Sydney's doing karaoke backed by a live 12 person choir, and it might be the best night out this month

Sydney's newest night out is karaoke with a 12 person choir standing behind you, and it is exactly as unhinged as that sounds.

House of Hymns lands at Pleasure Club in Newtown on 17 September, billed as Sydney's first ever choir backed karaoke night. Performers pick a song from a curated book, then belt it out backed by a live 12 person choir, working through pop and queer anthems from Madonna, Kylie, Chappell Roan and George Michael. No experience required, just pick a song and commit to it.

The venue does half the work on atmosphere alone. Pleasure Club sits inside what used to be a deconsecrated church, so belting out a Kylie chorus with an actual choir behind you, in an actual former place of worship, has a level of theatre normal karaoke rooms just cannot match. It is the kind of setting that makes even a slightly wobbly performance feel like a proper event.

It is also a smart bit of programming for a city that has had karaoke in one form or another for decades. Regular karaoke works because it lowers the stakes. Everyone is a bit bad and that is the fun of it. Adding a trained choir behind every performer flips that entirely, suddenly the amateur singer sounds enormous, which is a genuinely different kind of thrill than screaming into a microphone over a backing track alone.

The lineup of artists on offer also does some heavy lifting. Madonna, Kylie and George Michael cover the crowd that grew up on the originals, while Chappell Roan pulls in a younger audience who know every word without needing the lyrics on screen. That spread means a room full of strangers can probably all sing along to something.

Book ahead if the idea appeals, because first of its kind nights in Sydney tend to sell out fast, and a genuinely novel night out like this one is not going to stay a secret for long. Bring your best Kylie and let the choir carry the rest.