Swooped in with a homie for some drinks and DJ things. Good atmosphere and good bevs. Staff was great. Looking forward to see whats next for this business.
Tasty unique cocktails. I think they should bring some food back though, I can drink more when I am eating!
All the musical acts were good, especially Fenix Dion. The sound was fine for my ears, but I think the shape of the room made it hard for my phone to get good video.
Had a great time on a Wednesday night over at ROK Music Lounge and Bar on West 7th St. in St. Paul!, In fact me and the friends I was with even got a special treat that absolutely blew the roof of the place when we stayed a bit later than everyone else who was attending that nights event. BUT if you just want to quickly know if..... THIS PLACE HAS A CHILL VIBE?... YES! GOOD DRINKS?... YES! FRIENDLY STAFF?... YES! and ARE THEY OPEN LATE?... YES! So FOR SURE CHECK IT OUT!!! and back to our little story! So where was I, oh yeah, it was this once a month "Open Decks DJ talent night" the Promoter was cool, its 21+ event. and no cover charge, so that all sounds pretty cool and well, its cool. In fact until the night cap, it was just what you might expect at such an event, It features various locals with various talent, some folks who obviously are trying something new, and some folks who are a bit more practiced and I would say have potential to be future pro DJs, all taking turns at testing their skills on the mixer in 30 min. sets. So if you or someone you know has been testing the waters of their mixing skills you gotta come and check it out!
Now the crazy part of this story is that none of us knew what was about to just happen to happen, but it did, it wasn't until about 15 mins after the last DJ finished his set (he was the official host of the nights event.), and the CDJ turntables were packed up and had driven off with the promoter who brought them, when we just happen to still be outside waiting for the car to warm up, and our friend to gather his coat, when all of a sudden I suddenly start to hear this nice sorta grungy, hard Techno! This wasn't your run of the mill radio stuff, this was REAL Techno, the kind of Techno that was born in Detroit and has since made a name for itself in major cities spanning the globe. This was the kind of Techno you would hear at a Communion Event on a Sunday afternoon in the Summertime, or perhaps at a Slam Factory session, or Gamut Gallery Art Opening, even perhaps in the wee hours of the night at DVS1's Acrylic Factory Warehouse, yeah THAT KIND OF TECHNO! Its okay, go ahead and sign off if you've got no clue what I was just talking about, or have no interest in rhythmic basslines throbbing, filled with various sounds and frequencies conjoining through synthesizers and sequencers at the fingertips of artistic sound mechanics or in this case, mechanics (plural)! With one at the mixer and one at the keyboards, both then pushing it all to the max then through their delivery system, aka the SPEAKERS, which in this case is ROK's collection of both modern and vintage subwoofers and tweeters stacked up behind the racks of the aforementioned sound instruments, their own music creation "tools of the trade" that twist, bend, stretch, delay, and tweek all of it out, before its delivered to your ears, body, and your soul! It should defiantly get your body moving, either out the door if it ain't your cup of tea, OR if that cup of tea is your flavor, then you know as well as I do, 'that movin' is groovin' honey and that's what we had come to do!" and with that said the dancefloor suddenly sprang to life, it was all quite unexpected, and I must thank the two owners of the place for giving us such an awesome and unexpected treat. THAT was truly epic and made the drive over to ROK Music Lounge and Bar worth every single minute of the ride, and we cant wait to hear you guys play again, I wanna say you called your dynamic duo ...... "INNERLOOP" (I hope I got that right???) and it was the best part of our night! Thank you guys!!!
Oh if you liked this review, please give it a thumbs up and tell your friends about this place!! Thanks guys, and CHEERS! Happy 2024!
I love what they've done on the inside now that it is strictly a music venue bar. It's intimate. Good vibes. Outdoor fire pit and they have a parking lot now!
Miss their full service Nordic Japanese menu *but* ROK excels at everything they’ve undertaken. Their musical acts and genre diversity are both outstanding.
