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Trophy’s Sports Bar & Grill

11/2/2016

The pulse quickens under the heat of the bright lights. The man with the hot mic is elevated on stage. The vocal chords quiver. The pupils dilate — it’s go time.

“I had a heart attack six-and-a-half weeks ago, so I’ve had to tone it down,” says Frank Munch, a karaoke singer by night and a construction manager by day.trophys-signage-1

It’s Wednesday night at Trophy’s Bar & Grill, and this is his third stop of the night. He says he’ll be on to his fourth after this. Before the problem with his ticker, he would hit a dozen or more karaoke nights per week. He is a self-proclaimed karaoke snob, and he sings karaoke as often as he can.

“On any day of the week, I could name you three places, minimum, that have karaoke,” he says. “I’ll sing anything.”

“September” by Earth, Wind and Fire is his go-to song. He says he’s learned that picking a fan favorite song is the key to pleasing.

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On Wednesdays at Trophy’s, a winner is selected to advance to have the right to face off at the end of the year for a grand prize of $200. It might not be a life-changing sum of money, but karaoke loyalists like Carrie Davis say she is OK with that. She comes every Wednesday.

“It’s very addicting,” she says. “Lots of people come out.”

The song she sings when she needs to kill is “Little Red Wagon” by Miranda Lambert.

“How ‘bout you” by Eric Church is Johnny Walker’s money song.

“We don’t come every Wednesday night,” he says. “But we do come very often.”

“We follow Rick everywhere he goes,” Carrie chimes in. “He hosts a karaoke night every single night somewhere.”

She is speaking of the karaoke jockey Rick Ludwig, who has been a professional mobile D.J. since 1985.

“We do it Wednesday, Friday and Saturday,” he says. “At 10 p.m. each week, the top four move on to the finals in December.”

Trophy’s offers other forms of competition, too, including bowling, bags and sand volleyball. But it’s karaoke that bedazzles the bar’s onlookers tonight.

“It’s a great place to have fun,” says Meghan Powers, Trophy’s sales and program director for karaoke and much more. ♦

 

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