FOXTON PLUMBER'S KEY CHANGE ENDS ROSLYN KARAOKE NIGHT AFTER 11 YEARS
The light fitting came down on the second chorus. The ban came down Tuesday.
Karaoke night at a Roslyn pub is finished after a Foxton plumber's go at "Total Eclipse of the Heart" brought down a ceiling light, a plate of sausage rolls and, by the end of the week, Palmerston North City Council.
Shane Toia, 44, had driven up from Foxton after a full day on a blocked drain in Levin and was, by his own account, "carrying a bit of feeling." He got through the first verse. Witnesses agree the trouble started at the key change.
"I went for the big note and the fitting let go," Toia told The Daily Yarn from the smoko room of his next job. "Landed on the pool table. Nobody hurt. That bracket was buggered before I got there — you could see daylight through it. That's a builder's problem, not a singer's."
Bar manager Lorraine Kirk said the fitting was the least of it. With the Massey students gone home for the holidays, Toia's chorus was the only sound in Palmerston North. A woman in Milson, three kilometres away, rang noise control thinking a fire alarm had gone off. "She said it was either an emergency or Bonnie Tyler," Kirk said. "Couldn't argue with either."
A council spokesperson confirmed a noise control officer attended with a clipboard, measured the second chorus at a level "not consistent with a Wednesday", and issued an abatement notice to the microphone. The officer also failed the bracket, the ceiling and the pool table. None of them had been singing.
A sign on the door says karaoke will be back "Tuesday." Toia has already put his name down for "November Rain."
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Reader Letters
★ JoannePetone
Honestly, it sounds like the bracket was already munted before Toia's big note. Fair enough, though. We've all got a mate who's gone a bit too hard at karaoke. The council needs to focus on real issues, not blokes having a sing after work.
tired_in_riccarton
@JoannePetone, mate, classic mismanagement. They chase noise while real issues go unattended!
★ BarryBishopdale
Wouldn't have happened back in my day when ceilings were properly built and checked. Standards have definitely slipped since then. Absolutely ropeable at how things are going these days. Blame the council for this mess!
wayne1987
@BarryBishopdale, ceilings don’t make themselves, mate, the builders today just need more Geoff-like care.
★ Margaret_F
In our day, Gerald would never have let a karaoke night ruin a ceiling. The youth today have different standards, obviously. Plus, they haven’t been through lockdowns like us.
Trev_Hornby
Karaoke was better when more people joined in, instead of someone trying to out-sing Bonnie Tyler. Key changes are dangerous, after all!
couchgremlin
Geoff would've fixed it.
RuthieMatters
Palmerston North must be wild if even karaoke gets council involved. What's next, flute bands causing earthquakes?
kiwi_kraig
Bloody Toia, bringing down ceilings one ballad at a time.
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