Karaoke Forums

I went to Delaware Park in Christiana, Delaware and they had Band Karaoke. Now I have been in one band or another my entire life. I am also a local KJ so singing in public is not a big deal. What I didn't realize is that the band wasn't actually playing the song. It was basically a Karaoke setup (great sound system) with a bass player, a guitarist, a drummer (with only hi-hats, bass drum and snare) and a karaoke host. The "musicians" played along to the soundtrack if they kind of knew it, otherwise they hunted and pecked around on their instrument, pretending to play. I was very dissapointed. I didn't know it worked that way. As a bass player I would never bring myself to sitting around in public pretending to play to soundtracks. I don't read music well, so that is how I learn a song, but only in my home in private. Just saying.

Then you haven't experienced 'TRUE' band-oke - what you experienced is something that sounds like a group of guys got together and said wouldn't it be fun for a singer if they thought real instruments were being played behind them.
The true ones don't use any backing tracks, but ARE a real band. We have a local band called Rockaraoke that are true musicians playing live!

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Karaoke From Hell in Portland.

www.karaokefromhell.com

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

Here in the Charlotte area we have a "Howl At The Moon" franchise that offers bandaoke every Tuesday night...

It is run with the house band, who are very good, but you also have to realize you are stuck with THEIR versions of the songs... which may or may not work out to your advantage...

It seems like a lot of fun!

In Central PA, we have Kband, one of whose members posts here. It's pretty much the most exciting karaoke experience that I get to have regularly.

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Co-host of The Greatest Song Ever Sung (Poorly), a karaoke-themed podcast

RISING STAR IN ORLANDO is by far the best "LIVE BAND" karaoke I have ever seen. You are fronting an awesome band who plays the songs just the way you remember them. They also have a wide variety to choose from and emcee, back-up singers, etc make the overall experience unforgettable. The stage, lighting and sound are pretty amazing!
Next time you guys go to Disney World you should definitely make a trip there. It's well worth the trip.

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Sound Choice and Chartbuster Certified

That's the way Rockaraoke are as well. They have done national events as well.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Karaoke From Hell has been doing it going on 18 years.

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

kBand is rather new to the genre (jsut began our 4th year onstage), but I think we've got a pretty good thing going. As musician's, we would never even attempt to replicate a specific recording. Not only is this nearly impossible (studio magic) but it also ends up being VERY boring. We offer the opportunity to join a great band in creating live music.

Frankly, I would be somewhat embarrased to call ourselves a band if we used backing tracks. We do offer the ability to change song styles or key for nearly every one of almost 1300 songs (sorry, but Boheomian Rhapsody is only available in G, not Bb)

I just can't resist an opportunity to plug this thing...

It isn't impossible and yet not boring for those who want to sing the version. May be boring for those wanting to play the song, but then again - it's live band a karaoke. Make it fun for those who put it up! Just don't repeat a song!

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Arlene's Grocery (That's the name of the club) near the Williamsburg Bridge in Manhattan. They've had "Live Band Karaoke" for over 10 years that I can remember. Their selection is very small. They have a single list of songs, and people just grab the sheet and sign their name to a song (first come first served). Once the song is picked, nobody else can sing it. I went their once, and I was not really impressed.

There are a few other places in NYC that have Live Band Karaoke, but I don't keep up with it.

That's great news. I thought this was the new "all the rage" thing and was more than a little dissappointed. I enjoy going out to hear some of our local bands, and many of them I know personally because I'm a loccal musician as well. They most always get me up on stage to "do a few". I will continue the search in my area for true bandraoke so I can meet some more musicians.

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Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most!

Of course with a live band, the selection will be much smaller. They're humans after all. I've done live band karaoke with Casual Encounters in LA/OC and a few different ones in NYC and I personally love the band at Arlene's Grocery best! I think it's impressive they know so many songs (they've added new ones in the last few months) and that they play with such enthusiasm every time. Since they've been doing it so long, they've cultivated a real sense of community and the audience is so supportive no matter what so you feel like a rock star up there.

It's one of my favorite things to take people to when they visit me. Even the ones who are wary at first thank me for insisting they go because they always end up having such a blast.

Man, do we need to break into a new market. These "top" karaoke bands are boasting like 200 songs or so...

We've always felt that to make it really work well, we have to be an OUTSTANDING (not just great) band. There are plenty of non-karaoke cover bands who know 2 or 3 hundred songs. I'm not sure how they work it, but scrolling lyrics almost certainly means that the band has to follow timecode/clicktrack. Which means they can't adjust on the fly or even perform the song differently. I'm very interested in knowing how these acts deal with performers who are, shall we say, inexperienced. It's VERY difficult to buck up someone who has no rhythm or ear.

I've never seen any of these situations employ any sort of "scrolling" lyrics... Typically the best you can hope for is a printed page of lyrics on a music stand.. All the more reason to sing something you are REALLY familiar with so as to NOT have to rely on lyrics being provided for you.

As for dealing with people who are inexperienced, sometimes they will help sing along to "nudge" the singer in the right direction in case of difficulty Generally though, you don't find a lot of people who have no rhythm or ear for music signing up for this type of thing in the first place... Much more intimidating than a karaoke setting I believe.

Jasaoke's group has the lyrics on a screen. It's pretty amazing and awesome.

How far will you guys travel? I've been talking you up to our local bars, and we're not that far from Altoona.

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Co-host of The Greatest Song Ever Sung (Poorly), a karaoke-themed podcast

We've developed our own system for this. Several lines appear on screen at a time; each song is broken up into multiple pages. Our bass player has 'page up' and 'page down' foot pedals, and turns pages at the appropriate time. Keeps the music in control, so to speak.



Amen to that.



I look at it differently. With a band, there are 4 (or more) other people onstage who have a vested interest in making each performance the best it can be. We've honed the ability to 'catch' people who get to far off, or sometimes they just get 'hammered' back into shape by one of us singing in their ear. But even at that, if it tanks, we all tank together.



Thanks, NoShame. I suppose there's no 'limit' to how far we'd travel, but it would affect the rate...