If you’ve performed karaoke in the Morongo Basin some time in the last two decades, you’ve probably met Roberto, and hopefully you’ve tipped him!
Roberto Absolor has been running karaoke nights several times a week since the early 2000’s. He’s been the fixture on the stage of the former Kokopelli’s Cantina, or at the Bowladium, or Giant Rock Meeting Room, where you tell him what song you want to sing, and he’ll put you on the list. When it’s your turn, he’ll hand you the microphone, and if you’re lucky, he may even sing back-up for you.
I sat down with Absolor at a booth at the former Kokopelli’s space, now part of Las Palmas in Yucca Valley.
I asked him if he’s the “Karaoke Kingpin of the Hi-Desert,” to which he laughed.
“I’ve been doing it up here in the hi-desert for twenty years,” said Absolor. “I started at the JT Saloon, and probably done it at every house out here. Except some of the new ones”
He got started in music by playing in bands, saying “I was in some notable blues bands back in Washington. I’ve always sung and in fact, even down here, I got involved with some bands. I was part of a house band in this space when it was the old ‘Kokopelli’s.’ It was always my interest, but I knew I’d never get rich or famous doing that. But it was always fun.”
A former public-administrator in Washington, Absolor moved to the hi-desert to take care of his wife’s family. “I came down here, stepped off the plane, I looked up at the rocks and I said ‘What the hell?’ Because I’m from Seattle. I thought John Wayne was going to come out and shoot at me. It was a culture shock.”
Having done karaoke in the hi-desert for twent years, Absolor says that he’s seen it all. “I’ve seen the wild and the wooly. I’ve seen a place get turned upside down. But the biggest thing I think I’ve seen is the joy. People always have fun at karaoke. And people bring their own perspective, whatever’s on their mind at the time. They just let it out on the stage, which is always a great thing.
He said that karaoke is finally making a come back in 2025. “When COVID hit, everything died. We’re trying to get it happening again. I was here, in this building for 17 years. When it was another business. This has always been a home base.
“Check us out! This is a new facility, under new ownership. We do it every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday here at Las Palmas. I also do it at Giant Rock on Wednesday. I do it four days a week and that’s perfect for me.”
And finally, I asked him about his favorite thing to sing at karaoke.
“Today, I’ve been into Michael Buble for whatever reason. Some of the old standards. And then some of the blues stuff.”
