7 Tips for Live Band Karaoke

Singing karaoke with a live band is a completely new ball game for most of us and can be pretty intimidating.  Not only are you on a bigger stage, but you’ve got to adjust to the (increased) stage volume and high energy.  Luckily, we’ve got some helpful hints for you.  After playing in San Diego’s original live band karaoke show for over 4 years, we’ve learned a thing or two about how to be successful.  Read on and be the rock star that you know you can be.

1.  Own the stage. So this one might sound a little obvious, but you’ve got to act like you’ve been there before… even if you haven’t.  Even a mediocre singer with great stage presence and dance moves will wow the audience much more than a great singer who just stands there.  Rock Out Karaoke regular, Kristen gives us a textbook example of a singer owning the stage.

2.  Song choice. If you’ve ever watched American Idol, you know that song choice is key.  Make it count.  While we like to think that all our tunes rock (since they pretty much do), there are simply some karaoke tunes that rock somewhat harder than others.  Go for a song you really know by heart, so you can concentrate on tip #1.

3.  Liquid courage. Sure it’s expected that you’ll indulge in a few drinks to lubricate the pipes, but there’s also a point at which you become “that guy (or girl.)”  Enjoy the drink specials and try to find your sweet spot just before you hit the stage.

4.  Bring your own cheering section. Even if you’re not a great singer, having some familiar faces there to cheer you on makes you seem that much more like a rock star.  Plus, they can sing along with you, help calm your nerves, record your performance to post on YouTube, and have that cold beer waiting for you when you return to the table.

5.  Look at the audience. This one goes back to points 1 and 2.  If you can connect with the audience, they’ll love you.  Relax, take your hands out of your pockets, and step up with some confidence.  It’s okay to smile, too.  Look them in the eye and tell them how you’re the Man in the Box.

6.  Stick to the lyrics. Unless you’re singing a Weird Al song, changing the lyrics is probably only enjoyed by you and a couple of your buddies who don’t get to hear the F* bomb enough.  Read what’s on the prompter and rock the original version.

7.  Come back for more. With live band karaoke shows all over the US, you’ve got no excuse for making it part of your social scene more often.  In San Diego, we play about 6-8 public shows each month.  That makes for plenty of opportunities to ‘rehearse.’  The best way to get better at something is practice, practice, practice!

Most of all, enjoy yourself and others will too.  Rock the stage with a live band and brag about it at work the next day!

Rock Out Karaoke is San Diego’s most dynamic live music performance group, combining the raw power of a live rock band with the fun of audience participation, where individual singers take center stage with the live band! Complete with lyrics displayed on a monitor in real-time with the music, nothing is missing from this unique karaoke show! Rock Out Karaoke is available for your San Diego wedding or special event. Contact us today to find out how we can make your party one to remember!

Thanksgiving in July

Thanksgiving…in July? That’s right! A group covering California and seasoned with a few other states held their 5th Annual “Thanksgiving in July” in San Diego on the weekend of July 10th. But this year, a little spice, a little zing, a little kick was added. The giant spread was served with a generous side of Rock Out Karaoke! (I wonder if I can keep the food references flowing through the entire blog..).

The dinner was delicious—turkey, tofuturkeyduck (or was it called turkeyducktofu? Tofugoosechicken?) and a huge assortments of potatoes, yams, salads. And the deserts. Like whoa Scoob. Chocolate brownies the size of Matt’s bass drum! Even with the smorgasbord, the crowd was still hungry for some live band karaoke. Well luckily, someone set the oven to the temperature of “rock.” (O man, this is getting ridiculous).

No tryptophan here. Singers jumped right in. Two straight hours of sizzlin’ karaoke. All the big hits were plucked, although one of the most memorable performances was “Ice, Ice Baby,” where the duo passed out bottles of Smirnoff Ice for chuggin’.

In the end, the gig was definitely well-done. A fantastic party done right by great hosting and preparation. Thanks for having us, and we look forward to Thanksgiving in July VI!

We’re also available for “President’s Day in October.” And “National High-Five Day in January.” Although our rider has seriously been super-sized from the traditional bowl of green M&Ms.

Rock Out Karaoke is San Diego’s most dynamic live music performance group, combining the raw power of a live rock band with the fun of audience participation, where individual singers take center stage with the live band! Complete with lyrics displayed on a monitor in real-time with the music, nothing is missing from this unique karaoke show! Rock Out Karaoke is available for your San Diego wedding or special event. Contact us today to find out how we can make your party one to remember.

ROK the Vote!

We’ve been nominated by our friends over at 10News.com for their annual A-list for Best Music in the wedding category.  Now it’s up to you to help us get to #1.  Voting ends on Sep. 3rd, so hurry!

While you do have to enter an email address to vote, you can deselect one of the choices to receive emails from them – no spam!  Click the link below to ROK the vote and help us get to the top.  Thanks to everyone who has voted so far and we’ll see you at a show soon.

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House of Blues Pub Crawl

What do you get when you combine 300 people, killer drink specials, a 20,000 watt sound system, the House of Blues main stage, and live band karaoke?

The Local’s Memorial Day Red, White, and Booze Pub Crawl to the Park. That’s what.

This is the kind of event where you just had to be there. Photographer, John Audley, with Be Water Photo captured some great moments during our 90-minute peformance; but you really had to be there to believe it.  There’s probably lots of video floating around out there – if you have a great clip, contact us and we’ll put it on our YouTube page

From what we could tell, the girls outnumbered the guys for this event. Not bad, considering we are in Man Diego.

The theme was Red, White, and Booze – sort of a “Top Gun” feel, which would explain the overwhelming number of aviator sunglasses.

From The Local Pub Crawl at House of Blues San Diego

We enjoyed all the stage antics, energy, dancing, and great vocals from the lucky participants.  Highlights included the Vanilla Ice impression (by two chicks, of course), the Michael Jackson tribute during Billie Jean, and Chris’ stage dive after Rebel Yell.  In the end, we were just stop #2 of 5 on a killer pub crawl.  Here’s hoping that at least someone remembered us…

Special thanks to Scott, Todd, James, and the rest of the HOB San Diego crew for kicking ass with the production.  Thanks Nancy, Nina, and the Local for having us – we had a blast!

Rock Out Karaoke is San Diego’s most dynamic live music performance group, combining the raw power of a live rock band with the fun of audience participation, where individual singers take center stage with the live band! Complete with lyrics displayed on a monitor in real-time with the music, nothing is missing from this unique karaoke show!

Will you… marry me?

“Will you marry me?”

History was made on the Rock Out Karaoke stage when a local karaoke singer said those words and proposed to his girlfriend in front of a packed house at the 710 Beach Club in San Diego on June 10, 2010.  Brian first gave a stirring performance of Elvis’ “Jailhouse Rock,” complete with hip gyrations, finger pointing, sneering, and of course, great vocals.  He definitely had the crowd’s attention after an awesome performance.  When he asked his girlfriend, Limh, to join him on stage, we knew something was a-brewin’.

Like any gentleman, Brian took a knee and produced a shiny object in a small black box.  He sealed his fate and entered the annals of Rock Out Karaoke history when he asked simply, “Will you marry me?”  Limh said yes and the crowd went into a frenzy.  Exiting the stage, they got plenty of high fives and probably a couple of drinks on the house.

In all the excitement, we failed to get a quality photo of the event.  Here’s a fuzzy depiction of the scene that night just so you know we’re not making all this up.

From Misc

Glad to have our friend Mookie and the 91x crew in the house to witness what was an awesome turn of events.  It has been noted by one Rock Out Karaoke fan that since the proposal happened on our stage, we become the wedding band by default.  Sounds good to us!  Best wishes to Brian and Limh – keep on rocking!

Rock Out Karaoke is San Diego’s most dynamic live music performance group, combining the raw power of a live rock band with the fun of audience participation, where individual singers take center stage with the live band!  Complete with lyrics displayed on a monitor in real-time with the music, nothing is missing from this unique karaoke show!  Rock Out Karaoke is available for your San Diego wedding or special event.  Contact us today to find out how we can make your party one to remember.