With implacable confidence and boyish charm, Ruben Silva, 36, raised his drumsticks to rev up the crowd as smoke from a fog machine permeated the stage.

Silva and his band, The Plastic Instruments, were doing their best to mimic the classic bar tune, Don't Stop Believing, by Journey at Brickell's Transit Lounge.

It wasn't an attempt at karaoke, but a new barroom fad -- Rock Band nights.

This was Silva's first chance to play the Rock Band game in front of an audience after months of practice.

``The energy and excitement of playing Rock Band in front of people is so intense,'' Silva said. ``It doesn't compare with playing online.''

Rock Band events are getting more popular in South Florida's bar scene. With access to an 800-song repertoire featuring The Beatles, Michael Jackson, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Killers and scores of other musicians, MTV and Harmonix have managed to take the Rock Band video game system from private homes to pubs, bars and lounges.

With hard plastic controllers that vividly resemble Fender Stratocasters, Telecasters or even Paul McCartney's violin-shaped Höfner bass, the video game lets aspiring singers, drummers, guitarists and bassists show off their rock-star moves and virtual-musician skills.

Hot spots for the public Rock Band renditions include Transit Lounge in Brickell.

Liana Minassian and her friend Lauren Pedic, both 23, were recently at another -- Ye Olde Falcon Pub in Davie -- to play Rock Band.

The Irish Pub thinks it is one of the first venues to pick up on the trend. Focusing on the TV monitor, Minassian and Pedic joined Paul, John, George and Ringo's rooftop performance of the song I Want You (She's So Heavy), shown on the big screen right next to them. Minassian sang while Pedic sat at the drum console.

``I come here with friends every couple of weeks or so,'' Minassian said. ``It's awesome.''

Pedic, who could hardly keep up with Ringo Starr's drum, played with a smile as people encouraged her to keep going. Pedic said she is new to Rock Band and is still learning which color goes with what drum pad.

``I've been playing video games for two weeks,'' she said.

Rock Band Rock Off, a company that provides Rock Band entertainment for bars and clubs, private parties and corporate events, has handled Rock Band events at the pub for more than a year.

At the end of every night, Rock Band Rock Off gives away a $25 bar tab to the night's best act. The company also videotapes performances and posts them on YouTube and its website with no charge to performers who would like to share their Rock Band memories.

``It works out great,'' said Ray San Anton, 35, who works as a Rock Band DJ for Rock Band Rock Off.

Alex Saiz, 25, a regular at Transit Lounge, said one key to the success of the entertainment medium is the integration of instruments to the karaoke formula.

``There are a lot of people who don't want to sing,'' he said. ``Rock Band lets them take part in sharing the embarrassment without having to be the lone singer.''

With Rock Band Bar Nights, a program promoted by MTV and Harmonix, prospective Rock Band participants have a chance to search venues that host Rock Band events simply by visiting the site and typing in their zip code, said Transit Lounge general manager Jerry Pennington, 29.

The lounge also receives new Rock Band song releases before they are available to the general public, another incentive to stop by, Pennington said.

Jonathan Castaneda, 27, who works as a Rock Band DJ at Transit Lounge, started using the video game as a form of lounge entertainment about a year ago. Castaneda said the new bar-entertainment form clearly outperforms karaoke.

``It's like karaoke on steroids,'' he said.

San Anton said he recognizes the rise of Rock Band Nights as an outgrowth of the karaoke format.

``I figure it's just a different form of karaoke,'' San Anton said. ``As long as karaoke remains popular, we're going to stay popular.''

Pennington said he sees them ``as two different things. I don't know if Rock Band will eventually take over, but I think it will compete.''

At the end of their Rock Band performance, Ruben Silva and The Plastic Instruments compared their performance scores.

The Rock Band performance scores are on a percent base, up to 99 percent per instrument. Each instrument gets a separate score based on notes played correctly over the total amount of notes in each song. The players chose from four difficulty levels: easy, medium, hard and expert. If selected, the performers may also receive performance notes, such as ``Top Performer'' or ``Most Gutsy.''

Silva scored an impressive 92 percent with difficulty level set on hard. He said he plans to become a regular at Transit Lounge as long as they keep holding Rock Band Bar Nights.

``This is definitely not my last time here,'' Silva said.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@