text: My friend is a piano teacher so I took it as a good sign that Sing Sing would be quality stuff It was her birthday and I did not really know anything about dueling piano bars I was picturing glossy black grand pianos with glittering notes pianists in black jackets and crystal glasses full of red wine I am really really glad I was wrong nnIt was gritty bawdy and quintessentially Pittsburgh First off the pianos are scuffed to hell considering the number of tipsy people who sit on them nightly while being mildly humiliated The musicians hammer away at them and they are covered with N and Sing Sing stickers It is obvious they have been wellloved The music is anything but the elevator music I was picturing it is rock hiphop oldies pop and just about any genre imaginable thanks to the request system send up a piece of paper with some money and the amazing repertoire of the musicians For instance Rubber Ducky and Gangstas Paradise were both featured when I was there and both performed impeccably They also honored a request for a Taylor Swift song only to receive and a request for anything else which they promptly followed The musicians also do funny versions of popular songs and throw in things like yinz instead of younnI saw in awe of the performers for a decent portion of the night It must take a particularly special type of person to put on a show like this considering the energy confidence wit empathy boldness silliness cleverness and sheer talent a job like this requires They rotate performers in and out so there is not even an intermission I have read comments about the baseness of the humor but I had no doubt the guys up on stage were intelligent dudes They had great personalities one was about pounds cheeky and quickwitted He acted out every sport in the winter olympics and was pretty into this somethingyearold lady in the audience called Joan The other had crazy hair and bright blue Chucks beatboxed as well as he sang and made it point to play a handful of songs for my friends birthday I think Ray Charles is the most soulful guy of all time he said when she requested himnnThere were tons of people celebrating birthdays and one big bachelorette party the Saturday night I was there The performers bring the birthday boygirl bachelorbachelorette etc on stage for a tip which is pretty easy to scrounge up among friends and humiliate the hell out of them ie this is not the place to be if you cannot laugh at yourself My friend had a short dress on when she sat on the piano and they sang a threeminute song about her vaginannLuckily the show eclipsed the bad service and overpriced weak drinks because those did feature heavily throughout the night The rest of the staff was friendly however and I stumbled on the door guy singing and dancing by himself which made me smilennSing Sing is definitely not an every weekend type of thing much like Hofbrueuhaus but is a splendid way to celebrate a special occasion Definitely belongs on every required Pittsburgh experiences list