Welcome to our Rockaoke Blog! Follow our posts to stay up to date with gig announcements, press features, festival news and everything Rockaoke.
About us:
ROCKAOKE are the UKs original, BEST and only SPECIALIST live karaoke band, inviting their audience to “live the dream” by taking to the stage and singing with a live rock band…
“One of London’s finest WTF experiences!” – Timeout London
A “beloved institution” – Rolling Stone
That’s Marillion Weekend 2025 complete. A truly magical weekend of live band ROCKAOKE, gigs and good company!
Being joined onstage by the Flowing Chords choir and watching Haunt the Woods were highlights!!
ROCKAOKE had a great night yesterday playing the SMW 30th Anniversary Party at Wilton’s Music Hall, London. Such a great venue and a lovely bunch of people – isn’t that always the case at ROCKAOKE gigs!
Thanks to Fiona and Euan at Sonn Macmillan Walker for booking us and all at Wilton’s for helping to make it a very special night.
Thanks also to @owenbphoto / Owen Billcliffe Photography for the photos.
Click here to view the full SMW 30th gallery.
“Everyone’s still talking about the Rockaoke – and will be for some time!!”
“Thanks again for such a great night – it totally rocked!”
“Just wanted to say what absolute legends you were at the Sonn Macmillan Walker do last night. Such fun. Frightened to death to sing then didn’t want to get off the stage.”
Here are some photos from our recent trip to LISBON, Portugal.
It was brilliant to work with our friends and colleagues at ASPECT COMMUNICATIONS again and we had a great night performing for our client at SUD Lisboa, a fabulous venue on the north bank of the Tagus right by Ponte 25 de Abril. We got to spend 2 nights in the CORINTHIA Lisbon – very lucky us.
The weather was super nice for the time of year. So we took some nice photos – see below.
Above all – it was so good to be playing in Europe again. Our first overseas corporate event for almost 3 years since Prague on 28th february 2020.
Photos by John McMillan and Jonny Short
STEVOFEST was a large scale private festival to celebrate a landmark birthday in 2017. We think it went so well that they decided to run the whole thing again in 2019. ROCKAOKE were invited to appear at both events.
The events management team were asked to create one family’s very own Glastonbury. With input from the family, the events team managed to do just that. A large scale full-on festival with lots of great bands, artists, food & drink and other great attractions. A key part of the family’s requirements, ROCKAOKE were last band on the main stage on the saturday night. Allowing the birthday boy and his family and friends to literally headline their own festival.
There is a really cool highlights movie below. ROCKAOKE clips start around 06:30. Also a ROCKAOKE photo gallery featuring some great action and epic stage dives!
For more on ROCKAOKE festivals, click here.
In september 2019, ROCKAOKE opened the show for Blossoms, Shame and Park Hotel at Goose Island‘s Hop Party @ Oval Space in London.
NME blogged about the event.
“Goose Island’s Hop Party had it all. From fantastic beers and ales, to an exciting twist on karaoke and some of the biggest and best bands in the country, it was quite the exclamation point to round out a summer of great parties.”
“Over in the The Wingman, attendees could take part in a bit of Rockaoke – it’s like karaoke, but instead of naff backing-track and a bewildered audience, there’s a full-live band to singalong with and an eager crowd helping you, too.”
In Bitter Sweet Symphonies, Amy Butcher did a review of the event and said some nice things about ROCKAOKE.
“Before the bands were set to play, I wandered around basking in the sunshine, sipping on my Blossoms SK-Brew to find Rockaoke in action. Now, before this day, I had only heard wonderful things about this act, and yes Rockaoke is definitely an act in itself. Performing karaoke gets kicked up a notch when you’re given the chance to play with a live band and there’s also a crowd cheering you on – this was the perfect way to warm up before settling into a night of live bands.”
EXCITING NEWS……! ROCKAOKE has been featured in the latest edition of Heatworld as one of the top ‘quirky karaoke’ nights around.
“Get the goss on the new craze for quirky karaoke”
If you prefer your sing-along experience with added air guitar, this is probably the closest you’ll get to joining a rock band. The on-hand pro musicians promise they’ll make you feel like you are in a band, whether you’re rocking out to Arctic Monkeys or AC-DC.
They’ve entertained everyone from James Corden to Jeremy Corbyn (yes, really) so you’ll be in superstar company. And as well as private events and one-off appearances, they have regular gigs in both London (various locations) and their hometown of Sheffield in the Mulberry Bar.
On the 28th September, the fabulous Grace Hall will be transformed for a night of ROCKAOKE!
Talk about adding a touch of class to proceedings! This elegant venue was originally built to accommodate a New York banking firm, so it must be pretty posh. Grace Hall is widely sited as one of London’s most exceptional venues and plays host to weddings, formal dinners, fashion shows – you name it. It has a distinctly 1920s vibe, which works rather well for a night of partying…
Forget your ordinary start to the weekend and join us onstage for a Friday night like no other! It’s not just rock music; every genre and era is covered, from Abba to Kanye West to Grease – what will you rock out to?
Enjoy cocktails, spirit infusions, wines and beers as you watch the show with an extensive and unique bar menu available throughout the night.
Doors will be open from 6pm and the venue closes at midnight. £10 entry. Buy tickets here.
Visit the Grace Hall website for more info.
Rockaoke return to the awesome Meraki Festival in august 2018.
Amidst an absolutely incredible festival summer 2018 for Rockaoke, we are delighted to be giving audiences a chance to join us on stage again at one of our favourite festivals of 2017. Meraki Festival.
A truly magical place full of incredible live music, electric atmospheres and exciting experiences. Including ROCKAOKE!
Come and unleash your inner diva, crooner or rock god with us from 15:50 -16:35 or again at 17:45 – 18:30. Children are as welcome on stage as well as the ‘big kids’ too. Let’s see who gives the best performances!
We think it’s going to be a magical weekend.
First festival of the season done, and what an epic way to kick off proceedings!
We were booked by SJM Concerts, one of the UK’s leading promoters, to curate a pop up bar called the Neighbour Hood Inn. The brief was to fill it with the kind of entertainment you’d find in a traditional pub but to add an unexpected twist and engage the ‘hungry for fun’ festival crowd.
Luckily, we have a flight case full of these activities after 15 years in the game. The programme was hosted all day by our fictional pub landlord character, Mat Butcher aka Mat Slater. The live band then took to the stage for a bespoke, fully interactive live band music quiz ( different each day ), sing along bingo and 2 sets of Rockaoke, before our landlord turned to the decks for the evening under the guise of DJ Starship.
We knew what we had put together was going to be fun, but we weren’t quite prepared for the crowd surfing kids and OAP dance offs. The Neighbour Hood Arms was packed to the rafters all weekend, with full houses for the Sing-Along-Bingo, standing room only for the quizzed and complete carnage during the Rockaoke sets!
SJM were supremely happy and the festival crowd were euphorically entertained. Job very well done.
Keep your eyes peeled for video evidence of this completely interactive, Rockaoke programming. It should be making it’s way to a festival, corporate event or private event near you soon.
Summer is one of the busiest times of the year for Rockaoke, as not only do we have a plethora of corporate summer parties, weddings and private events lined up, but also a full calendar playing some of the UK’s top music festivals!
Ever since we played at our first major UK festival back in 2007 (in the VIP area at V Festival), we have forged a reputation as one of the go-to interactive festival experiences. Using our ability to interact with and engage audiences both large and small, we’ve been booked as part of brand experiences and in our own right at festivals such as Standon Calling, Meraki and Car Fest. We give festival goers the experience of feeling like a rock star and fronting their own rock band; an experience not unlike that of the bands they’ve come to see….
So crack open a cold cider and get ready to unleash your inner rock god at a festival near you this summer:
27th May – NBHD Weekender – Victoria Park, Warrington
15th-17th June – Eroica Britannia – Friden Grange, Buxton
21st-24th June – Isle of Wight Festival
29th-31st June – Love Supreme – Lewes, East Sussex
20th-22nd July – Blue Dot Festival – Jodrell Bank, Cheshire
26th-29th July – Kendal Calling – Lowther Deer Park, Kendal
27th-29th July – Standon Calling – Lordship Cottage, Standon
3rd-5th August – Bestival – Lulworth Estate, Lulworth
11th August – Meraki Festival – Herts County Showground, St Albans
