Live band karaoke

Live Band Karaoke, also known as bandaoke, is a popular niche event where people sing karaoke with a live band in front of an audience. It is much like a jam session. Much like traditional karaoke, people choose a song from a list of available songs, sign up, and sing when it is their turn. The difference is that instead of a pre-recorded background track, the singers sing with a live backing band.
Differences between live band karaoke and traditional karaoke
Backing Tracks Traditional karaoke has people singing with midi tracks that are "in the style of" the original song. These are not the original tracks, and are instead a computer programmed copy. Most artists do not allow the use of their recordings for karaoke. A notable exception is Bon Jovi.
Cheese factor Because traditional karaoke uses keyboard synthesizes to approximate the sound of the original track, many people find the background tracks to be somewhat to very 'cheesy.' Live karaoke bands use real instruments and often sound much more like the original track.
Lyrics Traditional karaoke showcases lyrics on a TV screen with a bouncing ball. Live karaoke bands typically have the lyrics on a printed page. Some bands do feature a TV screens, however Karaoke Rockstarz, based in Reno Nevada have been reported by on 9/17/2012 and to be actually producing on screen lyrics that is only found with traditional karaoke.
Excitement Live karaoke bands are far more exciting than traditional karaoke. The sense of playing in a band, (aka being a rock star) and making music with other people is much higher with live band karaoke. The social aspect is also higher with live band karaoke. Live band karaoke provide the Rock Star Experience for patrons.
Song choice Traditional karaoke typically has thousands of songs to choose from, while Live Band Karaoke typically has hundreds . It's not possibly for most humans to memorize the thousands of songs like a computer can. However, the number of songs that typically get sung is fairly low, and live bands usually learn these songs, so a comparison of the actual used portion of the repertoire is far more favorable to live karaoke bands. Singers who choose an obscure song will not be likely to perform with a live karaoke band, however.
Deviations from recorded Song Structure Both types involve a human copying the original track, and both forms will show deviations from the published or "commercial" versions of the song, which themselves may have multiple versions - radio edit, country edit, album edit, etc. - calling into question which song form gets used. Live Band Karaoke will show variation (due to errors or artistic license used by the band) in song structure every time they play a song, whereas traditional karaoke will at least guarantee the same "performance" every time.
Flexibility Traditional karaoke is run by computer, and is inflexible, other than what song gets played. Some karaoke machines feature the ability to change the key of the song. Live karaoke bands can change the tempo, song form, feel of the song, and every other aspect of the music. For example, a good live karaoke band should be able to let you sing a reggae version of Katy Perry's 'Hot n Cold', should you want.
Availability Traditional karaoke is ubiquitous throughout much of the world. Live karaoke bands are much more rare, and unavailable in most locations. When they are available, they are typically not available any night of the week, like a karaoke machine is. Additionally, while a karaoke machine will work for free, and karaoke band will not.
Venues Live band karaoke is often performed in Clubs to draw in crowds, and also at weddings, parties and other events. Unlike traditional karaoke, it is almost never performed in small private booths. Live Karaoke bands are becoming popular for corporate events, and parties. Event planners enjoy the "Team Building" component of a Live band karaoke show for the corporate event, where the executives and staff are able to have fun together in a unique venue.
Live Karaoke Bands
Most live karaoke bands cover the list of the most popular (most often sung) karaoke songs. Some of these bands are The Gomers in Madison, WI (Rockstar Gomeroke) [http://beeftone.wix.com/thegomers#!gomeroke/cfji], HariKaraoke Band in Washington DC , RockstarU live karaoke in Albany, NY , uRockaoke in Montreal , the Cover Band Karaoke in Chicago , Karaoke Kings PDX in Portland, OR , Rock Mafia in Atlanta, GA , 3 Digit IQ Band in Las Vegas , Wilder Side Band in Des Moines, Iowa, Casual Encounters "Live-Band" Karaoke in Los Angeles, kBand in central Pennsylvania , This Is YOUR Band based in Salt Lake City, UT. , ROOMM , Karaoke Rockstarz in Reno Nevada , Jukebox in the UK , and B11 in Boston, MA . Nasty Alex “Live Band Rockaoke” based in London Ontario Canada
Some live karaoke bands feature more of a niche, such as "Rock n' Twang" which plays exclusively country and classic rock music in New York City, or punk, new wave, and metal such as Karaoke Apocalypse in Austin, TX.
History
Live band karaoke originates in the punk scene in New York City, USA. It was an underground scene for years, and still many people don't know what it is, or that it exists. In 2004, Montreal's uRockaoke hosted what they thought was the first 'live band karaoke night' but there were already regular nights happening in New York and Las Vegas. Madison, Wisconsin enjoys live band karaoke 6 times monthly at the High Noon Saloon since 2004 with The Gomers, who boast the world's largest live band karaoke songlist and over 1000 lead singers in the band. They created "Rockstar Gomeroke" at a Watertown Wellness Center benefit in 1996.
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