Inn the Spot - Karaoke with a Cult Following

Just far enough out of town to make students groan at the walk, The New Inn isn’t many students’ first choice on where to spend a weekend night. Sitting in here on a late Tuesday afternoon, I may understand why. Nearly empty, apart from a few regulars and hotel guests, I recognise nobody else inside. Other pubs reliably have at least a few familiar faces any day of the week. Its location on St Mary Street, near East Sands, possibly keeps students away. Even though it’s only a fifteen-minute walk from my flat on City Road, the rest of the town’s nightlife, pubs, and restaurants are concentrated within a few minutes’ walk from my door. 

What the New Inn may lack in centrality, it definitely makes up for in friendliness. As I ordered my pint of Tennents (only £4.50 — one of the cheapest by the town’s standards), Lewis, who was behind the bar, was already asking me if I was up to much today, what I was studying, and where I was from. This is not the most common experience in St Andrews. He and the other bartender, Iain, took turns manning the bar to throw darts. Regulars called them by name to ask for another round and chat them up.

If you’re not willing to make the walk out of town just to hang out with friendly bartenders, there is one night a week to come to the New Inn that I promise will make you a regular — Karaoke Fridays. By 9pm, the tables are cleared out to make a stage, groups have staked out their tables, pints are flowing, and requests are piling up. Lewis and Robynn, siblings who work at the pub, run the event, sitting next to their surprisingly professional microphone and speaker rig. In my experience with karaoke nights in other venues, the emcees have a bored, over-it look from spending hours listening to drunk people singing off-key. At the New Inn, however, the people running seem just excited about it. “Lewis will cover the bar if Robynn and I want to jump in and sing,” says Iain. “‘Iris’ by the Goo Goo Dolls is my go-to.”

Iain explained that, on average, karaoke nights are the busiest of the week, with about 30-40 people getting involved. Most are local to St Andrews, there’s a regular group of about ten postgrads, and the rest are the occasional groups of undergrads. A karaoke night at an otherwise quiet, out-of-town pub is bound to draw some characters, and it surely does. Take Don, for example, who comes every week, sits in the closest booth to the stage, and judges the singers. He’s not afraid to be vocal about his thoughts, too — he once told me that my rendition of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s ‘Drunk in Love’ was, “absolutely dreadful.” To be fair, it was audacious to think that song was even close to being in my range. According to Iain, though, Don is really a lovely singer who was in a Swedish band. “If you buy him a Grouse, he might even get up and sing,” he says. Next time, I’ll buy Don that Grouse and see if he can answer for his words. 

For all its obscurity in many town-dwelling students’ minds, The New Inn is hiding one of the best nightlife experiences this town has to offer. It proves that a good night out doesn’t have to be about polish or flash; it’s about the people. Between easy chats with Lewis or Iain, Robynn’s enthusiasm and beautiful voice, and Don’s brutally honest critiques, karaoke night at the New Inn feels like being part of something local and authentic. Make the walk out there, go in with an open mind, and you’ll leave already planning your songs for next week.

Illustration by Sarah Knight