and I were overcharged a total of $16, so $56 on what should have been a $40 tab.
When we tried to call the waitress's attention to the overcharge, she was immediately defensive, and claimed she knew we had ordered more than $40 worth of drinks because we had been there since before 8pm. We got there around 10 pm, and even had a receipt from a gas station from around 9 40 to prove it. The waitress would not budge and told us to contact corporate if we had a problem.
So I agreed to pay the full total, but informed her that I wasn't going to tip because her service had been terrible. This alone would be enough for a one star review, but that was just the tip of the ice berg. The waitress had called a bouncer over and when he heard me say I wasn't going to tip, he yelled "If you can't afford to tip, then you can't afford to drink at the bar" and grabbed me by my upper arm and yanked me across the floor. Â My boyfriend said "Let's calm down, we're just about to leave anyway." And tried to angle himself in between me and the bouncer who was still holding my arm.
The bouncer's response was to hit my boyfriend in the throat with an open hand. He hit his throat so hard my boyfriend staggered backwards. The bf is a big guy and I think that blow would have knocked most people down. Then the bouncer physically dragged me toward the door while he and the waitress swore at us and told us never to come back.
I also saw several other bartenders taking shots that night, so it wouldn't surprise me if the bouncer and waitress had also been drinking, it would at least make some of their bizarre somewhat more understandable.
We called the police after leaving and made a report and I left a complaint on the manager's machine. It took the Gas Lite over a month to follow up with me, and it was only after repeated threats of a civil suit for battery, assault, and negligence.
I ended up settling with their insurance company, but to this day I have not heard a word of apology from Clair Ragge, the owner. She clearly doesn't care about the safety, wellbeing, or satisfaction of her customers.
It's been a while, Yelp, but I'M BAAAACCK! Â For good reason... Â THE GASLITE, and all its potential. Â Owners, please read this!!
As a thrifty Karaoke connoisseur (ie: cheap and picky as hell!) there's no doubt that this place has potential... Â Cool crowd, cheap drinks, and smells terrible. Â Everything I like in a dive bar! Â Some VERY IMPORTANT recommendations:
1) Â Turn it up! Â I was there on a Friday and it was pretty crowded, mostly people chatting with/at their friends at top volume. Â If you weren't right on the dance floor, all you hear is the yakety-yak (don't talk back!) Â Most of the crowd wasn't there to sing, just to hang out, and they only rushed the dance floor when their friends were up. Â It needed to be louder!
2) Â Get a second monitor that FACES THE CROWD. Â These people are too drunk to play the "What are they singing?" game or go look at the singer's monitor. Â NO SECOND SCREEN means NO CROWD SINGING ALONG, which means very little support for the singer. Â It's all about fun!
3) Â The KJ was amazing, but terribly overworked, and constantly bombarded with drunken inquiries. Â She can use an assistant on busy nights... and a raise. Â Or both. Â It's always appreciated when the lineup is shouted out (ie: "Now we have Joe coming up, and Shirley is on deck followed by Bob.") Â This also makes sure the next singer is ready for their song and doesn't have to shove through the crowd.
I had a great time at the Gaslite, and appreciate places that have the guts to do Karaoke nightly! Â I'd definitely go back on a less-crowded night, but for now, improvements can be made.
I don't know how people can stand the smell of this place!! It's horrible! It smells like beer, puke and, when you go towards the bathroom, like burned popcorn grease. I have been to a lot of bars that had popcorn machines, and none of them smelled pungent like that. I don't know if there's something wrong with it, or it never gets cleaned, but it's horrible. The smell is so awful it's hard to focus on anything else.
One note though- all the people on here bashing the karaoke hosts because they had to wait too long to sing? If you want to sing at a busy karaoke bar, you have to show up early to sign up- that's just the way it is. You can't fault a place for waiting too long to sing. First come, first served- it's not a tricky concept.
I love coming to this place whenever i'm in Santa Monica. It's a low key bar that is amazing!! And it's a KARAOKE BAR!!
There's free popcorn with different flavor toppings...YUM!! You can bring in your own food in, which is great because nobody lets you do that anymore. And the bartenders are as cute as they can get!!
I love drinking here and watching other people try to sing karaoke on stage, LOL!! The bartenders are fast and they always remember what i've been drinking all night. Oh, and the drinks are super cheap!
I think everyone should try this place out if they're around the area. Cheap drinks and people to laugh at. What more can you ask for?! :)
First, a simile: Â My first visit to The Gaslite was like finding out that the tooth fairy was my mother AND that she had stopped paying for my abandoned teeth (a.k.a. quite a let down).
In other words, I had heard of this place through the proverbial grapevine umpteen times over the last few years. Â I never made it out to the random birthdays or nights out. Â Just recently I found myself in SM for a date night, and since my hubby and I are HUGE karaoke-ers, we felt the need to cab it here.
When we walked in, we were shocked. Â Like jaw hitting the floor shocked. Â Gaslite is one big, shabby (but not chic) room with a few booths on the periphery. Â The walls are old, the bar is old, the equipment is old, and so on and so forth. Â
The shock continued when we heard the first singer... and the next... and the next.... I guess since it's simply a karaoke bar we figured a great deal of the singers would be relatively good. Â Not so much. Â We are used to a sprinkle of good and bad, with a lot of in-betweeners. Â No such luck. Â We're talking some who are tone deaf and the rest who can't follow the lyrics for the life of them. Â Ugh. Â
The saving graces were the strong drinks, eclectic crowd, and convenient location.  We took a few dollar cab ride from 3rd Street and enjoyed quite a few cheap vodka/sodas.  The crowd proved for some people watching.  I'm not sure I'll make it back here... I'd rather cab it back  to Woodland Hills for some reeeal karaoke............
Stumbled in here during our sunday funday in Santa Monica. Â It was slow. But the patrons were freakin awesome... Â very friendly. Â I must have had two rounds bought for me... Â awesome. Â
I really love that this place is so down to earth. Â lacking that snobby uptown attitude in hollywood... Â
Jess... the bartender made me a flower out of paper! it was funny... Â part of a joke my friends told her about. Â They were bustin my chops for ordering a sangria in santa monica: it had orchid pedals n stuff...
Drinks were absurdley cheap... Â 4 beers for 12 bucks.... Â wow. Â thats the price for one beer at drais hollywood. Â really. Â no really thats the price...
I really like this place... i'm defnitely going to return.
I used to love this place and now it's just eh. The place gets way too crowded on Fridays and Saturdays. If you're going there to sing a song you're going to have to wait two plus hours not to mention it gets super hot in there.
It's a typical dive bar and the bartenders do make the drinks strong, but if you actually want to sing there are many better places to go where the crowds are just as good.
I love this place just for being its Hot Mess self, every night of the week.
Yes, it may be small, and warm, and somewhat corny, but thats its beauty.
One year for my birthday, I came here to conquer my karaoke fear. The regulars were a great crowd and I was able to blame my voice on the 3 baskets of free popcorn I ate.
On the weekends, the crowd is usually very fun, if you disagree, maybe your the one not being fun...so have a drink and join in the Sing-Along extravaganza. Â
GREAT karaoke bar!!! Don't stop believing..
I went to this place on Friday night, after my friends saw me perform with  a jazz trio. They were inspired to do karaoke after hearing me sing. So we headed over to The Gaslite because it was the closest karaoke place near the location where we were at the time. What a mistake that was.
The place was crowded and hot. Â The KJ was a complete Douchebag with a capital D. This wanna be white boy rapper/hype man Justin Bieber look a like did multiple things to annoy the crap out of us. 1. He played an entire track between every singer. 2.He put himself in the rotation multiple times when there were more than 40 singers on the list. 3.He sung and beatboxed over the singers as they were singing 4.He didn't go by the list, so you had to bug him to find out where you were. 5. The sound system was terrible I'm pretty sure he didn't know what the hell he was doing up there, and just turned everything up.
The one thing that pissed me off more than anything was when it was my time to sing, he let the girl in front of me sing the song I chose. And when I came up to do my song, I chose a Metallica song. He took one look at me and asked "Are you sure you want to do this song"? Yes I'm sure (you jackass!) I took it he's never met a black woman who liked and could sing the hell out of a hard rock song. I had to school him with my performance. My friends sang their songs completely out of order and he tried sing over them. We left there disgusted.
I hope the owner of this place reads this review. Get rid of this guy and hire a real KJ that isn't some moron trying to make this place his own personal rap concert.
You have to be a hardcore karaoke lover to hit up this place in the middle of the day. I am definitely not one of those people, especially because I only like doing things I'm good at...like napping and eating duck fetuses. I hadn't even finished my first drink, and my classmates were already crooning GNR on stage. This is probably why I don't have friends in school. I'm just not always "down" with what the white people want to do.
Though this place is a hole in the wall, drinks were not the super cheap dive bar prices I expected ($7 for a vodka tonic), but the bartender was pretty nice. I also have no idea why this is place is listed under "dance clubs." There's hardly enough room for a Jenny Craig death match.
Question: What's the best thing to say to your tone deaf friend after she completes a rather heinous rendition of Sublime's "Santeria" at a karoake bar in Santa Monica?
Answer: "You looked like you were having so much fun!"
Translation: "You were really really bad, but I think you actually believe that you looked/sounded cool/good, so I'm going to come up with something nice to say that isn't a lie!"
I'm not afraid to admit it.  I'll say it (or sing it) loud and proud: I was the  bad karoake friend, and I didn't even need more than one drink to do it!  I poisoned the ears of those surfer lads, Stephen King look-a-likes and girls wearing obsenely skimpy outfits, like a champ!  And yes, I did have "so much fun" doing it! Â
Gas Lite gets my vote for "ideal destination to make a fool of yourself in front of lots of randos making fools of themselves as well." Â It also gets my vote for "nice spot to chill with a group of friends who let other friends do karoake." Â And finally, Gas Lite wins the "friendliest bartenders in LA" award for excellent table-clearing skills, efficient service and of course, eagerness to fill up those glasses to the brim! Â I'll clink clunky wine goblets (and sing!) to that any day!
KARAOKE KLUSTERFU*K
can't...move.... Â so...packed... Â no one moves...when you try to walk by... Â creepy guy who looks like he dresses up child-like mannequins in his basement getting too close... no where to run... don't want to end up a lampshade...
unable to get to the bar...anger...kevin smash...makes me use too many ellipses...
20 fewer people and I would've loved it. Â I'll be back for another round. Â Maybe I'll go at 6AM when they open.
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