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Rock the Stage
Illinois-based Navistar Inc. rewarded its top sales representatives with a trip to Miami culminating with a rock star-themed party at Fontainebleau's LIV nightclub.
For the finale to its annual Diamond Club incentive trip rewarding the company's 373 program sales representatives who achieved the elite level for 2008, Navistar Inc. turned to Chicago-based Legacy Marketing Partners to help make its employees feel like true rock stars. And that's exactly what they did with the company's 373 Rock event on January 31 at LIV nightclub inside the Fontainebleau hotel.

With rock ‘n roll as the theme, and a desire to give the Diamond Club members an interactive and fun party, Legacy turned to Rock Star Karaoke. Different from regular karaoke with a DJ, the LIVE by Rock Star Karaoke program enlists a full band for each performance prepared to play any of the requested songs attendees submitted prior to the event. Led by M.C. Kelly Cooper who provided both commentary and encouragement for the stage-shy in attendance, partygoers hit the stage performing rock classics like Stairway to Heaven, Livin' on a Prayer, and Don't Stop Believin'.
CONTINUED >
Continuing the rock star theme, Legacy set up Guitar Hero stations in the private skyboxes on the club's upper level so guests could participate in head-to-head competitions. The three guitars at each station were also branded with 373 Rock custom skins, correlating to the graphic stickers on the wall of each box reading "Free Your Inner Rock Star," the night's slogan.

Throughout the bilevel venue, gobos of the organization and event names were projected onto the walls and the eight- by -16-foot projection screen behind the stage. Additionally, two oversized guitars branded with similar skins to the Guitar Hero controllers were set up on stage with smaller versions on flanking the entrances to the two rows of skyboxes.
-D. Channing Muller

A Thank you Letter to RSK
Robin, Superfly Productions
You guys were great at Bonnaroo and our staff party! Feel free to give anyone my contact information to use as a reference.

Best,
Robin

Robin McNicol
Superfly Productions
64 West 3rd Street - Suite 205/206
New York, NY 10012
ph: (212) 375-9652
fax: (212) 375-9653
A Thank you Letter to RSK [- Hide]

 

Randy Weiner, Weiner Entertainment Group

Dear Rock Star Karaoke NYC,

Thank you so much for your hard work yesterday. All of the energy, spirit, and talent you gave were enormously appreciated. The event came off wonderfully. The client was thrilled. You guys fucking rock!

Again thanks to everyone for giving so much. I hope you had fun. I had a blast, and I look forward to working with you again soon!

Sincerely,

Randy

Weiner Entertainment Group LLC
191 Chrystie Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10025

Everyone's a Rock Star
The Tennessean, Nashville
Everyone's a star in Bonnaroo's Karaoke Bay

By LEON ALLIGOOD
Staff Writer

One of the new festival activities this year is Karaoke Bay, where everybody, and that includes everyone, can take to the stage and say they "sang" at Bonnaroo.

Not surprisingly, it's very popular. Well, the air conditioning and the sale of beer also may have something to do with it. (Some people it seems don't have the nerve to belt out their favorite rock song until they belted back a few beers.)

Unlike most karaoke bars, where wannabe rock stars sing along to recordings, Karaoke Bay features one of three live bands.

So what's it like being the band for nobodys who, in another space and time, might have been the real deal.

"It's cool," said Kent Thompson, guitarist for Rock Star Karaoke NYC, one of the three featured bands.

"They come to sing and we came to play so everybody has a good time.
"

But what if a real stinker takes control of the microphone?

"There are no bad singers who sing for Rock Star Karaoke," he said, tongue firmly in his cheek.

"Really."

http://www./tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080613/TUNEIN/80613108/1059/TUNEIN0503

Slopey Seconds
Slopey Seconds
A brooklyn couple's adventures in food, drink, and music.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Rock Star Karaoke

After band rehearsal at Michiko Rehearsal Studios, located just off Times Square (what better location for a rehearsal space than right above an Irish pub in the middle of the mayhem that is midtown NYC), I took the 3 train back to Brooklyn. Armed with my acoustic guitar, I figured it was a safe bet that I'd have the two-seater to myself for the entire ride. Not so fast, Seabass.

At 14th Street, a drummer strolled onto the train with his cymbal bag and snare. He was actively looking for an empty seat so I made some room and settled in for a crowded ride back to BK. I'd been finger-drumming on my case and as this dude settled in next to me, it seemed like he was joining along; I couldn't tell if he was drumming with me or if he was just drumming the way drummers incessantly do. Regardless, I found it hilarious that the only two musicians in the train car were seated next to one another but I didn't make any attempt at small chatter...until i pulled out a pack of gum and offered him a piece.

Next thing I know, we're doing a friendly musician meet-and-greet. After we established where our evenings were headed - while I was on my way back home, my new friend was headed out to a gig at Hank's Saloon in Brooklyn - I asked him who he was playing with. When he responded, "Rock Star Karaoke," I did a triple take. "Did you guys play Bonnaroo?"

Sure enough, Rock Star Karaoke is the band we saw Friday night at Karaoke Bay at Bonnaroo. My wife, sister-in-law and buddy Marcus had just bought tickets for our annual ride on the Ferris Wheel. As we stood in line, it slowly dawned on us that a) our tickets to the ride were good at any point that weekend and b) these guy rocked. As we jumped out of line and entered into the tent, we were rewarded with the opening chords to Radiohead's Creep. To this day, I can still remember who first introduced me to that tune. Thank you, Beavis and Butthead.

The girl who'd chosen to sing the song was a short blonde who was wearing sunglasses (at roughly 1am) and had an "I'm too wasted to really care" attitude. At first, it seemed like this was going to be just another wonderful song ruined by karaoke version...that was until the chorus landed. You see, the Rock Star Karaoke band were intentionally playing the verse at par with the girl singing the song. Their lackadaisical attitude initial made me think they weren't very good. But all of a sudden, they got real serious, laying into the chorus with a frenzy that brought everyone in ear shot to their feet. MB, Becca, Marcus and I rushed into the middle of the dance floor, which was a series of not-so-well-supported boards of plywood, and started screaming our faces off. "Sheeeeeeee's runnin' out a-gaaaaain!" Absolutely incredible.

After giving some thought as to what we might want to sing ourselves, we quickly realized that we'd probably caught a peak moment at the venue and decided to reconvene at the Ferris Wheel- Marcus and I grabbed some simosas for the ride while the girls waited in line. On our way out of the tent, the band took a moment to introduce themselves, mentioning they were from the NYC area. Never in a million years did I think I would run into one of their band members a little over a month later.

Turns out this may not have been the first time we've seen this band. In addition to a regular Wednesday night slot at Hank's Saloon in Brooklyn, you can also catch these guys on Saturday night at Lucky Cheng's in the LES. If you prefer a biker-bar, I recommend the former but if drag queens are more your speed, try the latter. Either way, do yourself a favor and check these guys out. I usually hate the idea of karaoke but when you've got an awesome live band backing you, how can you go wrong?

USA Today

Living the dream: As part of the Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp in Las Vegas, Hyun-Joo Park, left, Vaughan Merlyn on bass and Hugh Riddell on guitar get a session with Slash of Guns N' Roses fame.

School of rock: Former Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson performs with camper Michelle Blanchard, 15, who wants to make rock her career.

Rock this way! You, too, can be a music star at fantasy camp
By Marco R. della Cava, USA TODAY
Life was nagging at Hyun-Joo Park. Too many 14-hour days staring at a computer screen. Not enough time getting her 28-year-old ya-yas out.
So she did what any sensible Wall Street banker would do.
Hopped a flight to Las Vegas. Joined a rock 'n' roll band. And for four days screamed herself hoarse while perfecting - with the help of guitar hero Slash - a respectable rendition of Guns N' Roses' Paradise City, the climax of which found her leaping off a stack of amplifiers with Axl Rose-like gusto.
"The rock 'n' roll life is the polar opposite of mine," says Park, who morphed from banker to headbanger courtesy of the Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp, which for a decade has granted musical mortals access to their strutting gods. "Rock stars are expected to misbehave, have sex, be crazy. Pretending to be a rock star is an escape from the mundane nature of everyday life."
As fantasies go, "rock star" continues to hog the woulda-coulda-been spotlight. Nickelback's hit Rockstar breaks it down simply: "We all just wanna be big rock stars/ And live in hilltop houses driving 15 cars."
President of the United States? Forget the gig's daily pressure - most of us couldn't survive the first wave of photos unearthed from our funky-haired pasts.
Wealthiest American? Bill Gates is a shrewd genius and admirable altruist, but no amount of hot tech talk will get 80,000 people to scream your name.
Oscar-lauded actor? Please. Even Johnny Depp would rather be his iconic and death-defying buddy, Keith Richards.
With a new year that promises more bad economic news, continued tragedies in Iraq and a cutthroat election, folks are going to be leaning harder than ever on an escapist dream.
Cultural evidence points to rock as a salve. The Fantasy Camp plans to meet the needs of its expanding market by supplementing its $8,000 four-day sessions with $2,000 one-day camps. And with Hollywood's writers locked in a strike, don't be surprised to see more you-could-be-a-star reality shows such as Fox's just-ended The Next Great American Band.
Then there's the sizzling video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which has racked up$300 million in sales. Running hot on its heels is Rock Band, projected to hit $200 million in sales.
And if you need to feel the real thing, outfits such as Rock Star Karaoke NYC stand ready to transform white-collar warriors "into screaming, stage-diving singers," says company founder Kelly Cooper. She says the bar-based venture - which provides live backing musicians for would-be crooners - has never been hotter than in the past few months. "Something about rock just transforms people."
So just what is it about punching out power chords before adoring crowds that rivets the imagination? Or is that like asking why being lavished with compliments while getting a massage on a bed of cold cash might sound appealing?
"George Thorogood once said to me, 'If anyone born after 1950 tells you they don't dream of being a rock star, they're lying,' " says David Fishof, the unlikely founder of Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp, whose father was a Jewish cantor who frowned on rock. "Deep inside, everyone has this desire in them."
Fishof, calling from a noisy New York coffee shop, hands his cellphone to a friend who knows a thing or two about that exalted life.
"People look at us and say, 'They have fun. They have freedom.' And music is the last great freedom we have left," says The Who's Roger Daltrey, who has taught at the camp.
He's quick to add that his own pursuit of the rock-star dream was fueled by a drive born of his pre-Who days as a factory worker. "Believe me, this (musician's) life takes a lot of dedication," Daltrey says.
So there was never any other fantasy job looming on his career horizon? "No, I was the same as the obsessed man in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, building that mountain out of mashed potatoes," Daltrey says. "I wanted a life in music. There was no Plan B."
Most of us did take that non-rock fork in the road. But the passion for it dies hard.
"I was a singer in a band as a kid, but the conservative side took over and I got an education," says Doyle Letson, 50, of Detroit, the chief designer of the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX. A few weeks ago, he mounted his comeback with a band called Homebrewed. "One woman I know said, 'I can't look at you the same way anymore.' It's wild."
For Gwen Frederick, a "fortysomething" IT specialist from Ashburn, Va., who is the drummer of an all-girl band called Wicked Jezabel, playing rock is all about "forgetting what happened at work that week. ... Your day job leaves you drained of energy, but you go on stage, and that instantly changes."
If there's one common misperception about the rock 'n' roll life, it's about the notion of work, says Howard Kramer, curatorial director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.
"What lures us to the rock fantasy is the powerful human desire to be loved and admired," Kramer says. "But the public never sees what it takes to master an instrument, to write songs, to perform in the studio and live. Just know that between 1960 and 1964, The Beatles barely had a day off."
But one life coach is counting on the fact that people have a healthy regard for the effort that goes into creating that rock star persona.
"Rock stars epitomize the notion of walking your own path toward a dream," says John Battaglia, a former image consultant to the likes of Usher and Beyoncé who now runs therockstarinyou.com. "I don't use rock as a metaphor. At their core, rock stars strive to live a life in which they don't settle."
Rock stars also enjoy a rush that comes with getting instant, aural feedback. "There is just nothing like you being you, and having people respond to that," says Ryan Lesser, who toured with a band before becoming an art director at video game company Harmonix. He helped design Guitar Hero II and, more recently, Rock Band.
"As an art form, rock really lets you express yourself physically, emotionally and musically," he says. "The fantasy stays with people because (we're) introduced to it at an impressionable age."
Carter Oosterhouse remembers the first rock tune that made an impression on him. "It was a Quiet Riot song," says the hot-enough-to-be-a-rock-star host of HGTV's Carter Can. Ads for the show feature Oosterhouse saying that as a kid he wanted to be a rock star, then grabbed a hammer instead of a guitar. "The lyric said, 'Love's a bitch,' but I thought it was 'Love's a fish.' Whatever. I was hooked."
But the guitar never became his companion. "Wasn't any good," he says with a sigh. Today, he contents himself with "playing Guitar Hero III with my girlfriend until 2 a.m."
And what if the Rock Fairy offered up a trade, TV show for stage chops? Oosterhouse laughs. "I would take it in a heartbeat."
Such talk makes Slash smile.
"I suppose what they're responding to is the rebelliousness, the free-form creativity, and, well, yeah, the lifestyle," says the man whose eponymous autobiography reads like a rock star decadence how-to manual. "But not everyone really wants to live our lives. They just want a chance to touch it."
Slash's appearance at November's Las Vegas rock camp was his first. He enjoyed convening with people whose passion for rock reminded him of his own once-innocent love of the genre. And he also appreciated the chance "to kill the myth of the inaccessible, idiosyncratic rock star."
If you're wondering who was there benefiting from Slash's Les Paul tutelage, consider that those seeking out the rock 'n' roll fantasy can't really be pigeonholed.
There was 15-year-old Michelle Blanchard, guitarist in a recently disbanded Las Vegas band called Restore the Innocence. Her parents enrolled her "to see if she has what it really takes, and for her to see if she wants to work as hard as it takes to make it," says Blanchard's rock-loving mother, Rhonda, 49.
Says Michelle: "I'd like to make rock music my career, because it's something I love. It's better than taking a job that's crap."
At the other end of the age spectrum is Ed Oates, 60, who didn't exactly have a cruddy career. He was a co-founder of a little software company called Oracle. But he still has wistful memories of a youth filled with rock revelry.
"So many guys my age grew up with rock, grew up even playing rock, but wound up taking different avenues in life, always wondering 'What would it have been like?' " says Oates, who has convened a group of college-era friends into a garage band called Choc'd.
Oates says the camps provide those with a rock jones with both an adrenaline rush and a targeted mission: form a band with fellow campers. If you think that sounds like a corporate retreat, so does Oates: He has invested in the camp company with an aim toward pushing it into that market.
If Hyon-Joo Park gets wind of that news, she is likely to deem it a major bummer.
Sure, Park came to Vegas to blow her lungs out on rock anthems, which her YouTube-posted performance reveals she did admirably.
But what she really wanted was for her hero, Slash, that wicked cross between Cousin Itt and the Mad Hatter, to be, well, Slash.
"He was so down-to-earth. So nice. So ordinary," Park says.
"I was, like, 'Stop it already, dude. Break a bottle or something.' "

Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2008-01-01-rock-star-fantasies_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip