Rockeoke hands you the microphone and a full live band, turning karaoke in St Kilda into a proper stage show.
Rockeoke runs weekly in the Basement at The Espy, the sunken room beneath one of Melbourne’s oldest live music pubs. Pick an anthem, warm up and belt it out while real instruments fill in behind you, no backing track in sight.
Rockeoke
- Every Saturday, 11pm – 2am
- The Espy Basement, St Kilda, Victoria
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The format is simple. Rather than miming along to a screen, singers front a live band running deep into the night, and the room builds as the set list fills with whatever the crowd throws at it.
Rockeoke slots into a busy weekly program in the same part of the venue, which also runs Open Mic Night, Battle of the Bands and the RocKwiz music quiz. The late finish gives it the run of the room once the earlier acts have packed up for the night. It is built for groups rather than soloists chasing a perfect take, with mates egging each other on between songs.
It all unfolds inside a building with serious history. The Espy has anchored the St Kilda foreshore since 1878, opening as one of Melbourne’s more lavish seaside hotels and drawing guests including Mark Twain and philanthropist Alfred Felton.
Its old ballroom became the Gershwin Room, and by the 1970s the venue had grown into a stronghold for punk, rock and the next wave of Australian acts. Redevelopment threats came and went, held off by a community that clocked its cultural weight.
A 2015 closure and full restoration saw The Espy reopen in 2018 across multiple levels, and the Basement now handles the loose, small-hours end of the week. Rockeoke lands squarely in that territory, and the only requirement is an anthem you’re willing to commit to at full volume.
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