live band karaoke

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!

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.

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!

Prom Night at Petco

When Petco Park first approached us about playing for a high school prom, we were a bit apprehensive. After all, we’re a bunch of old guys and there is no Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, or Ke$ha on our song list. Still, we’ll do anything for the kids, so why not? We agreed to rock the prom to the best of our collective abilities and the planning was on.

We first set out trying to make our song list a little more PG-13 by removing questionable tunes. Then we found out that we were playing for the fighting Eagles of Calvary Chapel High School (“Building tomorrow’s Christian Leaders Today”), so the song list scrub just went a little deeper. Have you ever really listened to the lyrics of most songs on the radio? Not exactly kid-friendly topics. More on the songs in a bit. On to the show…

This wasn’t an ordinary prom (however, I’m not really sure I’m qualified to determine what a “normal” prom would be. Mine was in a gym. With a gravel parking lot. In small town Texas. With 70 of my closest friends. But I digress). Petco really knows how to throw a party! Pool tables, foosball, air hockey, a magician, and of course, gourmet ball park dogs!

The setting was quite spectacular. Perched on top of the Western Metal Building at Petco Park, we had incredible views of downtown, East Village, Coronado, and of course, left field. The kids showed up around 7pm and we weren’t scheduled to take the mound until about 9. We hid in the shadows until after dark and took the stage just before 9. We didn’t have any singers ready to rock with the live band, so we kinda just solicited a kid from the crowd. Such a brave soul that Matthew was – to be the first to take the stage in front of 200+ of his classmates, by himself, with a live rock band, and literally knock The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’ out of the park (pun intended)!

The rest is history. From the moment we started playing, the set list filled with names and great tunes. This was the night of the duet, with most singers opting to bring a friend (or two) on stage. The kids genuinely had a great time and they were all so polite! Of course, leave it to us to forget about one song with questionable content, which of course was about the 4th song chosen. I hid behind my mic stand for most of that one.

Overall, we had a killer time and most importantly, we think the kids did too. They all wanted this thing to go into extra innings. As an added bonus, we got some really killer photos from the evening taken by CCHS’ own, Bobby Brown. Yes, that’s his name, and no, he didn’t come up and sing ‘Don’t Be Cruel.’ Check out Bobby’s awesome photos below or on his website/blog (which also happens to have it’s own iPhone app!).

Congratulations to the graduating seniors of Calvary Chapel HS and thanks for making the drive down to San Diego to sing karaoke with us. Special thanks to Petco Park (Allie, Stephanie, Andrew and the crew) and everyone else who made the night possible. While I’m not sure how many of the attendees were rounding second base later that night, I’d have to say this prom was definitely a home run.