This is a fun place if you are in the mode for some music and have a lot of energy. Â The piano players do a good job of getting the crowd into it but if you catch the wrong one he'll make you clap all night long. Â For this reason I don't sit next to the stage anymore when I go. Â The drinks are a little on the expensive side for downtown. Â Overall, it's a fun place to go with a group of friends but tough to stay for the entire night.
In the fall they say they are at capacity when it's half full to drum up excitement when people see a line. Â The cover of $5 isn't worth it compared to other places downtown. Â I'm sure I'll go back here with groups and if you haven't been it's worth checking out at least once.
I went for the first time on Saturday and had a blast with my brother and his girlfriend. Â I was a little wary about going to a piano bar in Gainesville. Â I went to one in Atlanta but it was a long time ago. Â
They were upbeat and kept me entertained. Â They also embarrassed the hell out of my brother for his birthday so I had no complaints.
The best experience I could hope for in a bar. Lively, fun music, great service, great drinks (if a little pricey). The waitress and bouncers always remember us, and they're VERY friendly. I *ALWAYS* have a blast here, even just with one other person.
Though I will say that the more people you bring, the more fun you'll have. It's a GREAT group activity.
Disclaimer: Â Dueling piano bars are not my idea of fun.
That being said, I went to Rockey's to meet some friends who were all eager to go. Â I *paid $5 cover at the door. Â As advertised, it is a nice, big space with a very long bar that lacks stools, so it's easier to get to. Â However, closer to midnight, the bar is packed so you'll end up waiting a little. Â There are plenty of tables and chairs, but they were all taken by 10pm. We ended up at a table in the back, which was fine by me because we spent more time talking and enjoying ourselves. Our server was AWESOME though, and that's why this place gets 3 stars instead of 2. Â Apparently, you have to *pay a lot of money to reserve a table up front, and it looked as though it was full of bachelorette/bachelor/birthday parties.
The two guys playing piano are talented and they do a good job of keeping the crowd entertained. Â They take requests, which you have to *pay for, make fun of the crowd and turn every classic rock song you know into a watered down group karaoke sing-a-long. Â You also can *pay for Piano Man. Â Or maybe it's to keep it from being played. Â I'm not sure exactly. Â It's loud, bawdy (thanks to the special songs the pianists throw in), and there are groups of very drunk people singing along. But they're having fun and the vibe of the place leans more towards "fratboy puking/girl crying in the bathroom" than "drunken douche fistfights." Â
I got a Jack and Coke for $6 and draft beers are less than that. Â Speaking of draft beers, they don't have much of a selection. Â Bud, Bud Light, Miller Light, Coors Light... or you can get Yuengling, Pabst or Guinness in bottles. Â
Have you ever felt that jukeboxes just don't charge enough? Is listening to music by the original artist just not your thing? Â Do you long to do karaoke, but are just too scared to get up there? Well, Rockey's is your place. Â Just keep in mind that that you have to pay to get in, pay for your drinks, pay for your requests, pay to STOP a song from being played and, if you want premiere seating, pay for your table.
Rockey's is a lot of fun the first few times you go. But if you go too often you'll realize it's the same old song and dance every night and it gets boring pretty fast.
The drinks are a little pricey and as of the last time I went they still didn't offer any drink specials which is strange for a bar in a college town. But everyone keeps coming back because it's always busy and there is always a long line at the door on the weekends.
But Rockey's can be a lot of fun and a welcome change when you get sick of music from the juke box in midtown or the club scene downtown. I always take friends from out of town here because they always have a good time.
If you've never been you definitely need to check it out at least once. Rockey's is great but in moderation.
The worst piano bar I've ever been to. If you've never been to a piano bar, you won't know the difference and will probably have a good time "Wow, tip these guys and they can sing ANYTHING! Best idea evar!!!1!". If you've been to a piano bar before and have even a skosh of class, you won't like it. Piano bars don't change a lot from one place to the next, so I'm basing this review solely on the atmosphere and drink prices. Both suck, as I struggled to enjoy my expensive beer, crammed into a tight area surrounded by morons enjoying the music way too much. I felt like an asshole rolling my eyes during my entire visit here, and I still feel like an asshole complaining about it now, but trust me, if you read Yelp, you're better than this place.
2 stars just because bars DO get worse, but I won't return. If the group I'm with decides to go, I'll be waiting for them at Alcove next door.
Maybe I'm really opinionated and mean, but I don't care. Â Rocky's Dueling Piano Bar is a douche-bag watering hole. Â Two womanizing fat dudes playing piano, very well I may add, but nevertheless, they are bribing to play more songs by saying, 'O Yeah! Â Show your tits some more and I'll play Benny and the Jets!"
It was embarrassing to know that there are women in this town/world willing to put up with and enjoy the harassment they get here! Â Has the whole world gone insane? Â What happened to self-respect and dignity!?
Went to Rockeys for the first time a few days ago  not expecting much of this college town hang-out.  Gainesville bars always get so close, but often times fall short because of one fatal mistake (too small, too loud, too expensive, terrible music, etc...).  In this college town, where most of the patrons have such low expectations that owners tend to concentrate on getting their college customers to drink  so no one will notice how crudy the establishment is , Rockeys almost gets it completely right.  Along with it's neighbor across the street, Sharab, this may be a turning point for Gainesville hang-outs. Â
 Rockeys is well decorated - clean, organized, and spacious.  The  room is dominated by a bar which stretches from one end of the building to the other and does not have any barstools.  This makes it incredible easy to order a drink because there aren't a bunch of idlers hanging out crowding the bar.  And unlike many other hang-out's in town, there is an ample supply of bar tenders and waitresses to take your money.  Drinks were a reasonable $4 for a beer, and $7 for a Jack'n'Coke.  Having said that, please remember that as a new bar -  Rockeys gets pretty busy - so you're bound to have a terrible crowd there after 10PM. Â
 At the far-end of the building is the dueling piano's which go at it from 8PM until close Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (check their website to make sure the schedules didnt change).  I found he piano players to be very talented - they played everything from  the traditional (Brown Eyed Girl), to Lady Gaga, Country Music, and everything in between.  They made fun of the crowd, had competitions between groups of drunk folks, and sang some pretty  inappropriate (and completely hilarious) songs.  I was really impressed by how many songs they seemingly knew by heart!  The music was loud, but understandable and did not turn into white noise with drums  - after all, part of the fun is understanding what the piano players are saying.   Customers were invited up onto stage from time-to-time to dance or be made fun of or have songs sung about them  - I couldn't help but think about  how entertaining it would be to have a pole up there for some of the girls to go crazy on (Rockeys owners, if you are reading - think about it !) .  There is a system  for requesting songs - you tip the piano player to request a song, and then another customer could counter tip to get the song to stop .  Kind of a neat gimmick which adds to the fun. Â
 There is a back room right behind the piano players that has it's own bar.  Unfortunately, it doesn't have much seating. I thought that area would have been perfect as a "VIP" lounge with some comfy couches for people to chill out in  - maybe they will head in that direction later on.  At any rate,  there is plenty of room to stand  anywhere inside the establishment  - I left at 11:30 and there was still plenty of standing room near the entrance  - although it was filling up fast.  The seating was already gone when I walked in at 8PM, so if you want to get a table - you have to get there early! Â
  There were lots of drunk people there, and an unfortunate frat boy lost his lunch on the floor in front of me.  The staff was quick to clean it up and by the end of the night there were many more drunken patrons.  This is a bar, in a college town after all. Â
 All-in-all a great place that I would recommend to any of my friends.  Rockeys has figured out what I think people have known for a long time, and mixes it to near perfection - atmosphere, alcohol, music and friend always makes for a perfect cocktail.
Wow.
On A Thursday Night: Not a terrible concept I suppose... but the execution... oy. Really, take every crap classic rock song ever written, a couple of piano players who ham it up and play those crap songs + drunk college students (with a heavy dose of douche) and you have a recipe for one of the worst places I've ever been subjected to.
Drinks were ok (but NOT cheap) and I guess if I was in a great mood, drunk and with a hot girl who was into that stuff I'd probably have a good time - most people seemed to fit that bill.
Obligatory people dragged on the stage to do stupid stuff like chugging a whole drink - wonder how that would go over if that guy had a wreck later? A lawyer would have a fine time with that bit I'm sure.
Obligatory happy birthday songs - obligatory fake tans, obligatory gelled hair... jebuz. What a place.
Brown Eyed Girl? Crap. Of course. John Cougar Mellencamp? Oh yeah. Billy Joel? Yup. Unbelievable shite music. At least there was no cover on Thursday night and I got out of there under 20 bucks for 2 drinks. Yeah, not cheap.
Yeah. This place is cranking it now, but when the new wears off, I predict an inexorable slide to oblivion.
NOTE: It IS non-smoking. I have to give them props for that. That earned them a second star.
ON A FRIDAY NIGHT: UM, yeah. Epic line at 10:15 pm. A bar bill that was 28 bucks for 3 drinks, and the idiots on stage announcing that a twenty would get your song played next. Really? So for 20 bucks you'll play a terrible song for me? Awesome. Oh, PLUS a 5 dollar cover? Even better. If you really want to express your douchebaggery, for 30 bucks at the door, you can get 'Instant VIP'. Well, sign me UP!
Thats twice I've been dragged there by a group, and it will NOT happen again. The only thing this place really has going for it are a zillion attractive drunk college girls in very tight dresses. Ok, so maybe thats an awesome thing... but even that can't get me interested in going back there. I'll go to Brophy's and get a really good drink for a reasonable price.
Rockeys opened up this new year. The Alligator Rocks Piano Bar closed down years ago. This place opened up around there and its a pretty kickass dueling piano bar. Had a lot of fun here.
They have 3-4 great musicians there (they can play drums and piano). Those guys are real talented and really know how to entertain a crowd. People were singing along to all the best hits of the past 50 years. There was a big sense of nostalgia sitting there singing along to all those songs.
Sure, there are drunk people, but you're at a bar (If you didnt want to be around drunk people, stay away from a bar) But I thought everyone was great. The whole bar was singing along, dancing, and just chilling out on the tables.
On Thursdays, cover was free so I spent a grand total of 6 bucks for the night. 2 beers at $2 each and tip. Not sure about the other drinks, but the bartender was real cool and if you didnt want to stand by the bar, they've got waitresses everywhere.
Definitely a great time. I was a musician so I know these guys have real talent and they're just making sure everyone is having fun. People of all ages welcome.
Piano Bar. Like any other piano bar I suppose. Â Funny musicians playing tunes upon request surrounded by druken college kids. Â These people must make a ton of money with the l'il competitions they have - but of course, being in the heart of hte swamp - the Gators will crush any outside competition. Â Cover FSU fans beware. Â For me, I can't come to this place too often because the songs get repetitive.
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