Friday and Saturday night karaoke at Hampden’s Clipper Mill Inn will return in February after being shut down by the city in May for lack of an entertainment license.
Employees say they anticipate its return as the singing had boosted the bar business by nearly 70 percent. The karaoke night drew a young crowd of college students as well as locals, featuring songs from the 1960s to current popular music, and had been a neighborhood fixture for more than 10 years.
The bar received preliminary approval for a live entertainment license Dec. 8 from Baltimore City’s liquor board. The license is conditional upon inspections by various city agencies including the city’s health and fire departments.
The license also contains conditions that were agreed upon between the bar owners and local groups, including the Hampden Community Council. Those conditions include limiting the live entertainment to karaoke, and hosting karaoke only on Friday and Saturday nights and setting a decibel limit, says Hampden Community Council President Adam Feuerstein.
Voted Baltimore’s best karaoke night by the City Paper two years ago, the bar received several noise complaints from neighbors in May. In November, bar staff met with the Hampden Community Council to win community support for the karaoke nights, Feuerstein says.
Bar owner Robert Markarovich could not be reached for comment.
Writer: Alexandra Wilding
Sources: Clipper Mill Inn employees Randy Cullison and Donna Tingler; Adam Feuerstein, Hampden Community Council