Insider staff
If you’ve ever been to Tandy’s Top Shelf, you probably know that karaoke is pretty serious business there.
It’s not all typical barroom karaoke, either, in which whoever has had the most to drink gets up there and stumbles through “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” or “Piano Man” while everyone else in the room tries hard to keep their dinner down.
No, Tandy’s takes a little more pride than that. That’s why the eatery is once again hosting Market Days Idol, the competition to find the best of the best barroom singers in and around Concord.
“We started about two months ago, doing auditions at Tandy’s on Wednesday nights,” said Brian Stephens, owner of Tandy’s.
“We look for talented singers. After seven weeks of auditions, we had two call-back sessions, and if they were strong enough to be in the Market Days part of the competition, we put them through.”
So that means, unfortunately, it’s way too late to throw your hat into the mix for this year’s competition, but you can start warming up for next year if you want!
After all those auditions and call-backs and rehearsals and whatnot, the field was winnowed down to 14 performers – “and they’re all incredible singers,” Stephens said.
There will be two rounds of singing each day of Market Days – all performances will take place in the pit (for lack of a better term) at Eagle Square – and each round will have a different theme.
After each round, a phone number will be displayed for the crowd to text in their votes. It will basically work the same way the uber-popular (for whatever reason) American Idol TV show worked for years.
There will be a wide variety of music represented, wider than in years past. This year will feature duets and group songs for the first time, and both are sure to add a new level of challenge and entertainment to the mix.
Also new this year is the way songs are chosen. In the past, contestants were given a certain genre or category and they got to pick a song to sing that fit. This time, each contestant will be assigned a specific song to sing – it’s a way to get people to step out of their comfort zones, Stephens said.
All of the talent will be very high end, but not quite professional – and that’s deliberate.
“If somebody is in a band on a regular basis, we probably wouldn’t take them,” Stephens said. After all, it wouldn’t really be fair for some pro like Steven Tyler or Paul McCartney to stroll up on stage and put everyone else to shame. This is an amateur competition.
But the prizes are not amateur at all. We’re talking $1,000 cash for the big winner and $500 for the runner-up. With cash like that, you could probably afford to hire Tyler and McCartney for your next cookout.
For everyone else, you’ll just have to go see the show and cast your vote.
For a complete schedule and more info, go to facebook.com/Tandyspub.
