It is almost strange to think of the future when the Twin Cities already boasts arguably the best local music scene in the area between New York & LA at the moment. Sure I can't really speak for anywhere but the Twin Cities, but I challenge you to show me another place where you will find literally dozens of great local bands worth seeing. (And if it's warm, I might have to start spending my winters there...)
But not all of my favorite Twin Cities bands are going to be around forever. Some might not even last till the end of 2009 if the economy continues to suck or other unexpected factors come into play, and no one can ever really predict when the end is for a band, regardless of their level of success. I hate to say it, but we're all living in a perpetual state of uncertainty when it comes to the longevity of our favorite bands.
That's probably part of the reason why I'm constantly out and going to shows, because for all I know it could be the last time I ever get to see a band I like. But there's also the more optimistic side, in that by constantly going out to see bands I like, through them I'll meet even more new bands that I might also enjoy. And I would say from seeing
my last entry that it's pretty obvious this has been the case ever since I started checking out the local music scene in 2005.
What intrigues me the most though is the thought that bands that do not exist yet will be dominating rock and roll in the Twin Cities (and beyond) in about 7-10 years. But where are you going to find the people who will eventually play in those bands, especially with the ever-worsening music industry imploding upon itself and making it harder for bands to make a living off their music? It would seem that good rock and roll is dead to America as well, as a glance at the iTunes charts on almost any given day will offer you nothing but total garbage, regardless of genre.
Well my friend (or other random reader of this blog), there's one place in particular that I believe is helping to save rock and roll for our youth, one power chord at a time...
With locations in
Eden Prairie and
St. Paul, The Paul Green School of Rock has impressed me from the very first moment I checked them out.
Back in February 2008, when I had just begun planning for what eventually became the
Give the Gift of Rock benefit show, I first needed to figure out where would be a great place to donate money from a benefit show/photography exhibition I was looking to put together at some point. I talked to Scott Herold from
Rock The Cause (another great organization you should check out, and probably the subject of a future blog entry or series of entries) about wanting to give to a music school, and he recommended that I check out the Paul Green School of Rock.
It didn't take me more than one visit to their St. Paul office to see that this place was something that, had I the ability to go back in time to my teen years, I would find myself personally attending. It was a bunch of kids learning how to play rock music, and their teachers were area musicians. And it wasn't like it was any of that Kidz Bop bullcrap, this was Skynyrd, Sabbath, the kind of music that I (and my dad) was raised on.
Let's fast-forward to September. Both the Eden Prairie and St. Paul schools had their fall concerts scheduled for back-to-back weekends, and I was hired on to shoot both of the schools. Sure the fact that I was putting together a benefit show for them didn't hurt, but when you've got Scott Herold saying great things of your photography to them that's pretty dang cool too.
September 13/14 the Eden Prairie school would be performing
"Guitar Gods" and
KISS at Trocaderos, and September 20/21 the St. Paul school would be performing
"Classic Metal",
The Who, and
"Cream of Clapton" at Minnesota Music Cafe. I shot both of the Sunday shows.
Long story short, the kids absolutely blew me away with their performances. Here you are, watching 9-to-17 year-olds ripping guitar solos like Eric Clapton or Eddie Van Halen was actually their dad. Sure some of the kids had been through a few seasons at the school, but I don't see any other under-18 musicians rocking out like these kids do. If you really want to get a grasp of what it was like seeing those two shows, check out my photo galleries of each set at the links in the paragraph above.
I left those shows with my mind blown (half of my mind was blown at the first one, the other half at the second) and certain that the Give the Gift of Rock benefit show in December would be a success. Between the two schools, the School of Rock also has a "Road Crew" of their most talented kids, and they play even more shows around town. The Road Crew would be on the lineup at the benefit alongside a few of my favorite Minneapolis bands (
ReadyGoes,
So It Goes,
Phear & The Bullet, and
The Wannabe Hasbeens), with everything going down at
The Varsity.
We wound up raising about $650 at the benefit concert with 100+ people through the door, which was impressive when considering that it was snowing like crazy that Sunday. It was kinda cool seeing a mix of each of the bands' fans, parents of the School of Rock kids, and a number of my friends all together at a show.
The Road Crew played third that night, and they seamlessly shuffled through about a dozen or so band members that rocked out together to the likes of Deep Purple and Avenged Sevenfold. To say that my musician friends in the audience that night were impressed would probably be an understatement, because the kids blew everyone away once again. Seriously, how awesome is it to see an all under-18 band ripping harmonized guitar solos like that? I would even argue that the Road Crew is one of the most talented cover bands in the Twin Cities.
That show wasn't the end of the line for me and the School of Rock though. In fact, this past Saturday I decided I would go check out the Eden Prairie school's winter performance. No one from the school called me, E-mailed me, texted me, or contacted me at all about it; I went just because I wanted to see a good show and support a great cause. And once again, they didn't disappoint, as they performed Aerosmith and "Hair Metal" with the same kind of energy and fervor I've come to expect out of students from the School of Rock.
If you've made it all the way to the end of this entry, then I recommend that you check out a School of Rock show for yourself. This coming Saturday/Sunday (24th/25th) the St. Paul school is putting on their winter concert, performing Van Halen and "Old School Punk" at the Minnesota Music Cafe in St. Paul. And on the 31st both of the schools and their teachers are doing a benefit show for their scholarship fund at Bogart's in Apple Valley. Both shows are in the afternoon, so you can still get out and party afterwards.
In the end, when you think about the future of rock and roll in the Twin Cities, the first place you should think about is the Paul Green School of Rock. A national school with a local focus, I believe that it is something that is helping to save rock and roll for our youth, cultivating a new generation of aspiring rockstars and kids who just love music in general. Something that a part of me wishes I could've been a part of when I was that age.
Oh, if I could turn back time, I would probably erase that song from existence. But then I would also move to the Twin Cities and join the School of Rock of course...
