Rockeoke therapy

Rockeoke therapy

Be a rock star live and onstage for the length of a song

By Paul John Caña, Contributor    The concept is simple enough and not exactly revolutionary: have people loaded with panache and self-confidence (and perhaps a bit of alcohol) and sing in front of a crowded bar. Only instead of staring at a two-dimensional TV screen with images of bikini-clad girls frolicking on the beach and song lyrics at the bottom that either change color or have a bouncing ball on top following the rhythm of the song, you face the crowd and sing with a real live band behind you. That’s what happens at Mag:Net Bar in Bonifacio High Street Monday nights, a fresh, inventive take on the ubiquitous karaoke and “videoke” its progenitors have dubbed “rockeoke.” Yes, I know it’s been going on for quite a while now; it’s been written and blogged about like crazy and countless performances have been uploaded on YouTube and Multiply. But it was only recently that I personally got to try out what the fuss was all about. First off, if you are planning a Monday night sojourn to this corner of Taguig, it’d be wise to make a reservation. Apparently, Rockeoke has gotten so big that Mag:Net fills up quicker than a motel on Valentine’s Day. The evening my friends and I went, there were zero seats available. Even the bar stools were marked “Reserved.” Spending the entire night sipping our cerveza standing up wasn’t exactly an appealing thought, so we chose to suspend our rock star dreams for another night. That evening came exactly one week later. Armed with a reservation a friend made at one o’clock one weekday morning, we planted our behinds at a strategic table in the middle of the bar: close enough to check out the action onstage, not so close that we’d suffer from nosebleeds and shattered eardrums. Hosts JC Medina and Gabe Mercado (Ok ka ba tiyan?) were entertaining enough with their slick, deadpan humor, particularly Mercado, but the evening was about the would-be rock stars, and soon, I found myself submitting my name to the hosts and waiting for my turn on the spotlight. Depending on your level of confidence (and again, your alcohol content), you’re either pumped up and ready to go, or you’re wringing your hands white in nervousness and dread. To stand up and speak in front of a crowd is bad enough, but to be expected to sing takes the thrill to a whole other level. You wonder how genuine performers and rock stars do it, and then it hits you: yes, this is as close as you’ll ever get to living out your rock star dreams. In my case, I was somewhere in the middle. I was a bit nervous, but singing Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life” onstage backed up by a band in front of a crowd is in my life’s to-do list, so I knew what I was getting into. The lights helped a bit; they’re bright so I didn’t get to examine the crowd enough to make me self-conscious. Then the band started and I just let go. A hundred private sing-along sessions in my car or in front of the bathroom mirror and there I was doing it for real in front of a generally appreciative audience. I’m no Chris Cornell or Chris Carabba in the vocals department, but I thought I did pretty all right. Not as great as the guy who belted out “Born To Be Wild” with a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of Red Horse in the other, but definitely better than the loser who prefaced his version of “To Be With You” by saying, “I’ve had a bad day so bear with me.” Afterwards I got high-fives and smiles of encouragement from perfect strangers sitting in front. Rockeoke took the edge off a hectic workday and made me loosen up. I daresay it’s therapeutic, even for that dude who said he had a bad day. Maybe five minutes of letting out your inner Robert Smith, Brandon Flowers or Alanis Morrissette will save you thousands of pesos in therapy later on.