Succumb to Live Band Karaoke Carnage at Second Home!
The LED reindeer on my sweater have achieved sentience. They blink in perfect rhythm to "Fairytale of New York" while I massacre Shane MacGowan's verses, a live band backing me through the beauty and the wreckage I have wrought. It's 20:15 in a Shirakawa Park basement. The air tastes like spilled Asahi and someone's optimistic attempt at mulled wine. Christmas has come early to Sakae, and it brought a full band.
And not just any band, my friends...
This is Christmas Eve's Eve with the Super Karaoke Brothers!
And the premise is simple:
You sing...
...they play
...while everyone judges your ugly sweater!
The Mission
Doors at 19:00. Music at 20:00. The band—actual humans—will back your best (worst) rendition of anything from "Jingle Bell Rock" to My Chemical Romance's "Welcome to the Black Parade."
Yes, both.
In the same night.
Possibly sung by the same person after drink ticket number three.
Sign-up list goes live when you walk in. QR code delivers lyrics to your phone. Google Drive in lieu of a teleprompter. Very 2024. Very Japan.
The Arsenal
The song list reads like a fever dream playlist from 2007 Warped Tour colliding with a Japanese variety show:
"Zankoku Tenshi no Teze" sits two slots above Smash Mouth. Sailor Moon's "Moonlight Densetsu" brackets Rage Against the Machine. You can go full Aimyon with "Marigold" or full divorced dad with Bon Jovi.
Holiday classics anchor the operation—Wham!, Ariana Grande, Adam Sandler's "Chanukah Song" for the culturally ambitious.
But the deep cuts? Yoko Kanno's "Real Folk Blues." Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah." Mika Nakashima's "Glamorous Sky."
Someone's doing all three Frozen songs. Someone always does.
Dress Code: Awful
Ugly sweater contest runs light-hearted, which is code for "please don't take this seriously." The gaudiest get-up wins unspecified prizes.
When (and if) you can find them, Japanese Christmas sweaters operate on different physics than their Western cousins. Bears in Santa hats knitted with alarming detail. Phrases like "HAPPY SNOW TIME" embroidered with zero irony. Entire nativity scenes in yarn. That one guy in a perfectly pressed reindeer onesie who clearly bought it at Loft yesterday. It happens.
Culture and kitsch have merged into a single moment of holiday forgiveness. We know what we have done.
The Terrain
Second Home. Ark Shirakawa Park Building, B1F. Basement venue acoustics meet holiday cheer. The kind of space where "Crazy Train" sounds equally good and terrible depending on your blood alcohol content.
Entry gets you in the door and one drink deep. After that, you're on your own with the mic and your choices!
Why This Works
Because it's December 23 in Nagoya and you're either an international who needs this specific brand of chaos, a local curious why foreigners care so much about ugly sweaters, or the person who just loves them some Super Karaoke Brothers. Maybe all three. The Venn diagram here is just a circle. All are one.
Live accompaniment changes everything. The Brothers adjust on the fly. You're not singing to a MIDI backing track from 1997—you're fronting an actual band for three and a half minutes. It's terrifying. It's glorious.
It's December 23rd!
Final Approach
The night runs participatory. The vibe skews social. Nobody's here for American Idol—they're here because belting "APT" while backed by a live rhythm section in a sweater covered in googly-eyed snowmen is somehow the most reasonable thing happening in Sakae before Christmas Eve
Nagoya Buzz
The Details
Christmas Eve's Eve
Date: Dec. 23, 2024
Doors: 19:00
Music: 20:00
Cost: ¥1500
(includes 1 drink)
Dignity: Negotiable.
Venue:
Second Home
Ark Shirakawa Park Bldg. B1F
2-2-23 Sakae, Nagoya
Contact:
Instagram: @el_kaato
Email: kurtsamson@protonmail.com
Access
By Subway:
Fushimi Station (Higashiyama Line H09 / Tsurumai Line T07)
Use either Exit 4 or 5
→ 5-minute walk toward Shirakawa Park
→ Ark Shirakawa Park Building, B1F
Fushimi is the easiest approach. If you can see Shirakawa Park, you’re already basically there.
(Sakae Station is walkable, but Fushimi is closer and less chaotic.)
MAP
What else is going on in Nagoya?
Nagoya Buzz publishes weekly guides to events, exhibitions, food, and the small local things that make living here easier (and occasionally stranger).
If you found this useful, our Events page collects what’s happening around the city right now.
→ See upcoming events in Nagoya
in Nagoya?
Don’t ask the algorithm
Check Nagoya Buzz
#NagoyaEvents #ChristmasInNagoya #LiveBandKaraoke #NagoyaNightlife #Sakae #UglySweaterParty #NagoyaBuzz
#名古屋イベント #名古屋ナイトライフ #栄イベント #クリスマス名古屋 #クリスマスパーティー #バンドカラオケ #ライブカラオケ #忘年会 #国際交流 #名古屋バズ
Leave a Comment