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Paul Green's School of Rock - a review by Darryl Q.
Paul Green's School of Rock is coming to Seattle very soon. In the mean time here is review of the School of Rock All Star band from Portland, Maine. Review by Darryl Q drummer of "The Nervous Ticks" fame here in Seattle. Enjoy! (Btw... yelp really needs a band section added to night life)
"The Greatest Bar Band, and they ain't old enough to drink."
by Darryl Q. aka "Hep D"
A pitiful few were reminded what Rock and Roll should be last Wednesday evening when a gaggle of youngin's took the stage at Space. Rock and Roll should be dirty and nasty, and it should be about giving every ounce of energy you have to put on the best damn show you can. Rock and Roll should be about playing for the unbridled joy of playing, and it took a horde of kids ages 8 - 18 to remind us of that. Out of the mouths of babes...Y'all have most likely watched Jack Black shake his moneymaker and go gaga for his love of ROCK AND ROLL in School of Rock, and you probably thought to yourself how cool it would be if such a school actually existed. What you probably didn't know is that it does, and it's for kids, and it rocks. Hard. Established in 1998, the Paul Green School of Rock music has taken kids from 8-18 and taught them to ROCK. Mr. Green is unapologetic about his teaching style (watching the 2005 documentary of the school, Rock School, he can be quite abusive, hysterical, but abusive) and judging from the show the School of Rock All-stars put on, it works. Watching kids barely into their teens trading David Gilmore guitar licks on "Money" better than most bar band guitar hero wannabe's, and do windmills that Pete Townsend would envy, it's apparent they absolutely love what they're doing. Unfortunately that is what's lost on the bar bands of today, the answer to why they are playing music. The love is gone baby. The dream is dead, it's up and left with the ex who was way out of your league, and it ain't coming back. These kids though, they love playing. And keep in mind these ain't no easy AM radio hits. "Zombie Woof " by Zappa? Metallica's "Disposable Hero's"? Even Pink Floyd's "Money" starts out in 7/8 time before it rocks, and the kids hit it all. My personal favorite was Disposable Hero's. A chick drummer, who is 15 tops, didn't miss a beat and kept that tempo rock solid all the lengthy eight minute and 16 second song. A screaming 13-year-old blond boy channels James Hetfield's anger through the mike he virtually crams down his own throat all while the bassist, and dual guitarists beating the livin' hell out of each other slam dancing and diving off the front of the stage, never missing a note. That's rock and roll.With over twenty members of the School of Rock All-stars vying for space, the stage was a bit cramped at times, reminiscent of the P-Funk All-stars and their virtual army of musicians. Between songs there was a quick change; a bass handed from an 18 year old boy to a 10 year old girl, guitars (usually at least three on stage) were exchanged amongst all ages (and every age could shred), drumming and keyboard duties alternated between two principals. Each song had it's own mini band and then it was on to the next. While the singing was mainly handled by the older girls, boys and girls equally represented their genders on all instruments, from sax to drums it was a split right down the middle. And yes kids, the girls rocked just as hard, and in some cases harder, than the boys.What was missing from the show was an audience. There were more kids in the School of Rock All-stars than were in attendance, I lost count of the number of kids at 20 after the seventh or eighth line-up change. Though those that bore witness did try to give those on stage encouragement, yet it seemed more of the proud parent type of enthusiasm rather than the energy of a rock show. During "Sweet Child of Mine" there was more head banging onstage than off as every band member's head was thrashin' and looking around I only two others besides my girlfriend and I even moving. It seemed the crowd was there for the novelty, the awww ain't they cute factor. Ok, sure, a twelve-year-old doing windmills might be cute, but these kids are rockin' their hearts out and in the true spirit of rock and roll they didn't care if there were 2 or 2 thousand, they were simply there to rock.
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