KBOX Entertainment

We were walking around downtown Pittsburg looking for something to do. We happened upon this place and had a blast!! You get your own room and pay by the hr. the song selection is extensive and the system is easy to use!

I heard about Kbox awhile ago but was waiting until they expanded their song list to include more Japanese songs. As of this weekend, they have more Japanese songs! Although I grew up in Idaho, I'm used to karaoke box style karaoke, as my husband and I lived in Tokyo for three years. I couldn't wait to try this new place !

(Quick background: I was one of those people who used to go to a karaoke box by myself on days of when I couldn't think of anything else to do.... I would order some beers, and practice singing my Japanese songs with no one around to hear me fumble over kanji that I was still learning to read. Or I would practice English songs that I loved, that were just difficult. So needless to say, I just LOVE karaoke rooms.)

I will break this review down into two main parts...  the good, and the hopefully to be improved ;) I will list the bad, then good!

A few drawbacks: As far as the karaoke set up goes, we had some trouble using the touch screen but it was nothing unmanageable. A few of the 90s grunge songs we chose, didn't actually have lyrics on the screen, just the music. We definitely missed having a big book of songs to chose songs from. Those books are always fun to flip through, especially if you are just drawing a blank on what song to sing. Another problem was that sometimes, if we searched for a song in the English section, it wouldn't show up... but if we searched for the same song in a different language section (Chinese, etc) we could find the song listed there in English. Some of the songs also are listed by song name only, and don't have an artist listed. So finding songs was a little difficult at times.

Why it still rocked: Besides struggling a little with the machine, we were still able to find a TON of songs that we both liked to sing. I felt a little like I was back in Tokyo while I was shaking my tambourine and dancing around the room.  The room we were in was very nice. Big tv and a comfy big couch that was clean. The mics worked well. Really great customer service. I mentioned beforehand on their Facebook page that I  was coming to visit them for my birthday, and was given complimentary pop and cake! How awesome is that?! I love that kind of attention to customers. We went on a Sunday, mid-day. Different days they offer different deals, most days and times offer a discount except of course, prime time Friday and Saturday nights are full priced. If you intend to go more than twice, they also offer a membership so for 10$/yearly, so you can get 30% off each time (details are on the website). They also responded promptly to my e-mails when I asked if they had Japanese songs, and listened to my feedback on what songs I wanted to see in the store. I was able to belt out a lot of my favorite songs and it was really great time.

How's it going to work out for the average Pittsburgher? I don't know but I hope everyone gives it a try. If it's your first time trying a karaoke room, just try and relax and have a good time. Have a few drinks before you go maybe. A big part of karaoke in Japan was the drinking that went with it... since that's not an option at Kbox, if your nervous, down a pint or two before you arrive then start to belt out your favorite songs. Start with songs you sing in the shower and already know to help build your confidence!

Also a bit of karaoke etiquette: If your friend sounds terrible, just let them squawk it out and search for other songs or shake the tambourine and cheer them on. Clap and do a little dance while they have their time to shine. Karaoke is best with judgment left at the door. Also, don't put in 10 songs in a row for yourself. Best to take turns :D

We will definitely be going back and getting a membership. We've been missing karaoke rooms so much. Now... how to I convince my friends that this really is fun?!

It was my first time at a "Karaoke House."  In fact , I didn't know such awesomeness existed!

We were sitting through Cappyoke last night and there are only so many times I want to see large groups of girls get up on stage and butcher "You Outta Know," or "Sweet Caroline," before I want to slit my wrists.  The place gets so packed you never get to sing, and oh yeah--it is PACKED!  I love my fellow Pittsburghers but I dont like being wedged shoulder to shoulder with them in a tiny bar.

My friends fiance leaned in and said, "I know of a place, where we can get a private room.  And we can sing all we want, in our private room."  This sounded like some sort of black market deal so naturally I was in.

Kbox is on Craig street, where Phantom of the Attic used to be.  There were six of us, and the karaoke room was $60 for an hour.  My initial reaction (based largely on consuming three Troegs perpetual IPAs beforehand) was:  "$60?  Is there champagne and a stripper in the private karaoke room?"

No champagne or strippers.

But I dont think $10 a person for an hour is bad at all.  You get to sing all you want, its not smoky, and if you were in a bar you'd be spending at least double that on alcohol while waiting to sing.

We had so much fun!  The rooms are nice, and maracas and tambourines are provided--i didnt think they were going to be needed but then we sang Hips Dont Lie and it turns out I did need a maraca for that one.

their target audience is clearly Asian.  This isnt a downside, but the karaoke machine was in Chinese and also you need a computer science degree to work the karaoke machine.  

They have a limited number of songs and half of them are in Chinese.  

Another downside:  All the doors have windows and I was totally busting out my busted version of the Gangnam Style dance and turned around there was a crowd around the window laughing at me.  Whatever, they clearly hate fun.

I will DEF be back, this was soo much fun!  Hopefully they will have more english songs available.

Oh--one other thing-- you can buy snacks there and also there appeared to be sushi menus in the rooms?  I dont know that I'd go to a karaoke bar for sushi, but the pringles we ordered were fantastic.