The Curtain Has Risen on LA's Newest Karaoke Bar and Private Studio

**I Tried LA's Flashiest New Karaoke Bar So You Know Exactly What You're Getting Into**

Disclosure: Mic Drop Karaoke hosted us with complimentary karaoke and drinks. As always, all opinions are my own.

Hello, Karaoke sing-along fans: I have officially unlocked the most bougie, sexy, amazing karaoke lounge I’ve ever been to in my entire life! I am not just saying this, I truly mean it. I experienced it myself, in the flesh, and I am here to share one of my top favorite LA nights with you, in detail so we can re-live all your singing dreams together and let you know I’ve found just the spot :D

*The hallway to your private karaoke studio, at Mic Drop Karaoke*

*The classy menu in the main karaoke room, stage in the background*

So let’s add some context. I’ve only karaoke’d in Los Angeles, my stomping grounds. Usually, I karaoke in Japantown (Olympic and Sawtelle), Little Tokyo and/or Koreatown…which is to say the neighborhoods where Asian-American culture reins supreme :D (not mad about that!) .

When I read that there was going to be a glamorous, high-end karaoke venue opening up in West Hollywood, I screamed with delight.

There aren’t that many LA karaoke places that aren’t in the aforementioned neighborhoods. WeHo is kinda close to the Westside, and let’s call it… there’s a huge karaoke desert in LA and it starts on the Westside and extends all the way to Mid-City, Central-ish LA! I knew Mic Drop Karaoke was going to fill a much needed void. I couldn’t wait.

Curtain Call Time: From the Lobby to the Stage

*Posing in front of Mic Drop Karaoke in WeHo*

The location is prime. WeHo is one of top most walkable neighborhoods in the country. It’s dense, it’s good food, drinks entertainment, nightlife, and they continue to invest in community and public transportation. Hence, I knew it was going to be a big contribution to the WeHo and Los Angeles nightlife scene.

Secondly, I enjoy history, especially as it crossed my daily life! I learned that Mic Drop Karaoke’s 1920s building originally housed Larrabee Sound Studios, a recording and mixing studio originally owned by Carole King and her husband Gerry Goffin in the 1960s.

To me, that is very poetic that it has transformed to today’s high-end karaoke space today, and owned by brothers Leo and Oliver Kremer.

In case you want to get all musician starry-eyed…co-owner Leo was actually the bassist for the band Third Eye Blind back in 2006! So, the desire for a high-end karaoke experience, I imagine, is rooted in his musical background. UM, how cool is that??

So me and my full-on girlie crew roll-up on this beautiful, historic building and immediately start snapping photos. There are velvet ropes and the door person is gracious, greeting us and offering to get out of our picture frame lol.

Naturally, we move from the exterior to the entry. WOW! The floors are black-and-white marble, and I felt like I was stepping into a David Lynch Twin Peaks film set, aka another dimension! It’s like I’m in LA but I’m not lol!

The entrance to the karaoke bar, where you can sing in front of locals and strangers alike, is thru the burgundy velvet, curtains. It’s theatrical; is someone going to break into Broadway song-and-dance?? My jaw is to the floor. We are snapping group photos and selfies, left and right, trying to take it in!

Mic Drop rewards people who notice details. They know having a good time is serious business. The night is off to a good start.

*The bar in the main karaoke room (for the public karaoke option!!)*

After getting our fill of grand entrance photos, we meander through the red curtains to the karaoke bar. It’s filled with rounded, red booths, high top tables and leopard print stools. It’s channeling glam-disco-rock. I wish I wore something metallic to match!

My girlfriend points to the ceiling and exclaims, a Microphone Discoball!! Yet again, our jaws drop with awe. We tap our camera phones repeatedly trying to capture it all, as if we can shoot this energy straight into our blood stream like a drug. After talking to the co-owner Leo, he shares that his sculptor friend Shawn HibmaCronan custom created that discoball microphone, endearingly calling it the “Macrophone.” I love this detail!

Karaoke, But Make It a Private and Glamorous Experience

*Private karaoke studio (room) at Mic Drop Karaoke*

*The light settings are customizable and sync with the music! We are clearly in awe.*

When our private karaoke room is ready, we are led to the second floor.

There’s 3 private studios (aka private karaoke rooms) on the ground floor, and 10 karaoke studios on the second floor, totaling 13 private studios that you can book with your group and sing to your heart’s delight. Our room seats up to 10 persons, we have 8 people in a 10 person room. It is comfortable but cozy; recommend booking a bigger room if you want to dance more!

Gabriel, our server, introduces us to the karaoke room controls which is a maxed-out space with immersive color and brightness (lighting) controls, and even a fog machine.

It’s the most multi-functional, pro karaoke room I’ve ever been in! It’s concert grade audio-visual. The fog is totally safe (won’t ruin my hair lol). The lights sync to whatever song is playing. You can set the mood, tone, and light settings (go dark or go bright, up to you) as well as the mood - if you want more red vampire vibes - do it!

*Our server, Gabriel, showing us all the bells-and-whistles of the karaoke studio (private room)*

Our ten person room had two monitors so we can stand at the “front” and read the screen at the back of the room. Or you can face the wall and the central screen, singer’s choice!

The karaoke software they use is Karafun; and it has all the songs we want, and are constantly adding more (yay). There’s a QR code you can scan, and you can control much of the settings including Volume, Microphone, Vocals, Tempo, and Song-List all on your phone! That’s amazing, we exclaim!! It’s very easy to use.

When your time is over, it shows how many songs you have left, so you can skip songs and move your song ordering around to make sure you end the night on a good note (literally). Once we were within 2-5 minutes of our booking ending, the software blocked us from making changes (which is smart, otherwise we would have refused to leave, having too much fun lol).

Eat. Drink. Hit the High Notes.

*Our drink collection, we were well hydrated*

The menu leans playful.

The cocktail list has personality, including drinks like the Pink Pony Club with Tito’s, pomegranate, black cherry and club soda (how very pop music coded). There’s a spicy margarita called Posh Spice, a kiwi melon sake situation called Green Eyes, espresso martinis, a dirty martini called ODB Dirty, and even giant shareable formats if your group decides the night is escalating quickly.

My personal favorite menu detail might have been the humor. One martini tree serving six drinks is called the Joshua Tree (a very hip desert park), and there’s also an absurdly large crystal tower cocktail that claims to equal “a bit more than 7 drinks,” that makes me smile.

*The No Diggity non-alcoholic drink (yum!)*

Food-wise, don’t expect full restaurant; more snacks so you don’t die of hunger. Snackies include Truffle popcorn. Tater tots. Charcuterie. Shrimp cocktail. Pizza options if your group stays long enough to hit second-hunger mode. The pastrami pizza named Fuhgeddaboudit sounds chaotic in the best way.

And now we’ve made it to my section… the nonalcoholic drinks that actually are thoughtful, including a Zbiotics probiotic shots and spirit-free cocktails (how very LA!). I ordered the No Diggity (consisting of bitters, electrolytes, NA Amaro, Aperitif syrup and coconut water); my friends agreed it was good.

Overall, it felt designed for lingering (hang over not required). Order a drink, sing terribly or beautifully depending on your level, share food, and most definitely stay way longer than planned.

Surprise! That’s a large private karaoke party room!

*The 50 person, private karaoke studio (aka party room) at Mic Drop Karaoke*

*Enjoying the 50 person private karaoke party room!*

We had to see the private, 50 person party (karaoke) room and studio, and it was awesome!

It features its own mini-stage, multiple monitors, microphones, benches, stools and tables. Everything is carpeted, padded, and screaming, have-fun, dance and sing the night away!

We truly feel like the main attraction and star. The ceiling has LED, run-way-like lighting that radiates from a mini discoball!

We go crazy taking photos, and brainstorming how we can book and use the room in the future. Honestly, I need to go back and plan a birthday and/or special event there. I’m already in love.

If you book this 50 person karaoke studio and party room, please send me pics so I can live vicariously through you :D

History Fun: Where Karaoke Actually Came From

When I spoke to co-owner Leo, he gushed about how they traveled the world karaoke-ing in different cities, countries, bars, lounges… everywhere!

*Total glam treatment at Mic Drop Karaoke*

This got me wondering about the history of karaoke…This may sound obvious but I did not think about it until then.

Before there was karaoke, there was “bouncing ball” sing-along where the words displayed on the screen and you simply sung along; this started more than a 100 years ago in 1924! With the rise to television and records, people were able to practice singing on a wider scale.

I learned that the first karaoke machine, named Juke 8, was initially invented in 1971 in Japan! This invention was never patented. The word karaoke is a Japanese word, roughly translated as an “empty orchestra” which is IMO adorable and the best word choice ever. Shortly after it’s invention, a similar machine was also invented in the Philippines.

Today, the countries with the largest share of the karaoke revenue are Japan, South Korea and yes, the Philippines! I think it’s safe to say that Asia is dominating the karaoke market; and I am truly impressed. I read several articles that suggest, karaoke is HUGE in the Philippines, where people grow up singing. One reader admitted, “They never met a Filipino who couldn’t sing!” I don’t now about you, but that sounds like a compliment to me lol. I would love for someone to tell me, I am a wonderful singer lol!! Imagine growing up constantly singing as a way to bond, and as your hobby! Wow, I grew up in the wrong culture :)

So that takes us to modern times. The first karaoke world championship was held in Finland in 2003! Leave it to the Finns to put some judging and parameters around what constitutes the best and make it explode! Okay, I hope this is not offensive, but my hypothesis is that the Finns love organized institutions and formalized hobbies! I wonder if they even prefer rules with clear expectations in social settings, where are karaoke is more embedded as a communal entertainment (aka noncompetitive) hobby in Asia… who knows, but I laugh a little to myself when I learned that karaoke competition was born in Finland. (Note to self, make time to visit Finland!!)

The Masterminds Behind the Curtain

While I was trying out the lovely Mic Drop Karaoke experience, Leo Kremer (one half of the co-owner pair) stopped by to introduce himself! He was very kind and was excited for us to experience their new brand of karaoke.

For your sake, I did some online sleuthing, so you don’t have to! The owners are two brothers who are super close, best friends, and they have previously run a successful business together. In 2009, they started the Dos Toros Taqueria, a burrito chain, largely based in New York City, Well, it exploded at some point, and they grew it to over twenty-one locations before selling it to Chop’t (which appears to be one of their investors?) in January 2020, right before COVID times.

I think we can say, these two brothers find a niche, a gap, a potential demand, and try to be the best they can within by filling that gap! So my theory, is they are repeating their entrepreneur success here in WeHo, Los Angeles, California! And I am so excited I get to witness and experience their level of genius. I

suspect Mic Drop Karaoke is exactly what Los Angeles needs; something different, glamorous and high-end. Who knows what’s in store for them in the future (out of state growth??). I have no idea, and and I doubt they’d tell me :D

Spoiler: It’s Totally Worth It

In short: Mic Drop Karaoke is luxe, it's theatrical, and it does not cut corners, and that's exactly why it works. You're not just paying for a room and a mic. You're paying for an entire production. Worth it? Completely. Is it cheap? No.

Would I go back? Already eyeing the calendar and telling all my friends! I 100% loved it and would pay to re-do this experience over-and-over again!

Mic Drop Karaoke

8811 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069

(website)

*The author in her happy place, the karaoke room!*

About Elle (aka L. Tran)

Elle is a karaoke zealot, an apologetic mic hog, and will absolutely sing at every karaoke bar and night.

When she's not belting out a banger, she's playing tourist in her own city and sharing 10+ years of hard-earned Los Angeles knowledge with anyone who'll listen.

You'll find her commuting by bike, rolling around on skates, and actively looking for the next excuse to grab a microphone.

Questions about LA? A karaoke recommendation? Just want to say hi? She's here for all of it. Drop her a line at linhdy@outlook.com; meeting new people is genuinely her thing. Cheers!