Best Karaoke in Chicago! Rory is a wild, charismatic karaoke host. You will never forget this.

Lording over us all showering us with His magnificent presence stands Rory Lake, reigning Chicago champion of Karaoke. Don't let His amazing looks fool you, He's a 100% solid gold monster of rock and roll. Lesser beings quake in His shadow, His adoring public revel in His gaze. This demigod of performance holds court at the American Legion Post 923 once a month and on that day, and that day only, the world is a better place for the hours He graces us with His song. Make no mistake, Karaoke Dreams with Rory Lake is not for the weak of heart, mind or soul. You'll need a near flawless combination of voice, courage and moral fortitude to stand before the teaming crowd of spectacled, skinny-jean clad hipsters exposing your talent, or lack thereof, for all to see. To the crowd's credit no one is getting booed, not tonight, and worst case scenario no one cheers once you're done. But once you're done you'll be wanting to get back up again. Such is the way of Karaoke Dreams. Show up, tithe your $5 and assemble before your Lord for the night, Mr. Rory Lake. Karaoke Dreams are made of these, who am I to disagree? read more

Rory Lake heard I was from Ohio and made it a point to announce that fact several times during the night. When I returned to Ohio and friended him on Facebook, he offered to come out here and spread the Karaoke Dreams gospel. Love him. He also has Echo and the Bunnymen, Pulp and Billy Bragg on karaoke. Bam. read more

In my adventures to find cool shit to do in Chicago, I did a search for Karaoke here on Yelp. I found a few high rated spots, but the monthly Karaoke Dreams event caught my eye. Upon seeing "Meet Rory," I KNEW I would be depriving myself of an experience had I NOT checked this place out at least once. I am sooo glad I did, and we all had a great time! Here are a few things to know about Rory Lake & Karaoke Dreams: --- Rory Lake --- - He's not some douchebag Karaoke DJ you can find anywhere. - He's a friendly guy who likes to meet everyone. - He keeps the party going with cool jams between singers, and entertaining commentary throughout. --- The Venue --- - Rory supports a great non profit institution, The American Legion. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_legion) - The venue is different, and quite a refreshing change to the typical bar scene. You'll know the bartenders' by name. - Sing upstairs, shoot the shit downstairs, shoot pool, play cards. - Full bar on the cheap that supports the Legion. --- The Crowd --- What about the crowd? Will you fit in? Well, if you're worried about "fitting in," you might want to stick to your normal boring routine! The crowd is great, I saw all sorts of different people here: - A cool guy with a Sergeant Pepper jacket - A Rasta lookin dude with real dreads - A college T-shirt party kid - A Suicide Girl, A country chick - A preppy chick, An 80's dude, A hip-hop guy - Friends, bachelorette parties, a volleyball chick ... All with one thing in mind - to have some FUN and sing some KARAOKE! --- The Karaoke --- Good singers, bad singers, nude singers. (OK, no nude singers....... yet.) - LOTS of good songs I haven't heard before! - Pat Benetar (duh), Billy Idol (Go Dave & Chris!), 80's Rock/Pop - Bell Biv Devoe! - Violent Femmes, RHCP, Gorillaz, Green Day - Neil Diamond, Some Motown, Tom Jones - Disturbed, Bob Marley, No Doubt, Johnny Cash Be sure to check the PDF on the site! http://www.rorylakepresents.com/Dreams_files/KaraokeDreamsSonglist.pdf --- Summary --- In summary, I'm definitely going again as this is unlike other Karaoke I've been to and it actually serves people other than some greedy bar owner. Props to Rory and thanks for keeping the Dreamin' going! ... P.S. On another note, after having such a good time at Karaoke Dreams I decided to check out Rory's band Cooler by the Lake. Wow, I'm not into local bands, but this was a fun and rockin show! Great live band. Keep up with Rory's events at www.rorylakepresents.com read more

Rory lake is quite possibly the smartest, coolest dude on planet earth. He knows how to throw a party and i want to hug him. If you know what's good for you, you'll do whatever it takes to get to one of his dreaming sessions. Do it, and bring yer friends. read more

I am a dreamer. I like karaoke. I like Bingo. I like cheap drinks. I like Vets. All of these things merge in one unbelievably short basement. It is as incredible as it sounds. I won $6 at Bingo. And a free drink of choice. Amazing. My friend won a sausage. No joke here. Seriously, a hand-made sausage. Then the singing began. At this point, I think you could say we all won. Rory is a positive presence hovering, dancing, singing behind his loyal minions. This was my first attempt on the mike by myself. It is truly fair to say the audience won. "If I Could Turn Back Time", i would not change a thing. I mean it. read more

WTF! A Yelp review thread for Rory?!? Alright then: first time experiencing my own karaoke dreams was during a roller girl's birthday party back in the Fall of 2005. I will never forget the smoky and drunken raucous! All in the comfy confines of my local American Legion hall's basement. So cheap! So fun! And now not at all smoky! Just do it! read more

THE best thing in Chicago. I am a monthly attendee and brought some non-hipster acquaintances (crowd tends to be more hipster-cum-nerd based), unsure if they'd take to it, and all I heard about for the following week was how awesome it was and when the next outing would be taking place. Seriously, kids. Best thing in Chicago. Descriptions are a little worthless; must be seen to be believed. read more

This is the most random fantastic rockinrolla karaoke in a VFW basement ever! I wish I could describe this madness, but you know how when you were a youngster and you wanted to go to house parties and you never got invited? Or worse, you DID get invited, but the good times never lived up to you imagination? Yeah, this makes up for all that. Good time, cheap drinks, and a Gunny. read more

The fact that I get to sing 'Gimme Just a Little More Time' in a tiny short-ceilinged basement whilst drinking a can of $2.00 Hamms, is okay by me. You can also rent the place out for $200... top and bottom floor. Support your local American Legion. read more

Rory on St. Patty's Saturday? You know it. I rock the mic with "Nuthin But a G Thang"... Rory rocks the stage behind me like true Fly Girl would... Roof : Raised. Church. read more

Nothing is cooler than Rory Lake. Except that is is now smoke-free in that thar basement. woot woot! Rare, obscure, oddball songs du jour! Bring your mom, she'll be rump shakin' by the end of the night. Don't expect fancy umbrella drinks or anything more complicated than PBR cans or gut-rot rum and cokes. But tips the bartenders well, they run their asses off all night for you cheap f'ers! Get there early to sign up for rad songs, they close around 1am. Trust me, with cheap drinks and rockin' Rory, 1am will be plenty of time to get your groove on. Just don't sign up to sing "Fat Bottom Girls". That's MY SONG! read more

I'm kinda confused by all the five star reviews. It's cool and all but i can't rationalize a 5 star review myself. The book is fine but not extensive. It is a little less than an inch thick, no more. $5 cover at the door with all proceeds going to the American Legion where it is located. The crowd seems to be o.k. A lot of people cheering for their friends but not a super communal atmosphere. However, some of that might have been a function of it being on Saturday night which tends to be a little more crowded. Rory puts in a hell of an effort but the book needs to be thicker. It is in a big room with no stage so it is a little hard to see who is up there. Relatively cheap cans of PBR and Modelo for $2 and $3, respectively. See my review for Planet Rose for a comparison. read more

What a bizarre way to spend an evening. We came here on Halloween for karaoke, though hardly any of my friends came up in the queue. This place is a little dingy, a little small town, and feels a lot like Wisconsin. Drinks are cheap and gotten in a low-ceilinged basement, and the upstairs looks like your grandmother's living room. I'm not entirely sure I'll ever be back, but I had a decent time here. read more

Michael G. and I did an 8 minute long Metallica song. If there aren't two sillier fucks to do that kind of music than you've obviously got a better ticket to the short bus than I do. And Rory is a true MC. read more

For no discernible reason, karaoke always made me feel very sad. I never imagined that would change over three hours in the basement of an American Legion hall. read more

Un-farkin-belivable Rory is the man, and he now has three new die-hard followers, he even got my buddy to go up and help sing and my buddy DOES NOT SING PERIOD. amazing dude, cant wait for the next go-round read more

K. Dreams is the definition of magic. If you cannot have an experience here short of mystical, you are lost in the ether, and therefore useless to me. read more

I hate karaoke normally. I really do. But I always have a blast at Rory Lake's gigs. He rocks my socks off. And sometimes other garments.

Rory Lake has the best karaoke I've ever been to. Instead of karaoke being just the background noise, it's the center of attention. If you love karaoke and want to go to a place where others love it just as much, then come on down to Rory's Karaoke Dreams! I only had one beer while I was there, which proved to me that I don't need to get drunk to have fun singing. read more

Caught his show on a whim last weekend...effing awesome. Rory is not only rad, and funny, but dude actually rocks shit. REAL TALK-

After reading the amazing reviews on here I was geeked to check out Karaoke Dreams. I'm familiar with American legion posts so wasn't expecting anything fancy. It's true everyone there is very chill, laid back and nonjudgmental when it comes to your singing. If anything, if you're not doing so well and if they know the song they are happy to sing along drowning out your horrible voice which isn't hard considering you can barely hear the mic anyway. Overall comfortable atmosphere. With that being said, let me say that the reviews on here paint a glorious picture of the experience which although is EXTREMELY nice and sweet, it doesn't really give an accurate description of the venue. Almost seems as if any review that isn't 5 stars doesn't make it on here. Our experience: Driving past, looking for parking, I was told by one of my passengers that the place looks super sketchy and she was afraid we'd get murdered if we went inside which I thought was hilarious but true. As we walked up to the building a couple of women opened the door, to this extremely low key place, and walked in so that set our minds at ease about possibly being crime victims. As soon as you walk in there's a table where you make your $5 donation and they check IDs. The visual here is one large room, old school wooden wall panels, worn out aluminum tiles on the floor, pictures of the Vets posted on the wall, a few folding chairs on one side of the room and what seems to be an old abandoned bar on the other side of the room where people stood next to, to set their drinks down. In the space between the two is what I can only describe as a possible dance floor, where everyone that wasn't either sitting or standing by the "bar" was. In the back was the karaoke set up accompanied by a sign up table with song books. The selection is not the best but you will find something that will peak your interest. Oh, with your donation you get a raffle ticket which gives you the opportunity to win a free drink or two throughout the evening which is pretty cool. You also have the option to get in on the 50/50 pot raffle action buy purchasing tickets. If you want to hit the bar or the restroom, you go down a set of rickety stairs to the basement, like the stairs in those horror movies where they dig up the bones, you know what I'm talking about. The basement does not hide the fact that is is just that, a basement which can be a cool thing or a creepy thing, depending on how you wanna look at it. Shots are $4 and served in what I can only describe as a plastic thimble, mixed drinks $5 and $2 beers. Didn't really pay attention to any other prices. Take a walk to the back of the basement and you will find what seems to be the restrooms. If you don't mind using the toilet behind a flimsy shower curtain just inches away from an adjacent toilet and across from the sink then you are in the right place my friend. Overall, if you don't mind the flaws it is a very chill, low key place to go with friends. For me this will be a last resort destination. Oh, and the wait to sing is comparable to anywhere else. read more

I could be a karaoke dreamer for eternity, but unfortunately I have to wait once a month to get my fix. I am not sure what is best, the $3 cocktails, the dream catchers, Rory Lake, the Hamm's panorama wall light, or the dreaming?! read more

I went here over a year ago but remember the night like it was yesterday. This is the kind of exciting experience you will have at Rory Lake's Karaoke Dreams. A memorable night of dancing, drinking and singing. Be prepared: fun will be had! read more

Really enjoy my time with friends! One of the best place in Chicago to party all night and showcase your vocal talents (if you have) for a cheap price! The song list is good but there are some new songs that I can't find. Place is small and cozy but its okay for me as what matters to me is being able to do what I enjoy doing - that is singing! This place is surely a hit to anyone who loves to shout their voice out. read more

That was great fun! Chicken all over the place upstairs. And, we sang our hearts out downstairs. slapped Rory's silky shorts-wearin' ass too!!! I think I spilled lots of beer on the floor though. Karaoke is dangerous!!!!!! read more

A true entertainer. I wish there were more events. Rory gets the crowd into the music and the mood of the night by his positive attitude. His personality is one of a kind. The drinks were cheap and I will be there singing the next opportunity I can get. Every Thanksgiving, I thank God for Karaoke Dreams. read more

I wanna go! It sounds like a karaoke girl's dream come true!! When is the next one at the Hall? I have $10... well, I don't but I will surely make sure I have it for this event! email me: violet_skies66@yahoo.com read more

We went here on a stop of a bachelorette party and were sad when we had to leave. The karaoke list is huge, Rory is cool as hell, the crowd was fun. What more can you want? Oh - and the drinks are dirt cheap. read more

Rory Lake is the best. The song list (available on his website) is extensive and awesome. His character is beyond reproach. The hall is dim, warm and inviting, with wood paneling and pictures of old men in military dress on the walls. There's a 5$ cover unless you buy a year-long membership to the hall for $10, but sometimes they don't offer those memberships on Saturdays for some reason. The drinks are super cheap and the bartenders (and Sarge, of course) are all fantastic human beings. Make sure you tip generously, including to Rory!!! The crowd is also awesome. Everyone loves to sing and dance. By midnight it is the happiest place on earth, and everyone knows it.The wife and I are addicted. read more

Rory Lake's Karaoke Dreams was awesome. They have comfortable bar stool, you can touch the ceiling without stretching if you're in average height and the place has wood paneling. I like it because they have poker table. In terms of drinks, they have cheap drink in here. Overall, great songs, cheap drink and I'm having fun visiting this place, so two thumbs up! read more

Without exaggeration my favorite thing in Chicago. Like doing karaoke in your grandma's basement.