Free Things to Do in San Diego

Rock Out Karaoke was recently named one of the top free things to do in San Diego in an article on the website Thrillist.com. We are honored to be sharing the spotlight with other San Diego powerhouses like the Hotel del Coronado, Sunset Cliffs, Taylor Guitars, Balboa Park, and um, the beach.

But we really love sharing the spotlight with YOU each and every week. Thanks for helping us make the list of top San Diego activities – we couldn’t do it without you!

Hotel Del Coronado

Photo Credit: Hotel Del Coronado (Flickr)

See the full article here (and then get out there and do some of these free things!).

2014: A Karaoke Year in Review

2014 has been a banner year here for us at Rock Out Karaoke, and we couldn’t have done it without you, San Diego! Whether it was a Gaslamp or Pacific Beach bar — or a private karaoke event — we loved having you on stage with us. So, we got to thinking (dangerous, we know): what if we added up all the numbers? Here’s how 2014 panned out:

  • 107 shows (charity events, holiday parties, bar gigs, weddings, & campfires*)
  • This also means we likely played “Don’t Stop Believin” at least 106 times
  • 4,000 songs performed
  • 15,458 high fives (some people forget to high five the band on the way out, you know)
  • 2 Bass Dave beard sightings

While there were so many to choose from, here are just a few of our favorite live band karaoke moments in 2014:

ROK Turns 8
We quietly celebrated our 8th birthday this October. Hard to believe we’ve been rocking for the better part of a decade! Judging by the numbers above, we’re only getting started.

4k tv winnerAJ’s Kids Crane
We loved supporting such a great cause with AJ’s Kids Crane this year. One lucky ROK fan even took home a brand new Sony 4K TV!

San Diego County Fair
We enjoyed our 5th year performing at the San Diego County Fair. Editors note: we’re already in talks with them about some surprises for 2015.

The Local Pub Crawl (follow the link for tons of great photos)
We look forward to this rockin’ party that just keeps getting bigger and better every year. Taking the stage at the legendary House of Blues with 1,200 of our closest friends in attendance is always quite a rush.

YOU Joining us on Stage
Yes, YOU! We couldn’t have done any of this without our incredible fans, so thanks from all of us at ROK for supporting San Diego’s best live band karaoke. Special thanks to 710 Beach Club for hosting us every Thursday night of the year – and Tin Roof Bar for bringing us in every Wednesday. Don’t forget to tip your bartenders!

We hope to see you in 2015!

*ROK has yet to land a paying campfire gig (it’s one of our top goals for 2015 in Southern California).

Rock Out Karaoke is San Diego’s number one event band. There’s nothing quite like joining a live band on stage to unleash your inner rock star! Call us today to see how we can spice up your next event.

Four Years!

Hard to believe it’s been almost four years we’ve been melting faces with you at the 710 Beach Club every Thursday.  It’s pretty amazing when we take a look back to early 2009, when the band was just five members: Colin and Rob (splitting lead guitar), John (rhythm guitar), Rob (bass), and Eric (drums).

Soon after we’d add the wild antics of Bass Dave (um…bass), Stoltz (stunt guitar is his official title), and Matt (drums, charming wit).  Then along comes Paulo (geetar), Bass Andy and Drums Shawn.  We can’t forget our incredible hosts: Carlos, Chris, Joe, Antonio!

Are we missing anyone?  Ah, yes–YOU, the singers!  You guys made all this possible, so a big thanks to anyone who has ever taken the stage (or come to see someone) with us.

Back in 2009, no one in the band had kids (that we knew of).  Now, we (the royal “we”) have four children (that we know of).  Since 2009, the song list has grown from about 60 tunes to our current list of about 200.  And we won’t even start to list the growing choreography we keep adding to many of our tunes (lots of kicking, jumping, laying on the ground, wiggling, pelvis-thrusting).

Well, this Thursday, March 7, 2013, we’ll be celebrating our four-year stay at the 710 Beach Club with a big ol’ freakin’ party.

It’s also with mixed emotions that we announce we’re taking a break from Thursday nights at the 710 for a bit, as the club works on going a new direction with their Thursday format.

Luann'sDad

“I don’t recall saying, ‘Good luck.'”
(Click to play Simpsons clip)

Don’t think for a second that this is goodbye.  We’re actually excited at the chance to see what else is happening out there on Thursdays.  We’re working on securing a new Thursday night home soon, and you can continue to hang with us at JT’s Pub, the SD County Fair, weddings, company parties, and events around town.  Stay tuned for more news on our Facebook page and our email list.

We really cannot thank the 710 management for putting up…er…having us around for all these years, and for all the support — radio ads, drink specials, flyers, chalk boards.  Four years is a long time for any gig in this town.  And a big thanks to the true Oz behind us all:  Sound Guy John, who is the only person to be at every single 710 ROK show.  It’s a true honor to have someone as talented and experienced as Sound Guy John, who has run sound and toured with the likes of Metallica, and about every other band you can think of.

Help us end our four year run at the 710 Beach Club with a bang this Thursday night:  the party to take us home, send us on our way, and help us reach new heights.  Come early for free food, stay all night for drink specials and the ROK fun you’ve come to know and love.

High fives,
ROK

P.S.  Show us the love on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Yelp!

We Love Us Some Bass Dave

dancing daveIt is with great sadness that I’m announcing my departure from Rock Out Karaoke and San Diego.

Since September of 2009 I have played over 180 shows with Rock Out Karaoke.  That’s probably around 7,200 songs and just as many high fives.  Counting all the duets, drunken groups of bridesmaids, and dancing bananas, I’ve been lucky enough to share the stage with possibly close to 10,000 karaoke singers (with just a few repeats and regulars) in the past two and a half years.

I want to thank all the musicians that I have played with in ROK over the years: Skip, Rob R., Mike, Rob W, Matt, Pants, Shawn, Paulo, and Colin.  You guys are awesome and make playing music what it’s supposed to be…Fun!

Equally important, I want to thank all the wonderful people that brave the Rock Out Karaoke stage every week.  Without you, we’re just another cover band.  My favorite day of the week without a doubt is Thursday because I get to share the stage with you all.  I will miss you all dearly.  Keep on ROK’ing!

My last official show is March 15th, but watch out for some special guest appearances in April!

Thanks,
Bass Dave

Editor’s Note:  We’ll definitely miss Dancing Dave’s stage antics week after week. Dave’s arrival in the band came at a pivotal time, as Bass Rob was busy having kids.  Dave was undoubtedly a huge reason why we were able to continue performing week after week — and even growing the number of gigs we play each year.  Dave  was literally the backbone of the band, shouldering the majority of the load with a smile (and usually a PBR or two).  Most of all, Dave is an incredible friend to all of us.  We all wish you the best and hope to share the stage with you again soon.

Bass Dave Got His Own Night!

Twitter Friends

San Diego’s best live band karaoke is all over the internet:  blogging, Facebook, Yelp!, YouTube, and even Twitter.  You might wonder why we spend time on all this stuff.  Sure, we need a website (or in our case a WordPress blog) and Facebook makes sense for us to post our pictures, but what about Twitter?  Lots of folks have pretty big misconceptions about what Twitter really is and how it is useful.  Have you heard these before?

“Isn’t that just for teeny boppers?”

“Why do I care what you had for lunch?”

Fact is, most Twitter users are old (insert reliable, well-cited statistic here).  And while a few people are sharing what they had for lunch, many more are actually sharing great ideas, websites, and in this case, events.

Thursday, October 28th marked the first (hopefully of many) “Tweetup” with Rock Out Karaoke.  A Tweetup is a meetup for folks on Twitter.  Now I’ve been to a few of these before, and it’s always pretty neat to find someone who knows your name, logo, and online persona but has never met you in person.

We had the chance last week to not only meet some of our “tweeps” at this particular 710 Beach Club show, but we had a great time when they joined us on stage for some great live band karaoke!

The event was inspired by @gingeranderson (a Twitter “handle” always begins with @) after an ongoing conversation about the TV show Glee.  Ginger created the incredibly user-friendly invitation and response website using Tweetvite – an easy way to spread the word about events, register, and let others know you’re coming.

Those in attendance included @californiakara, @nataliewardel (the artist formerly known as @mrsnatalie), @iizliz, @babyblooze (those last two may or may not be the same person), @sugarjones, @socalsally … notice a pattern here?  They’re all women!  I think there were a couple of token guys there, husbands and whatnot, but who really pays attention to dudes anyway?  Ok, fine, thanks to @dannyboy72, @babyface_GM (our Tweep from waaaay back when), and the other husbands/arm candy for coming as well!  Hope I didn’t miss anyone.

We even got a couple of sweet blog mentions from Sugar and Natalie afterward.  Be sure to subscribe to both of their blogs – great reading on a variety of topics.  Also, here’s a video of Natalie’s husband and one of Kara rocking it on stage with us!

It was pretty cool to finally meet some of these folks in person and even more fun knowing that they enjoyed the show.  Here’s hoping the #sdrockout Tweetup becomes a monthly event!  Thanks, Twitter.  You can be our friend…

Rock Out Karaoke is San Diego’s first and best live band karaoke – since 2006. Find us on Twitter and ask how we can rock your next party.