We played in Brixton for the first time on saturday (27th march – Phil’s birthday). Was a great night @ Dex Club. Only threatening behaviour we encountered was the obligatory jobsworth parking attendant on Danny’s mission to acquire parking tickets in every London borough by the end of 2010. He missed out this time as drummer Steve assumed the mantle temporarily.
I was uncharacteristically on my toes. I sussed out the parking restrictions and parked some way off. Walking back to Dex Club I came across a chap trying to move a piano on his own. A thankless task – I offered my services naturally. And ended up pushing a piano from Brixton Village to the Dog Star.
London’s Cuckoo Club is not typical of the venues we have played. For a start, it costs about £25 to get in. Incredibly exclusive. So not exactly the class of punter that we started to out playing to in Sheffield and – errrr – Glasgow!
We did about 6 great shows at Cuckoo Club in 2009. There was usually a lot of hanging about. Then, turned midnight when everyone was ready, 45 minutes of rock mayhem! Rockaoke, casually straddles all boundaries of class, race, gender etc… And of course everyone loved it! They wanted to see more of us. But we were dead busy doing other gigs that happened to be paying better fees at the time. So I believe they even got another band in at one stage.
We almost landed a dream gig in Brindisi. One night we met this guy who wanted to fly us out to his villa and for us to spend the week there hanging out, rocking out etc… Sounded great to us. Less so to my wife. It didn’t come off though. I think I was just a bit too northern to take the guy seriously. It sounded a bit too good to be true. Maybe the other band went.
Anyway, we got a great article in COMPANY magazine’s october 2009 issue. “A Night Less Ordinary” was a very good description of our nights at Cuckoo Club. See the full article at https://www.rockaoke.com/company_oct_2009.pdf.
Last month we landed a gig at the prestigious Brits 2010 Aftershow. And the guy who booked us saw us at Cuckoo Club. So, no surprise we are keen to play at Cuckoo Club again in 2010. Because things happen down there…
Not got the greatest ring about it has it simvastatin tablets. Rockaoke’s first gig on a caravan site and my first ever vist to Porthcawl. 4 hours from Sheffield. Even longer coming back thanks to the M42 being shut between j10-11. We detoured via M6 (initially in the wrong direction), M5, A38 and the 24-hour Asda at Minworth where we tried and failed to find iced coffee or any Hershey products. Surely the biggest / least well stocked supermarket in the UK.
Was cold too. Frosty winds well and truly made moan!
It was a buyers/suppliers corporate event for Parkdean (the site owner) and we were there courtesy of Gaymers Cider. Unfortunately the Gaymers cider wasn’t there which seemed a bit of an oversight. I had a pint of water in a Gaymers glass at one point. At least Gaymers cannot be accused of promoting irresponsible drinking.
We had words last night actually. But what goes on in the van stays in the van. Even though the words we had were in the car park. Rules is rules. Suffice to say, we are all still very much in love. And we rocked Porthcawl like it’s never known!
ROCKAOKE on the “Knees Up” stage – Brits 2010 Aftershow
Not only are ROCKAOKE the UK’s most in-demand karaoke band, they are one of the busiest bands in the UK full stop. Around 200 gigs in 2009! Over 1,000 gigs since they started out. A band that have had knocking on 30,000 lead vocalists surely deserve a place in the Guinness Book of Records.
While the band have been doing the business, the business has achieved something that most businesses dream of achieving but very rarely do. Like the weblog became the blog, sometime in 2009 rock band karaoke became ROCKAOKE. We can’t really claim to have invented the name and we don’t have a trademark on it – others have tried but have failed to stop others using it cos it is such a generic term. But we used it first, we popularised the word in London (and therefore the UK), we’ve attracted loads of press and media attention and now the word is on everybody’s lips.
Recent press in The Times and Cosmopolitan/Company/OK magazines use the word ROCKAOKE. Such is the general acceptance of the word ROCKOAKE as part of the English language that Chris Moyles regularly refers to us by our band name on the BBC – how’s that for priceless promo! And seeing the word ROCKAOKE up large at the recent Brits 2010 Aftershow was awesome.
In hindsight, it looks like we chose our band name and web domain well. It did seem like a good name at the time simvastatin 5mg. But there’s a lot more to it than that. Most of it involving hard work and stuff.
Back in 2005, we were a rock band without a lead singer. No viable future beckoned. But a couple of us were doing this Bandaoke thing – pimped-up karaoke with a couple of guitarists playing along to backing tracks. A music agency (Live Music Management) had started us off doing Walkabout bars. Frustratingly for us, they failed to see the potential of doing this rock karaoke thing on a bigger scale (i.e. with drums and for a decent fee) and the work was drying up.
So, we put our own website together – www.karaokeband.com and started promoting the concept of rock band karaoke where you get to sing onstage with a live band. Real drums and everything! We got a few enquiries but no work. LMM got us 1 or 2 gigs during this time but prospects were not good.
What happened next was mental!
One saturday morning in may 2006, I got a call from Manumission’s Andy McKay who wanted us to play Ibiza Rocks! The fee wouldn’t be great (cos the cost of getting us out to Ibiza was enormous) but the opportunity to launch our rock band karaoke concept was too good to miss. I suggested to Andy that he should call the nights “Ibiza Rockaoke”. He liked it so much he bought the .com and .co.uk domains. I did likewise with www.rockaoke.com (www.rockaoke.com was taken but we now have that too) and ROCKAOKE was created there and then.
We invented ROCKAOKE – don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise 😉
Our first night at Bar M, San Antonio wasn’t great. Lots of teething problems and lots of pressure. I realised this was a defining moment in my life and didn’t want to fuck it up. We got through it. The second night became a nightmare. Our guitarist refused to come. A good mate of mine Paul Faud (aka Jinx) came to the rescue. For such a scratch band we did amazingly well to get through the gig and to be asked back again. But jesus was it tough! Paul’s van broke down on the way to the airport, both guitar and bass never got out of Stansted (we had to hire instruments over there) and we missed the flight home – replacement flights cost us all the money we ever made from Ibiza Rocks!
But we did get asked back. And our third Ibiza Rockaoke night was ace! The Bar M stage was set-up for Ibiza Rocks which had kicked off the previous week. It was amazing. WE ARE SCIENTISTS, who had played Bar M 2 days before, were in with Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson who had done a DJ set that night. All of them joined us on stage. ROCKAOKE made national headlines and folks still come up to us and say “I was there that night at Ibiza Rocks!”
It’s not often you get an opportunity to change your life. And when the opportunity presents itself, you have to recognise it and grasp it with both hands. Do what you have to do to the best of your ability. And try to enjoy it. Especially if what you have to do involves flying to Ibiza, drinking lots and playing in a rock band.
We did that – and IBIZA ROCKS became a massive turning point for us!
Coronation Street actress Michelle Keegan will sing Celebrity Rockaoke in aid of injured British soldiers.
The 22-year-old heads up the event at Manchester’s Moho Live and will belt out songs alongside Corrie co-stars Helen Flanagan (Rosie Webster) and Brooke Vincent (Sophie Webster) to raise money for BLESMA (British Limbless Ex Servicemen Association) and Macmillan Cancer Support.
Speaking of the event, Keegan – who plays Weatherfield’s Tina McIntyre – said: “Rockaoke is going to be so much fun and I can’t wait to see all the various stars performing and enjoying the night.
“I’ve not decided what I will sing yet, but it will probably be a pop song with a rock edge – and I might have to rope in a friend or two for moral support!
“BLESMA is an underfunded but vital armed forces charity that really needs some help,” she continued. “I know someone who serves with 11 EOD REGT RLC Bomb Disposal Unit in Afghanistan and every day he risks his health and life. He told me just how much this charity needs help so I was more than happy to do what I can.”
She added: “Macmillan Cancer Support improves the lives of people affected by cancer. They provide practical, medical and financial support and push for better cancer care. This is a charity very close to my heart.”
Other Corrie stars expected to take part include Shobna Gulati (Sunita Alahan),
Sasha Parkinson (Sian Powers), Nikki Patel (Amber Alahan), Graeme Hawley (John Stape). Emmerdale ‘s Jeff Hordley (Cain Dingle) and Hollyoaks actors Andrew Moss (Rhys Ashworth), Gerard McCarthy (Kris Fisher) and Helen Pearson (Frankie Osborne) will also be in attendance.
Charity Celebrity Rockaoke will be held at Moho Live in Manchester on Tuesday, December 8 from 8pm. Tickets are available online from Skiddle, Ticketline and SeeTickets.
Coronation Street star Michelle Keegan has turned rock chick ahead of taking to the microphone for a night of singing for charity in Manchester .
The actress, who plays Tina McIntyre in the ITV1 show, donned spike-heeled ankle boots, a blue minidress and a Flying V guitar ahead of joining a host of other soap stars to sing karaoke, accompanied by live band Rockaoke.
Keegan’s co-stars Helen Flanagan (Rosie Webster), Brooke Vincent (Sophie Webster), Shobna Gulati (Sunita Alahan), Sasha Parkinson (Sian Powers), Nikki Patel (Amber Alahan), and Graeme Hawley (John Stape) will also show off their vocals at the event, which raises money for Blesma (British Limbless Ex-Servicemen Association) and Macmillan Cancer Support.
Other stars getting involved include Emmerdale’s Jeff Hordley (Cain Dingle), Hollyoaks actors Andrew Moss (Rhys Ashworth) Gerard McCarthy (Kris Fisher) and Helen Pearson (Frankie Osborne), along with some surprise guests.
They will be singing a mix of pop, rock, punk and soul classics.
Keegan said: “Rockaoke is going to be so much fun and I can’t wait to see all the various stars performing and enjoying the night.
“Rockaoke is a newish concept and the band who are playing have performed on stage with some pretty big stars such as Peter Andre, James Corden, Justin Lee Collins and Davina McCall so yes, I am a bit nervous!”
She said she is keen to help Blesma because she knows someone who serves with a bomb disposal unit in Afghanistan . Every day he risks his health and life. He told me just how much this charity needs help so I was more than happy to do what I can.”
She added: “I have not decided what I will sing yet, but it will probably be a pop song with a rock edge, and I might have to rope in a friend or two for moral support!”
Charity Celebrity Rockaoke takes place at Manchester indie club Moho Live from 8pm on December 8.
Our next gig is in Stoke-on-Trent with The Chris Moyles Show. How exciting is that! About as exciting as it gets for us. Cos we’ve done it before and it was so good last time that we know it is going to be an absolute blast!
We’re lucky to have done lots of exciting stuff. But sometimes events don’t live up to the hype or our expectation. Whereas the Chris Moyles Show event we did in Milton Keynes back in april was great. Everything went really well – the show was good, everyone enjoyed it, we got to perform with Jo Whiley and Greg James as well as the Chris Moyles Show team, and technically (at the risk of putting the kybosh on tomorrow) everything went very smoothly. Basil and I needed a piss mid-set which wasn’t part of the plan but Chris and Kirsty did a drum n’ bass number to fill in.
And at the end, we all went back to the hotel for beers, pizza’s and a chinwag.
Tooting Tram & Social on saturday 6 june was probably one of our best gigs ever. We had some truly great singers. The guys who sang “Last Nite” and “Are You Gonna Go My Way” were fantastic. And the girl (Biz???) who sang “Simply The Best” was so nervous but pulled a mega performance out of the bag which sent the crowd berserk! She was shaking like a leaf but that merely contributed a unique vibrato to her idiosyncratic vocal style. She was awesome!
Band weren’t bad too. After a few holidays and enforced absences, it was good to have Basil, Danny and Jonny all back together again. And Mattyboy was on top form – as usual!
The show was so good we are using it to launch the ROCKAOKE Podcast. We’ll be recording our first podcast this week which should be available for download very soon. 🙂
Things are hotting up in London. More venues wanting Rockaoke, demand that we can’t meet and therefore more bands emerging who do what we do. Oh well! We’ve known for years what a cracking concept this is and it makes sense that other bands should pick up on it.
This week, Cuckoo Club in London and a rare hometown appearance at Sheffield Wednesday FC. Up the Owls!!!
