If you have Andrew W.K. hosting a charity event, it’s fairly certain someone somewhere will feel the need to “Party Hard”. Clean-cut, non bloody-nosed, and newly married Mr. W.K. got the crowd revved up with his infectious positivity, motivational speaker-y vibes and encouraging personality. He sounded off on charity ventures through NYCares, the power of rock n’ roll, and how Indie Rock Karaoke is about good music, friends, fun times and “crushing the ego” in the name of good clean fun and coming together for a great cause. Thanks to NY Magazine, this yearly charity event is quickly becoming one of their more successful and crowd-pleasing benefits. Add ‘unique’ to the aforementioned since audience interaction makes it all the more worthwhile.

All eyes were on Andrew since it’s impossible not to love and respond to that high-energy and optimism. In fact, he’s so gracious that just being in his presence actually makes you want to be a nicer person. After discussing the importance of NY Mag’s annual coat drive for the homeless, he urged everyone to get involved in their other charitable initiatives for the greater good of New York. He then gave shout-outs to sneaker company Saucony for donating sneakers as raffle prizes, Glaceau (Smart) Water and Vitamin Water for the complimentary hydration, Cape North Vodka for purveying free booze during cocktail hour, as well as Gibson guitar for donating a badass guitar to one very lucky raffle winner. Blessed are the punctual event-goers who got there early since they actually enjoyed the free booze and the chance to sign up on the first come-first served master Karaoke list of classic punk songs and old favorites to be performed with backing band…

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists! Before the karaoke action could commence, the crowd enjoyed their full set that made our collective hands clap, toes tap and fingers snap. They amped up the crowd with their indie-punk sensibility during “Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?” and “Counting Down The Hours”, as Leo played his guitar faster than Bobby Flay chops onions. Then they took it down a notch to a more reggae-friendly place while playing tracks off their most recent Living With The Living. Their new stuff maintains hard punk edge while providing a danceability that somehow works. Ted himself intimated that he now “has it all,” combining his love of black metal and dance hall. Oh Ted. Perhaps my favorite moment of their set was a rousing performance of “Hearts of Oak” with a guitar loop at the end that seemed to go on forever as he segued into the next track, “Heart Problems”, which he said had to do with the sorry state of universal health care in America. They closed with “Timorous Me”, and there was absolutely nothing timorous about it!

In between Ted Leo’s set and the actual Karaoke portion of the evening, Brooklyn’s own Finger On The Pulse had a DJ set that was actually pretty good, considering I’m not always the biggest fan of disc jockeys, but the karaoke portion was the true star of the evening.  Andrew W.K. started it off with a rousing take on The Kingsmen’s “Louie Louie” that got everyone up on their feet.  His hyperactivity always translates into memorable stage presence, as he’d shake and sway, punch the air and perform some kind of dropkick dance moves, I was waiting for him to give himself a bloody nose and I don’t think I was alone there.

The rest of the evening remained high-spirited and fun as audience members took to the stage and sang song after song with Ted Leo and company backing them up from artists The Stooges, The Cure, The Outfield and other crowd favorites (see set list here).With such an action-packed event, it’s hard to pick a highlight and sounds corny if I were to say “everything rocked equally,” but it’s true.  Between Andrew W.K.’s likability, Ted Leo’s ever-enjoyable live sets, and karaoke, everyone left a winner.  I leave you with a few of my favorite karaoke performances.  Drunk, sober, stage-frightened, what-have-you, they’re hysterical:

-The Kingsmen – “Louie Louie” (Andrew W.K.)
-The Outfield – “Your Love” (random event-goer, my favorite performance)

If you want highlights of each performance in one clip, this guy uploaded ‘em on YouTube.  Check ‘em out!  (Part 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5).  Watch out for Kelly Clarkson‘s “Since U Been Gone” and The Ramones‘ “Blitzkrieg Bop.”  Both are highly entertaining.  But the winner of the evening was Aretha Franklin‘s “Respect” cover.  Ahh, of course.

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