Mar 2
Rockaoke at the Top Gear Live Afterparty November 2009
seen from Malaysia
seen from Netherlands
seen from Netherlands
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Switzerland
seen from Germany
seen from Argentina
seen from Argentina
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Sweden
seen from Italy
seen from Singapore
seen from Singapore
seen from China
seen from Philippines
seen from United States
seen from United States
Rockaoke at the Top Gear Live Afterparty November 2009
Have a rocking #christmas y’all! Looking forward to spending quality time with the family, @chereselt and celebrating Aria’s first #xmas with us! This photo was taken by the wonderful Darren who sung #basketcase with #Rockaoke down at #bungabunga #battersea #fender #marauder #gibson #les #paul #snowman #showman #guitar #guitarist #musician #london (at Bunga Bunga Battersea)
About My Band - The Naturals: Vancouver’s Live Band On Demand That Knows Over 500 Songs
Aaah The Naturals! Now THERE’S a band that has taken me through many adventures. It all started over 8 years ago on August 2012. Like all bands, we came from humble beginnings. Both myself and long-time friend/bandmate Jarrett started the Live Band Karaoke event through a very awesome Irish friend who pitched us the idea for his previous bar. He told us it’d be a neat idea because Jarrett and I knew loads of songs. The whole live band karaoke experience has already been a thing in places like Vegas, but we felt it would be a great idea to get something right in our own town, giving the people of Vancouver THE ultimate rock star experience. Thus, our event “Rockaoke” and The Naturals were born!
When Jarrett and I, along with previous members from the first lineup of Rockaoke, ran our first few months of this live band karaoke event at our first venue, we started off with a catalogue of 75 songs. I remember how stressful it was learning a bunch of songs, but each week we pushed through and do our best to do better. Each week, our catalogue started building up when our regular attendees put in requests of new tunes for us to learn.
Fast forward months later, we moved our way up the venue ladder, playing at a much larger establishment called the Vancouver Fanclub (R.I.P). We were spoiled with a large stage, a house drumkit, guitar amps, and a professional sound guy. By this time, our show has evolved to more unique formats. Our member lineup by this time has already changed, including having Justin P. Brown on bass and Joel “Dr. Goulet” Flynn on vocals, acoustic guitar, and playing the role as official host. One of our unique formats include having special-themed catalogues each month, starting off with “Zepptember”, paying tribute to Led Zeppelin. It then lead to other themes including “Ozztober” for Ozzy Osbourbe/Black Sabbath, “Nirvember” for Nirvana, and “AC/DCember” for AC/DC. Other themes you can find on our website at www.rockaokelive.com
Unfortunately the Vancouver Fanclub shut down after we played there for two years, but we moved on to the legendary Railway Club in the heart of downtown (now called Railway Stage and Beer Cafe). By that time, our musical catalogue was at over FIVE-HUNDRED songs (again, all thanks to bandmates and regular attendees for building the list). Though we only had a run at Railway for just a few years, it was, without a doubt, still a fun and interactive community-building musical experience.
Aside from our live weekly shows, The Naturals and I have also brought both traditional performances and the live band karaoke experience to private functions including birthday parties, weddings, corporate events, and conferences. However, my favourite and most memorable gig on that scale was travelling to Prince George, BC (a small town that’s over 780km from Vancouver) to play for the Canadian Winter Games festivities. THAT was without a doubt my first experience ever playing music out of town. We even played through the hot summers of Vancouver Island and the extremely cold storms of Edmonton, Alberta.
Another gig that stood out for me personally was doing a traditional live performance at our iconic, historic pub called The Cambie, located in the Gastown area of downtown Vancouver. I luckily scored that gig as they were looking for a cover band to perform the theme of 70′s night, which was THE perfect gig considering our catalogue consisted of classic rock, disco, and funk (Stevie Wonder, Zeppelin, Sabbath, AC/DC, Parliament, and much more). Our friend Spider was playing bass with us that night, and he can tell you today how much of a great time he had that evening (during “Superstition”, there was a fun dance-off between two members in the crowd).
To all you musicians out there in Vancouver and all around the world who play in cover bands, I salute each and every one of you for learning thousands of songs, especially if they’re tunes that are before your time, way after your time, and dare I say it...not your line of musical taste. To those who host live band karaoke or something similar...my hats off to you also, especially if you’re dealing with a wild crowd and singers who may not have the highest musical expertise (but able to help make them look like rock stars).
The Naturals and I evolved as musicians over the years. We continue to think outside the box, grab every possible opportunity to entertain people, and even expand our talent roster with local special guests, whether it’d be lead guitar, bass, vocals, or any other instruments people were willing to bring to the table. Without this amazingly talented bunch (and previous helpers who contributed so much along the way), I honestly wouldn’t know where I’d be today as a musician. Despite our pandemic, we have been doing some socially-distant gigs to entertain people in a safe way for now. But there’s no better way to make our days better than playing our favourite songs while we strive to recover.
Thank you for reading, and keep playing! :)
-Ed-
Karaoke Review: Rockaoke at the Star of Kings, London
This week Karaoke Advice hops across the pond for a taste of the London scene. But this isn’t just any old karaoke-- it’s Rockaoke! Special guest columnist Wes Ball provides the latest Karaoke Review. (And if you have a Karaoke Review you’d like to submit, please get in touch!)
What is karaoke? The private room experience straight outta Tokyo and transplanted to K-Box? The platform in a pub with a DJ, CD player, and the Sky Sports projector re-tooled for the evening? The private hire of a downstairs room in a Chinese restaurant? At home with the machine plucked into the TV? These probably all meet the criteria: there’s no real music involved...and no real singing.
But is an open mic night karaoke? Or does the aspirational quality of it take something away? Is karaoke something that is inherently amateur; requiring of a willingness to fail?
Straddling this divide we find Rockaoke. Supported by real musicians, yet still requiring the submission of slips of paper to a controlling mind with a pleading look: “Please let me do this one tonight. I’ve got to get the last train, but this song is all I live for.”
Welcome to the back of the Star of Kings. Not the back room, for the pub doesn’t have one. But, on the last Friday of every month, pass through a proscenium arch that surely used to be a wall before the pub was hipsterized, pay your £3, and you enter Rockaoke territory.
The Star of Kings is neither too trendy nor divesville. Half a mile up the Caledonian Road from Kings Cross station, it has that feel of a pub that’s kind of in the middle of nowhere and quite urban chic (with more emphasis on the urban than the chic). It could be a grotty station pub. It is not.
And so Friday comes and you’re in the back room. The first sign that it’s not your normal karaoke night: a band is setting up. A drummer monastically putting each part in place. The others checking the monitors and amps. Books of possible song choices are absent. Instead a sheet of around 200 songs appears on tables. The pub carries on as normal.
Put your slip into the man. Do the look: “last train mate”. Nine pm. The drummer strikes up and a great band give you something that’s more than a cover of Bad Medicine. Shit. This isn’t pub karaoke. These are decent musicians.
In front of them the busy pub turns into a crowd at a gig. Friends of the band. Familiar faces. Others who know what they’re coming for. And the uninitiated.
At the end of the first song the lead singer welcomes everyone and runs through the rules of the game. Then we’re on. First name. First whoop. First karaokee up to the stage. In front of them is an iPad on a music stand – no song sheet here, no screen with a bouncing ball. Instead you are confronted with the lyrics. They better be an aide memoire and nothing more or you’re going to get horribly lost. The drummer leans across, tells you how he’s going to get the music going. One. Two. Three. Four. And you’re away.
For the true karaokee the mystery of exploring a new song isn’t there. It is, instead, replaced by the sheer joy of working with the band to hit the notes at the right time…and the unadulterated exhilaration that comes from a hit of pure adrenalin.
What did I choose? Rock ‘n’ Roll Star by Oasis. Why? For a boy of the 90s, a true devotee of Britpop, music begins with Oasis’ first album Definitely Maybe. And Definitely Maybe begins with the most almighty guitar chord announcing its arrival, a chord that says: this is music; this is history. “Tonight, I’m a rock ‘n’ roll star.” So what else could I sing?
This is no pub karaoke (did I say that before?) – the crowd is supportive and wills you across the line if you miss a section. Similarly, the band know their onions. You are an amateur but they are pros and they will shepherd you to the end even if you get lost in the loop of a repeating chorus (dear reader, that would be me).
What you learn is just how hard it is to be a singer. More than simply a frontman with attitude. Management gurus would love it. There is coordination, leadership, collaboration, and quick thinking. But the old karaoke virtues remain: can you hold a note? Can you entertain? Why are you here? Shouldn’t you have had an extra beer before doing this?
And then...suddenly it’s over, and you step down from the stage to the roars of the crowd.
Exit, pursuing a train.
The footnote: Some facts. Rockaoke play across a range of London venues and do the tour of corporate gigs. You’re bound to find them somewhere near you soon if you check out their website: www.rockaoke.com . There are other live karaoke bands that you can sing along with across London. I’m sure they’re all great.
That time I asked everyone if they were ready to rock and then sang Patsy Cline’s Crazy, kinda like my my would have. #yallhands #rockaoke (at Stubb's Austin)
Great British Festival’s Rockaoke Contest!
Hello everyone!!! Me and my friends (@ruslanax) are joining the contest of the British Embassy Manila’s Rockaoke contest!! AND WE REALLY NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
Every last week of February is the Great British Festival that happens annually at the Bonifacio High Street, Taguig City - the trendy, high-end corporate district employing a lot of millennials and British expats as well, as the UK Embassy is also located within the said city. The GBF is basically the BIG British fair you’ll ever need - freebies, food, and performances!
With that being said, we are joining the Rockaoke so that we can be able to make our UK dreams come true! Well, our song is “Things Can Only Get Better” by D:Ream (and loliticians remember this song simply because...it’s LABOUR’S 1997 ELECTION SONG! HAHA). Apologies for being frustrated singers, but but...PLEASE VOTE AND SHARE OUR VIDEO!
https://www.tabsite.com/contest_share.php?v=landing&appid=396959223697036&aid=410391&tid=220937&spid=560195&eid=1325547 - VOTE HERE!
https://youtu.be/Ld-P4q5DIjA - YouTube link
Deadline of the vote is on FEBRUARY 18, SATURDAY, AT 23:59 (Philippine Standard Time, GMT+8). I know it’s kinda rush, but we’re hoping to make it at least in the wildcard!!!
Thank you and let’s spread lolitical love!!!
Friday nights be like. #rockaoke. Oh yes this is the side that's watching! #DentsuJaymeSyfu #TitusOfManila (at Dentsu Jayme Syfu)
I think we'll go with a little Bohemian Rhapsody? #Rockaoke NYE after party where the @luckyvoice karaoke machine was left in public control. #throwbackthursday