The Local Pub Crawl

What do you get when you mix 550+ rowdy pub crawlers with San Diego’s best live band karaoke on the main stage at the House of Blues San Diego?

An epic, one-of-a-kind, unforgettable stop on the best pub crawl in town.

For the second consecutive, back-to-back year in a row <grin>, Rock Out Karaoke had the privilege of playing for 90 action-packed minutes as the second stop along the way for the annual Memorial Day “Sing, Dance, Crawl to the Park” put on by San Diego’s own Local Eatery & Drinking Hole.

Click on the image to see all the photos from this event!

Naturally, the party started at The Local.  But when the House of Blues doors opened at 2pm, the energy from 550 people had the room instantly buzzing. Starting with the National Anthem (a fitting tip of the cap to the reason why we have the freedom to enjoy a 3-day weekend), the next hour and a half included some of the best karaoke singers we’ve seen in quite some time.  Beach balls flew through the air as 500 beautiful voices sang in unison to songs like Santeria, Sweet Caroline, and Livin’ on a Prayer.

Then, just as quickly as they stormed in, the crawlers were on to the next stop.

With no shortage of beautiful women, an energetic crowd, and awesome support from The Local and the House of Blues, this is a party we could get used to playing for many years to come.

See you next year!  See all the photos at our Facebook page.

Top 10 Karaoke Songs

Top 10 Live Band Karaoke Songs

We see a lot of top 10 lists out there these days.  Things like – top 10 worst karaoke songs, top 10 ways to get fired, and top 7 Tips for Rocking the Stage with a Live Band.  We’ve been playing San Diego’s best live band karaoke show since 2006, so we thought we’d create our own top 10 list of tunes that get chosen most frequently.  Our list is far from scientific; just a record of the most popular songs chosen at our weekly live shows and private event gigs.  Behold, the top 10 most popular live band karaoke songs:

10.  Plush – Stone Temple Pilots:  Early 90’s grunge wasn’t limited to Seattle.  In fact, many people don’t know that STP built a following right here in San Diego (at least according to the stoners who wrote the STP entry in Wikipedia).  We hear a lot of great Scott Weiland impressions at Rock Out Karaoke, so this one kicks off our list.

9.  Santeria – Sublime:  Another Southern California favorite, you simply can’t go wrong with a little Sublime karaoke.  Santeria gets the entire crowd singing along with you.

8.  You Oughta Know – Alanis Morissette:  Nothing says, “I love the 90’s” more than AM’s first single from the 1995 album “Jagged Little Pill.”  That’s right, sister.  Just let it out. Once upon a time even former American Idol judge Kara Dioguardi rocked this song with us at a private event.

7.  Wanted Dead or Alive – Bon Jovi:  Rock Out Karaoke fans love this 1987 Bon Jovi/Sambora-written tune that starts with the windy acoustic intro, crescendos into a face-melting guitar solo, and ends back on the signature riff.  Anyone with the moxie to tackle this one is frequently rewarded with lots of praise from the crowd.

6.  Use Somebody – Kings of Leon:  Not all of the most popular tunes are “oldies.”  This 2009 smash hit from Tennessee family band Kings of Leon has gotten lots of radio play and gets lots of love from those who take the stage with us.

5.  Before He Cheats – Carrie Underwood:  American Idol’s fourth season winner, Carrie Underwood, found a hit with this tune about smashing headlights and slashing tires. Guys, watch out for the girl who sings this one…

4.  Rebel Yell – Billy Idol:  This 80’s classic by sneering, spike-haired rocker Billy Idol is what Rock Out Karaoke is all about.  Raw, real, intense rock and roll, led by an energetic frontman from the audience.

3.  Hit Me With Your Best Shot – Pat Benatar: like Billy Idol, this one is a staple of our song list and gets lots of love by fans young and old.

2.  Sweet Child O Mine – Guns N Roses:  Another great rock anthem that lets our karaoke singers really unleash their inner rock star.  This tune has been on the ROK song list since day 1, and it’s no wonder why people choose to belt it out week after week.

1.  Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey:  There are two types of people in this world.  Those who love Journey and those who are liars.  This crowd favorite is guaranteed to get the entire bar singing along with you.  We’ve seen many a bachelorette/birthday groups rock this one and capture the attention of everyone within earshot.

So there you have it, sports fans.  The top 10 most-chosen tunes at Rock Out Karaoke.  We certainly hope to see you on stage with us soon, rocking one of these songs or one of the other 190-some-odd (and counting) songs on the list.

Honorable mention goes to the following great songs as well: Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash; Alive – Pearl Jam; Love Shack – the B52s; and Possum Kingdom – the Toadies.

PB Idol is Back!

Perfectly timed with the start of Season 10 on American Idol, we’re bringing back PB Idol for the spring!  The contest will happen during our regular Thursday night gigs at the 710 Beach Club in Pacific Beach starting on February 3rd. The winner will be crowned during the PB Idol Finals night at 710 Beach Club on April 2.  See our show calendar and details below.  Start warming up those voices!

PB Idol 2009 Finals

Here’s a quick rundown of how it will work:

  • PB Idol begins Feb 3, and runs 8 weeks (ending March 24).   Six contestants per night, two per set, one winner each night.  Finals will be held on Saturday April 2.
  • ROK will take sign-ups for the preliminary rounds here: http://goo.gl/qzHKc (feel free to share the link with others).  Contestants will sign up for a first and second choice date, but not a specific time slot (you will be able to select a time slot and tune the night of your preliminary— first come, first served).  We anticipate all spots will fill up fast, so sign up now to get the date you want.
  • Contestants will be judged in 3 categories:
  • Prizes:  Cash money prizes will be awarded!
  • Misc:
    • Contestants may compete in only one preliminary round.
    • If you sign up for a time slot and don’t show, you won’t be able to sign up a second time.
    • No-show time slots will be filled by others who are present that night (first come/first served)

So who’s ready to show us what you got???

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!

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.

San Diego Wedding Band

Looking for a wedding band? How about live band karaoke for your special day? Your guests will never forget when Grandma takes the stage with a live band at your wedding reception. Or how about Uncle Randy, who has a few too many before his best Bon Jovi impression? Let us help you make your day one to remember!

We’re happy to announce that Rock Out Karaoke will be attending the Bridal Bazaar at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on Oct. 24th. In fact, we’re giving away some free tickets and discount admission passes! Just go to our Facebook fan page and “like” us there – let us know you want to go and they’re yours! First come, first served…

But don’t take our word for it – here’s a great Yelp review from Tom and Kristen, the most recent wedding we played at a beautiful winery in San Diego county.

Lemme tell ya- it was about 80% their fault that the guest reviews of the wedding were exclusively: “BEST WEDDING EVER!”  I am a discerning karaoker, and I HIGHLY recommend singing with them wherever they are playing- or hiring them for your event.

Remember that we do a lot more than just karaoke. In fact, we can put together a wedding package that works for you. We can DJ/Emcee the whole event, provide dinner/acoustic music, music during the ceremony, reception cover band, and of course, live band karaoke. If your wedding day isn’t the right time, how about the rehearsal dinner? Those can get a little rowdy – and we can help!

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!