See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Danielle Furfaro
Brooklyn Daily
Celine Dion is not welcome at this karaoke night.
A pair of rebellious rockers couldn’t find a karaoke machine that would imitate any or most punk songs — so they recorded their own lyric-less instrumentals for a night of singing badly called Punk-Rock Karaoke.
Organizers Jay Johnson and Patrick Tyrrell say they produced 200 guitar-and-drum tracks out of their 500-song catalogue for the event on May 24 in Bushwick.
Judging by the results, the hard work seems to have paid off.
At Punk-Rock Karaoke, people swarm singers, freely grab extra microphones, and even throw themselves into the audience for a proper stage dive. Johnson says that the night of glorying in punk favorites like the Dead Kennedys or Descendents is in the true spirit of a concert gone wild.
“At regular karaoke, you hang out in a corner and when you’re done singing, you go back to your corner,” said Johnson. “Punk-Rock Karaoke is more like a show.”
Johnson and Tyrrell first started throwing the singing parties as a way to raise money for social causes when they lived in Chicago. When they moved to Brooklyn last year, they decided to continue the tradition. This upcoming show is only their second one in Brooklyn and it is raising money for the New York Abortion Access Fund.
“We’re finally starting to get beyond just our friends showing up,” said Johnson.
The most popular songs at Punk-Rock Karaoke include Against Me’s sentimental crooner “Baby, I’m an Anarchist,” the Dead Kennedys fascist name checker “California Über Alles,” and big basslined “Waiting Room” by Fugazi.
Punk-Rock Karaoke at Pine Box Rock Shop [12 Grattan St. between Bogart Street and Morgan Avenue in Bushwick, (718) 366–6311, www.pineboxrockshop.com]. May 24, 9 pm, $8.
Reach reporter Danielle Furfaro at dfurfaro@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2511. Follow her at twitter.com/DanielleFurfaro.