Press
Night spots bars & clubs
..Orlando bar helps you find your inner rock star ..
Kelly Fitzpatrick | BARS & CLUBS
May 16, 2008
Unable to play an instrument or hold a note (on most songs), I'm finding the game Rock Band has opened a bunch of new possibilities for me and my rock star fantasies that before seemed unachievable (cue zoom in on my face with twinkling stars in my eyes).
Yes, I'm one of those people who are hopelessly addicted to Rock Band.
When not out at a bar or club, you can find me a couple of nights a week at my friend's house, rocking out to "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or "Creep" by Radiohead. I could learn to play a real instrument, this is true, but that would take time and effort, and I do prefer that whole instant-gratification thing.
So imagine my delight when my friend Tod (also Calendar's listing coordinator extraordinaire) invited us all to meet at The Globe in downtown Orlando last Tuesday for their new Korndogg's Karaoke Hero night. Not only does creator and host Justin "Korndogg" Kornaker offer the standard karaoke, he also offers patrons a chance to play Guitar Hero or Rock Band as well. Fantastic, two of my favorite things brought together: Rock Band and a bar.
When Tod said it was at The Globe I had to pause, wondering where they would set up a stage. It's in the rear corner of the restaurant/bar, a tight squeeze for the setup that includes wigs and accessories participants can dress up in for their stage performance.
The hard part about the stage location or the venue in general, is there is no good vantage point to watch the performance of your peers unless you are at one of the two tables in front of the stage or on that side of the bar. Otherwise, you're kind of stretching your neck around folks to catch something. A more appropriate venue would definitely be Slingapour's, The Globe's sister club, which has a central stage and larger layout. But until the night proves itself, I can understand why it's currently at the smaller Globe.
As far as crowd is concerned, nothing was really happening around 9 p.m. when we showed up as the night got under way. A couple of folks watching a game at the bar, but that was about it. Around 10:30 p.m. was when the place started getting packed for the night that doesn't include a cover. I even saw local street performer Richard the Adequate take the stage for a Stone Temple Pilots song, which he was actually very good at. Soon the audience was serenaded, rocked and other performance cliches I won't list here because you get the idea.
The problem with Rock Band and Guitar Hero in this setting is that it doesn't translate as well as karaoke does in a public forum. You really need to have monitors showing the audience how the players are performing and make it feel more like a competition.That said, this is still a really good time; catch Korndogg's Karaoke Hero Tuesdays at 9 p.m. at The Globe at 27 Wall St., downtown Orlando.