Next-level karaoke coming to the Fairfax District with the opening of Vodvil early next year

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

It’s not your Bud-swilling brother’s karaoke bar (ahem, Brass Monkey); nor is it a pricey bottle-service lounge in Koreatown. It’s also not a tiny dive in Silver Lake (I love you Smog Cutter, but karaoke with you is like sitting two feet away from a drunk who won’t stop screaming in your face).

It’s Vodvil, and its owner Josh Saltman claims that when the lounge and restaurant opens early next year at 351 Fairfax Ave. between Beverly and Oakwood, a new breed of karaoke bar will have been unleashed on Los Angeles.

How so? Saltman--a lawyer and ‘amateur karaoke enthusiast’--says that he hired a team of experts and spent years developing a concept that combined a fun karaoke bar with a stylish supper club and a parlor-style game room. It’s too early to check in to see if he speaks the truth, but we’ll revisit Vodvil closer to its scheduled opening.

In the meantime we can report that it is being designed by Ralph Gentile Architects, who worked on Red O, Ago Las Vegas and Bliss Spa at the W Hotel Hollywood. State-of-the-art audiovisual technology will, of course, be crucial to the design scheme.

Not much word on the food and drink yet, but there will be a full bar and a full menu. And in addition to karaoke, Vodvil will offer a variety of interactive, multi-player games including ‘sculptionary’ and ‘running charades.’ Both of those things make me think of uWink on steroids. But this rendering promises a much prettier environment.

--Jessica Gelt

Renderings of Vodvil courtesy of Vodvil