Rockstar Gomeroke is all about the dark stage, the illuminating lights and friends hanging out to hear you sing your favorite song with the Gomers, a local band.
Gomeroke started in 2004 and has been continuing strong at High Noon Saloon. I had the opportunity to meet the Gomers and chat with them before their Tuesday night show.
"Todd Hansen from The Onion who lives in New York, suggested live band karaoke to one of our members, Biff," guitarist Stephen Burke said. "He knew of a live punk, heavy metal karaoke and suggested that we should come up with a live band karaoke. High Noon Saloon opened in May 2004 and we started that year. It was fairly an instant hit!"
While waiting in the High Noon Saloon, I noticed that people started to fill the bar pretty quickly when the time came for the Gomers to perform. Everyone looked through the karaoke song books and requested songs by writing the name of the song in a tiny piece of paper and putting it in the "magic" hat.
"We definitely have regulars," Burke said. "Some of them were instant regulars and have been coming here for about seven and a half years now. They are a dedicated bunch."
It rapidly became apparent the Gomers are veterans. All throughout Gomeroke, they were able to keep the stage upbeat and energetic.
"We have hardcore regulars, about like 20 or 30 of them," Burke said. "They all pretty much come 90 to 95 percent of the time."
Everyone in the crowd watching the show could see the Gomers were extremely lively while playing with the Gomeroke fans on stage. The people in the crowd weren't just sitting at the bar watching the show either. They were singing along, cheering and shouting the names of their friends on stage, obviously enjoying every minute of the performance.
"Top songs that we get are ‘Me and Bobby McGee,' ‘Love Shack' and ‘Don't Stop Believin','" drummer Geoff Brady said. "They are easily the top three."
It was pretty surprising that people were so comfortable singing in front of a crowd. Surprisingly, many of them were very talented.
The weirdest songs attendees requested of the Gomers requested were "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" by the Royal Guardsmen and "Bicycle Race" by Queen.
"‘Bicycle Race' is pretty weird. That three-minute song just feels like 20 minutes," Brady said. "Definitely the weirdest song we've played so far."
The Gomers are currently working on a new album. Their goal is to release it around the holidays. They are in the artwork stages of production, so it seems they are getting close to reaching their goal.
"I guess our style is eclectic. All of our releases are eclectic," Brady said when asked about the new record. "You got your country, soul, heavy rock, some funk. It's all over the map."
Drums, keyboard, bass, guitar-the Gomers have everything a band should have and more. They are amazing at what they do and really know how to connect with their audience. The Gomers make sure the Gomeroke singers are enjoying themselves and aid them in rocking out.
Not only do the Gomers perform for the adult audience at the High Noon, but they also put on shows for kids.
Kiddyoke is basically Gomeroke for children, which is pretty neat since it's a completely different audience from the Gomers fans at The High Noon Saloon.
"Kiddyoke is a lot of fun," Brady said. "We sometimes play ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' like, 20 times. We really enjoy working with kids."
The excitement, energy and party spirit of Gomeroke is definitely a great Friday or Saturday night activity, and getting up on stage will be on the to-do list. It gives everyone a chance to live out their rockstar dreams in front of their friends, backed by a live band.
