A karaoke taxi has come to town but some want the plug pulled on the Center City attraction
FunCab Karaoke Taxi is trying to turn the city's nightlife around but it has to face the music first.
On a warm September evening, Trenton resident Gabby Douglas and her daughter were aboard Center City’s newest tourist attraction.
They had stepped onto a roofless wagon, hitched to a souped-up pickup truck, and sung their favorite tunes as they toured the bustling corners and residential pockets of Midtown Village and Old City.
Their roaring vocals and impressively timed melodies caught the attention of pedestrians, who cheered them on. Some people looked out of apartment windows while others stopped midstep on nearby sidewalks to applaud them.
“We just had fun. It was a really beautiful experience with my daughter singing. People were cheering, and it seemed like the city really loved that type of atmosphere,” Douglas said.
The musical ride, called FunCab Karaoke Taxi, was driven by founder Dominik Glazewski.
The idea first arose in 2016, when Glazewski worked as an Uber and Lyft driver in Philly. He had a karaoke system set up in his vehicle, and dreamed of the day he could start his own mobile entertainment service.
“We wanted something unique and fun — like typical tourism buses that drive around — but for people to have fun and enjoy in a new way,” said Glazewski, 44, a Poland-born entrepreneur. “We want people to come to the city and enjoy themselves.”
After moving to Charlotte, N.C., in 2020, he put his idea to the test. Glazewski purchased a golf cart-style vehicle and installed a handful of microphones and a speaker, but soon realized it wasn’t generating the excitement he initially envisioned.
The “taxi” wasn’t very safe and only had space for five passengers, which increased the operational costs and added a lot of stress to Glazewski’s fun plan. He returned to Philadelphia last April with hopes the FunCab would turn a profit in a bigger and more familiar city. The regional switch came with notable challenges, including “2-feet deep” potholes and strict city codes to maneuver.
“We weren’t sure if we could maintain the business, or if it was going to be accepted over here,” Glazewski said. “But luckily, there’s been a lot of people who like it.”
Before the FunCab made its first lap around Center City in June, Glazewski managed to do a few upgrades. He added a wagon to the back of the truck, and equipped it with five 5K cameras, LED lights, cushioned seats, a touchscreen song selector, and additional speakers to amplify the karaoke experience.
For the past five months, groups of up to nine people have been belting out hits from Usher, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Miley Cyrus, Mary J. Blige, and others in the back of the supercharged ride. And while screaming is prohibited, riders can often be heard howling their favorite tunes from Old City to Rittenhouse on their 15-mph cruise. One-hour rides start at $100, or $25 per person.
Unsurprisingly enough, some residents want to pull the plug on the moving music wagon.
“Drunk people with microphones riding a slow-moving open vehicle that stops randomly like an Amazon delivery truck, late at night — that’s a NO, THANK YOU,” one Reddit user wrote.
“If I wanted to hear bachelorette parties screaming Taylor Swift songs I would move back to Nashville. It’s an abomination,” said another.
Sheri Klock, who booked a tour for her husband’s birthday, sang Bon Jovi, NSYNC, and Michael Jackson songs throughout the late September evening. And in the coming months, she’s looking to schedule a longer session. “We had people dancing on the sidewalks and jamming to music with us,” Klock said. “It was awesome to see people who don’t know each other come together because of music.”
As social media clips of the late-night mainstay have grown more frequent, the FunCab has garnered more bookings for birthdays, bachelorette parties, and other milestones. Glazewski has also received a handful of noise complaints from Rittenhouse and South Street residents.
In response, he said he’s adjusted the FunCab routes to avoid circling the residential corners of South Street and Rittenhouse Square. He has also asked some rambunctious karaoke singers to lower their voices, or if they’re too impaired, to reschedule their trips for another date.
“We’re not trying to be obnoxious,” he said. “If we’re making noise, I make sure we’re not making as much noise and we’re constantly moving. We don’t sit outside someone’s house.”
As for the loud music, South Philly native Oddess Blockar said that’s an unavoidable part of city life. “If you don’t want to hear noise, move to the suburbs,” she said.
Glazewski plans to expand the karaoke cab in size and scope. He wants to move away from the small, slow-moving vehicle to a bus-sized ride, and offer an interactive city tour for non-English speakers.
The plan is to stop at historic sites in Center City, with an information screen showcasing the history and interior design of each location in various languages. If there’s a question, the device would translate the responses in real time.
Glazewski also wants to develop an alternative version of Philly’s Portal, which would allow guests to sing karaoke in tandem with distant crooners from around the country.
“We have a lot of ideas,” Glazewski said. “And we’re going to try to implement them so people can get to know Philly.”