So Eric Slick of Flamingo, Atlas et al play the North Star and the bouncer gets shot!

Eric, Joey Randazzo, and Teddi Tarnoff at the L.A. premiere of Rock School

Oh my god. Just got back from the North Star Bar where I heard an unbelievable set by War's End, my son's band, Flamingo...and then..when his dad went out for a cigarette break right before Atlas took the stage, he was told we were in a lock down...the bouncer...the guy who took our ticket money...got shot while my son was on stage playing.

They had us in said lock down; there were nine million police cars, every news station...arghhhh.....what a way to end an evening of unbelievably fantastic music.

I hope the guy's okay...I guess I'll be watching us all on the news in a few minutes.

But let me say this: All three bands are incredible. Each very different, each with amazing stage presence and musicianship...and I am so freaking proud to be associated with these kids. What really touched me were the parents who came out...whose kids aren't even in the three bands that played...Stevie Roberts' mom and dad, Joe and Kate; a lovely English woman whose name I can't remember but her young son was in Jesus Christ Superstar with Eric.

There's no jealousy, no competition between these three bands. They cheer each other on; when Haffie's guitar went out of tune during a Flamingo number, Jeremy (of Atlas) handed him his; in the meantime, Louie, who isn't in any of the three bands, tuned Haffie's guitar and jumped back on stage to hand it to him a few minutes later.

It's just a beautiful, beautiful thing to see (and hear!).

Again, I know I'm getting old with this, but I know who I have to thank for this, and I wish I could say it was me (ha), but it's not - it's Paul Green.

What an amazing night of music by his All-Stars out on their own.
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Holy crap - just watched the news. The bouncer is in critical condition, fighting for his life. Oh my god....

Rock School at the Ritz Five

Okay, the good news is that there were really great crowds at the Ritz Five in Philadelphia to see Rock School last night. But it wasn't a sell out, and we need to do that tonight and tomorrow. Here's a direct link to buy tickets on line in advance. You merely click on the time you want to see the movie and it'll take you right to the ticket office.

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Also, if you are in NY tonight, you can do a doubleheader. See the movie, then head over to the Knitting Factory to see three most excellent bands made up of students/graduates of the Paul Green School of Rock performing all original music.

The bands are:

(1) War's End - featuring Rock School great Joey Randazzo a/k/a Joey Reno
(2) Flamingo - featuring Julia Rainer, Eric Slick, Andrew Haff, Matt Manser, and Dan Nitz
(3) Atlas, featuring Jeremy Blessing, Dom Malandro, Brandon King, and Max DiMezza

This same trio will do a repeat performance tomorrow night at the North Star bar and you can get tickets here.

I wish I could make the NY gig tonight but the back still kills though I am going to do everything possible to make the movie tonight at the Ritz Five and the North Star gig.



Long live rock and all that...

Out of bed for Rock School!

Marky Ramone and the Collins kids at CBGBs following the NYC premiere of Rock School.

Even though I can't sit at this desk more than a few minutes due to my fucking bad back, I had to come downstairs and make this post.

You might have read or heard via a news wire that Newmarket had decided to pull Rock School from all theaters after just one weekend due to slow sales.

Not true. The news of Rock School's death is greatly exaggerated.

My son, Eric, is helping out Don Argott today, distributing flyers to see the movie. Don, who is of course the director and producer of Rock School, told Eric that while the film has been pulled from some venues, it is still playing in selected theaters around the country but everything...and I mean everything...hinges on how well it does in Philadelphia this weekend. Unfortunately, it will not be playing at either the Neshaminy AMC or Loews, NJ but has an exclusive area showing at the Ritz Five. This family personally has recruited every friend, neighbor, and relative we have to come out to the Ritz this weekend and I know of other Rock School families who are doing the same. We need to all pull together and make this happen -- this is such a great film and it's been given no real advertisements at all. It's got to happen by word of mouth via the crowd in Philly. And of course the Ritz is by far the coolest movie theater in the tri-state area.

I mean, look at what critics all over the country are saying about Rock School:

"Two thumbs up!"
- Ebert & Roeper

"Headbanger and headmaster Paul Green is the real deal."
- Kevin Maynord, USA Today

"Makes Jack Black…look positively unplugged."
- Manohla Dargis, New York Times

"Immensely Entertaining!"
- Carina Chocano, The Los Angeles Times

"In this day of dummying-down and coddling students, it's refreshing to see a teacher push his students to levels of accomplishment they didn't think was possible."
- Duane Byrge, Hollywood Reporter

"Irresistibly entertaining and full of unique character portraits."
- Robert Koehler, Variety

"It's funny and moving to see this eccentric nugget of boomer virtuosity played by a generation that has absolutely no idea how weird it was."
- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

*** (out of 4)
- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

*** ½ (out of 4)
"Hilarious, inspired, frenzied"
- Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune

*** (out of 4)
"Ignore the ridiculous R rating. Mature children will enjoy this film and might be the perfect audience"
- James Verniere, Boston Globe

"Meet a pint size guitar prodigy, soccer moms 'without the soccer,' and international Zappa devotees - they're all here. And they all Rock. Invigorating!"
- Premiere Magazine

"Joyous and righteously entertaining. Rock School is required viewing"
- Lewis Beale, Film Journal International

"Love him or hate him, Paul Green is one of the best characters you will see in any film."
- Erik Childress, e-film critic

"Paul Green is so intense, he makes manic Jack Black look like a valium"
- Robert Philpot, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"Plugged-in, and turned on."
- Ken Tucker, New York Magazine

"Highly Entertaining"
- Darren D'Addario, Time Out NY

"'Rock School' revels in moments of transcendent joy."
"'Rock School' celebrates music, family, hard work and yes, Paul Green."
- Jami Bernard, New York Daily News

"Deliciously Loud, Wildly Funny! Rock School is engrossing from its first shot to its final fade."
- Lisa Rose, NJ Star Ledger

"EXHILARATING"
"Raw and Funny"
- John Hartl, The Seattle Times

A-
- Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post Intelligencer

**** (out of 4)
"Revealingly entertaining and raucous"
- Scott Galupo, The Washington Times

"Hilarious and charming"
- Melissa Levine, San Francisco Weekly/East Bay Press

**** (out of 5)
- Peter Hatlaub, San Francisco Chronicle

*** (out of 4)
- Michael O' Sullivan, San Francisco Examiner

Newmarket Films, who isn't really Newmarket anymore but now called Picturehouse Films, is demanding a retraction of this false story about Rock School's demise and as soon as it appears on line, I will post it here.

But in the meantime...ouch...back to bed...

Another post by Eric Slick for ailing Robin Slick - A great review of our show in Seattle with Eddie Vedder and Ann Wilson!

IMPORTANT - ALTHOUGH I'VE PASTED LeANN'S REVIEW HERE, PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK DIRECTLY BELOW AND GO STRAIGHT TO HER ARTICLE AS IT NOT ONLY CONTAINS SOME COOL PHOTOS, IT INCLUDES TWO MP3S OF THE SHOW WHEN ED JOINED THE ROCK SCHOOL KIDS! WE REALLY WANT TO THANK LEANN FOR A GREAT AND THOROUGH REVIEW. SHE'S AWESOME.

Two Feet Thick, Pearl Jam for the Impassioned Fan
by LeAnn Mercer

The event: "Rock School Jam"
When: Wednesday, May 27, 2005
Where: Neumo's, Seattle, WA
Why: Showcase for Rock School Jam, a 90 minute live concert in conjunction the documentary Rock School being shown at the Seattle International Film Festival.
Who: School of Rock Music performers: Teddi Tarnoff, Julia Rainer, Madison Flego, Julie Slick, Eric Slick, CJ Tywoniak, Louis Graff, Larry Allen, Bryan Purcell, Joe Randazzo. Special guest Eddie Vedder on a couple of songs.
Setlist: Black Magic Woman, Rebel Yell, City of Tiny Lites, Pigs, Radiohead, Barracuda, Eruption/You Really Got Me, White Lines, Heart of the Sunrise, I Wanna Be Sedated (featuring Eddie), Corduroy (featuring Eddie), Rock Lobster, Lose Yourself.

Santana. Billy Idol. Grandmaster Flash. Pearl Jam. What do these artists have in common? The kids from The Paul Green School of Rock Music can cover them all.

It's Wednesday night at one of Seattle's cornerstone music venues, Neumo's - formerly ARO.space, formerly Moe's Mo' Rockin' Cafe: the same place where Neil Young rocked with PJ as his backing band in 1995 and where Matt Cameron debuted as Pearl Jam's drummer in 1998. A group of students from the Philadelphia-based school took the stage to headline Rock School Jam, a concert affiliated with the Seattle International Film Festival. The live show accompanied a pair of screenings of Rock School, a documentary about classes held at the Paul Green School of Rock Music.

Opening with a cover of Santana's "Black Magic Woman," the band quickly shifted members, instruments, and tempo to follow with the Billy Idol anthem, "Rebel Yell." An abrupt style change brought "City of Tiny Lites" to life, showing the intricate fusion of rock, jazz and classical kitchen sink of Frank Zappa. While performances like these were proof enough of the group's collective and individual talents, their rock savvy was put to the test with guest appearances during the set by two of Seattle's Hall of Fame caliber rock royalty: Ann Wilson of Heart and Eddie Vedder. The hometown artists were warmly received by the sold-out, 21-and-over crowd, but it was the ten "underage" performers from Philly who stole the show. In an enthusiastic balance of talent and bravado, in groups of 5 or 6 at a time, the kids tore through songs that explored every genre of rock music, from Eminem to the B-52's. Siblings Julie and Eric Slick provided a tight, polished rhythm section on bass and drums (respectively) throughout the show. Louis Graff and virtuoso-in-training CJ Tywoniak (a crowd favorite) took turns handling lead guitar duties, with Tywoniak pulling off an exceptionally flawless rendition of Eddie Van Halen's "Eruption," before leading the band into "You Really Got Me," which also featured lead vocals by Madison Flego. Teddie Tarnoff proved to be an accomplished vocalist, turning out sultry performances well beyond her years, particularly on the Yes's song, "Heart of the Sunrise." Julia Rainer showed her considerable guitar and lead vocal abilities during a show-defining version of Pink Floyd's "Pigs," which included a scorching talk box guitar solo during the 10-plus minute song. Lanky Joe Randazzo strutted the stage during "White Lines," a Grandmaster Flash tune most likely written before anyone in this band drew their first breath of air.

Six songs deep into the evening, Paul Green - who spent the evening as the band's equipment tech, stage director, musical conductor, and emcee - introduced Ann Wilson, who joined the band for a hard edged, fast paced version of the Heart classic, "Barracuda." A few songs later, Green once again took the mic to present a man "as synonymous with Seattle as 'coffee'" Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. An appreciative audience member called out Ed as "the Bob Dylan of Seattle," and Ed mused that he'd recently seen Dylan live but realized the moniker was "meant as a compliment," stirring the crowd to a ripple of laughter. Ed's wardrobe choice of a Johnny Ramone T-shirt telegraphed the first collaborative effort of Ed and the rock school musicians, pounding through "I Wanna Be Sedated," in perfect three-chord strokes. Ed introduced the next song, mentioning that he said he wasn't going to play it, but was told in no uncertain terms that he was going to play it and play it better than he ever had before. Ed promptly led the band into a skillful performance of "Corduroy," to close the main set of the show. At the end of the song, Ed eagerly exchanged high fives and hugs with the musicians, and remained onstage for a somewhat subdued but solid cowbell performance during "Rock Lobster." Will Ferrell ain't got nothin' on him. Afterwards, Ed sprang offstage and all 10 members of the school assembled to perform Eminem's "Lose Yourself," to close out the evening.

On Thursday morning, after the show, a publicist representing the school of rock musicians described Ed as being "very generous" with the students, making himself available to them offstage as well as on. As they departed for their flight home, the rockers in training enthused that Wednesday night's show was "one of their best performances," which I believe would be echoed by every audience member in attendance.
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And a very cool review of the soundtrack posted today right here

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Just a reminder: GO SEE THE MOVIE! PHILLY PREMIERE THIS FRIDAY! YOU CAN CATCH IT AT THE RITZ BOURSE, NESHAMINY AMC, AND NJ LOEWS AS WELL AS ALL OVER NYC AND LA!

Great "Rock School" Review:

This one is posted by Eric Slick for Robin, while she suffers from serious back spasms:
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "So you wanna be a rock 'n' roll star," the Byrds once cheekily sang. In Philadelphia, there's always been more of a path for rocker wannabees: Dick Clark used to plug and pump local talent on "American Bandstand," and now there's a guy in Philly who runs a school in how to become a rock star. The school's a bit unconventional as this kick-ass documentary on the Paul Green School of Rock Music shows. This release from Newmarket Films received a rousing ovation at Sundance earlier this year and such enthusiasm transposes to great word-of-mouth for "Rock School."

Great leaders or teachers know how to push their followers' buttons. Rock School founder Paul Green is a master of inspiration and, as this film shows, manipulation. A tyrant, an egomaniac, a master-blaster, Green essentially runs a musical boot camp. And the kids, who range from 9-17, love it. Green preens, badgers and inspires and at times seems the most immature "kid" in the room. But his musical madness is packed with method: Practice, practice, practice is his dictum. No Juilliard or Berklee instructor demands more. He's a pain in the butt, but the students, for the most part, keep coming back.

In this day of dumbing down and coddling students, it's refreshing to see a teacher push his students to levels of accomplishment they didn't think was possible. Like a piano teacher beginning with Bach and crescendoing toward Liszt, Green insists that they play the classics. In his mind, that means Frank Zappa, whose music degree of technical difficulty, represents to him the
Mount Everest of rock. No strummy three-chord players for Green. Leave that for the garage.

Director Don Argott's filming is attuned not just to the musical dynamics but, better yet, to the personal chords. We come to learn about the school not only through Green's histrionics but through the eyes and ears of five different students. They are a diverse mix, including a clinically depressed loner (Will), a defiant Quaker girl (Madi), 9-year-old angelic/satanic twins (Asa and Tucker) and a virtuoso lead guitarist (CJ).

"Rock School" rips out in the gritty-underdogs-conquer-the-world story progression. In this real-life scenario, Green whips them into shape for a triumphant performance at a Zappa Festival in Germany.

Cinematographer-director Argott has the technical virtuoso of a lead guitarist, while editor Demian Fenton is a combo bass guitarist, drummer with his pulsating pace.

Producers: Sheena M. Joyce, Don Argott; Director/director of photography: Don Argott; Editor: Demian Fenton.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

More Rock School!

Okay, in spite of mainly fantastic reviews from everyone from Rolling Stone to Roger Ebert, people did not exactly come out in droves to see the movie this weekend. This breaks my heart -- not because of my own kids -- but because this is a truly wonderful, wonderful documentary and deserves much better. Don Argott and Sheena Joyce did a brilliant job on this film; Paul Green is a hilarious, compelling subject; and the kids are magical. So I urge you all to see the movie and write reviews for sites like Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon, etc. so that Rock School gets the respect it deserves.

I have a lot more to say on the subject but unfortunately, I'm having the back spasms from hell combined with a low grade fever and can't sit at the computer any longer. I will try and be back this afternoon because I want to discuss the movie a lot more as well as some other stuff...

Like, the Rock School benefit Friday night; a cocktail party I attended on behalf of my friend, brilliant author Ellen Meister in honor of her new book (a lot more on that when I can sit here without feeling like blowing my brains out from pain)...and more on friends' reactions to the Rock School soundtrack.

Ack...the pain..........later.......

Tonight at the Troc: Paul Green School of Rock Best of the Season! And Rock School, the movie, premieres in selected cities!

Okay, first things first: Rock School, the movie, premieres in New York today as wll as other select cities, and here are the details below. Please go out and see this wonderful, wonderful film. It's like nothing you've ever seen and if you love music and want to laugh your ass off, this is a MUST SEE. And if you don't believe me, read what Roger Ebert has to say:

Okay...here's where you can catch the film tonight:

Cine Arts 5 - Pleasant Hill, CA
Empire 3 - San Francisco, CA
Hyatt Cinema 3 - Burlingame, CA
Embarcadero 5 - San Francisco, CA
The Grove - Beverly Hills, CA
Arclight Cinemas - Hollywood, CA
The Crest Theatre - Westwood, CA
CineArts Sequoia - Mill Valley, CA
Monica 4 - Santa Monica, CA
Embarcadero Cinema - San Francisco, CA
Shattuck Cinemas - Berkeley, CA
Aquarius Theater - Palo Alto, CA
Santana Row - San Jose, CA
Camera 12 - San Jose, CA
Dupont - Washington, DC
Cantera 30 - Warrenville, IL
South Barrington 30 - S. Barrington, IL
Esquire 6 - Chicago, IL
Addison 20 - Addison, IL
Lincolnshire 20 - Lincolnshire, IL
Landmark Century Center Cinemas - Chicago, IL
Kendall Square - Cambridge, MA
Embassy Cinema - Waltham, MA
Bethesda Row Cinema - Bethesda, MD
Riverside 12 - Reno, NV
Loews Lincoln Square - New York, NY
Loews Village 7 - New York, NY
Angelika Film Center 5 - Plano, TX
Magnolia 5 - Dallas, TX
Shirlington 7 - Arlington, VA
Loews Meridian - Seattle, WA
Landmark Metro - Seattle, WA

Secondly, tonight at 8:00 p.m. at the Trocadero in Philadelphia - the best of the season benefit which not only showcases the finest songs and student performances from each of the spring shows from not only the Philadelphia branch of the School of Rock but the other branches as well, it provides scholarship money for those students unable to pay monthly tuition. So how cool is that!



It will be yet another bittersweet evening for me -- with my son, Eric, graduating Rock School after the summer tour, this is his very last Best of Show, and it's also the final show ever for two All-Stars -- keyboard great Allie Hauptman and bassist Matt Rothstein. I believe all of the other All-Stars about to graduate along with Eric will also hang around for the summer tour but if I've neglected anyone whose final show is tonight, please let me know and I'll edit this entry.

And to make it more enticing, throughout the evening, they will be showing clips from the movie!

So far with few exceptions the reviews rolling in for Rock School have been incredible. The only negative reviews I've read, and there are only a couple, don't have anything to say about the movie itself; they attack Paul because he's not politically correct. Gee, what a shame. (Sorry - besides words like "bling bling" and "closure", politcally correct and the people who are shackled by being so are my biggest pet peeve of this millenium). One critic went so far as to say he/she didn't see any comradery among the students. Ha! What movie did they watch? The comradery shines through...all you have to do is watch the kids in Germany on stage and see the smiles on their faces, everyone hugging. Why did none of these lovely critics bother to interview any of the kids themselves and ask them? Of course having gone extensively on tour with the All-Stars, I speak from experience. You've never seen such a tight knit group all with a common goal - to go out there and play their asses off because they want to, because they are focused, talented musicians...and Paul has provided them almost surreal opportunities. There are also a few critics who question that Paul has the kids playing classic rock and Zappa. Err...excuse me...but just because music isn't "new", does that mean it should be forgotten forever and shouldn't be learned and performed? So you're telling me students shouldn't study/perform Bach or Miles Davis?

Yikes, what a world. What the fuck has happened to common sense? And someone please tell me what music is out there right now that compares to Zep or Zappa or Hendrix? What, they should be playing the three chord dance bullshit forced down our throats by MTV?

When kids learn to play their instruments, they study the masters, and that enables them to go out and create their own music. Practically every one of Paul's All-Stars featured in the movie are now in bands of their own and writing just incredible original material which is complex and brilliant in nature. Does their Zappa and classic rock roots as taught to them by Paul show? You betcha! And the problem with that is?????

Sheesh. I reiterate. Soon you will see a slew of awe inspiring bands who will all credit Paul as their teacher. As Marky Ramone announced to the audience at CBGBs on Wednesday night (and Eddie Vedder and Jon Anderson both remarked to me last week) rock and roll is not dead...there is hope for the future.

Anyway, I can't wait to see a lot of you at the show tonight. It promises to be awesome and it's for a really great cause.

Last night in New York

Carlos Alomar on guitar (by the way, he's now President of the NY chapter of the Grammys...see post from yesterday for his creds), Jeremy Blessing, my son Eric on drums, Madi Diaz, and Max DiMezza.

...okay, I didn't get home until 2:00 a.m. last night, I had no sleep because I was so pumped from the NY premiere and after party at CBGBs, but a couple of things.

One, the movie Rock School is even better the second time - I saw a lot of stuff I missed at the first screening...(like I saw myself a couple of times in the audience in Germany and asleep on the plane next to my daughter, who looks like an angel while my mouth is wide open...yikes...)

Two, the after party was amazing. Performing were Madi Diaz on vocals, guitars and keyboards, my son Eric did all the drumming with the exception of I Wanna Be Sedated which brought out Marky Ramone on drums...and I know this is really going to embarrass Eric but Liz from Picturehouse Films told us that Marky did not shut up about Eric...he kept going on and on backstage that Eric is the best drummer he's ever heard in his life...and then ditto Carlos Alomar...Eric spent the night in NYC and we left him a message on his cell phone to tell him so I'm waiting for more news in that regard; also on stage and absolutely amazing: Guitarists Jeremy Blessing and C.J. Tywoniak; bass player Max DiMezza; vocalist and sax player Dom Malandro; and back up vocalists Madison Flego, Teddi Tarnoff, and the Collins family.

The NYC crowd went insane over both the movie and the concert. CBGBs was completely packed...the New York Grammy people issued invites, Newmarket issued invites, and everyone took them up on their offers and you couldn't even move in there. I did manage a lot more pictures but I am way too tired to deal with uploading them now so that'll have to wait until later today.

And finally, and this is totally awesome, we got the news that Roger Ebert and that other guy whose name I can never remember (it'll always be Siskel and Ebert to me) gave Rock School two thumbs up and you can watch their show on Sunday night in the Philadelphia area at 1:35 a.m. (arghhhhh...) on Channel 3.

Okay, somehow I have to drag my sorry ass to work now.

More later...

Rolling Stone Magazine gives Rock School Three Stars out of Four

You cheered Jack Black in School of Rock, now give it up for Paul Green in the real thing. Green runs the Paul Green School of Rock Music in Philadelphia, and this fireball documentary from director Don Argott shows Green preaching the rock gospel to students ages nine to seventeen. "Dynamo" doesn't begin to describe Frank Zappa freak Green, who brings the cream of his crop to Germany to compete in the yearly Zappanale and makes believers of us all.

PETER TRAVERS
(Posted Jun 02, 2005)

Tonight: Rock School New York City premiere

Marky Ramone with Rock School All Stars Joey Randazzo, Eric Slick, and Grace Hollander.



Sooo...that's David Bowie's guitarist, Carlos Alomar, who will be performing with the Rock School All-Stars at CBGB's tonight following the premiere of Rock School in New York City tonight. My son, Eric, will be on drums behind Carlos on "Heroes" and "Fame". Think I'm a little excited? The rest of the set list is incredible as well but I'm not going to give it away -- I'll report back with a review tomorrow.

And on the drums tonight performing Ramones' hit I Wanna Be Sedated fresh off the Rock School soundtrack, Marky Ramone.

A brief history about guitarist Carlos Alomar -- he's played on more David Bowie albums than any other six stringer has (including Mick Ronson, who was perhaps the most identifiable with Bowie). In 1974, Alomar crossed paths with Bowie, who was interested in penning an album that explored dance/funk sounds of Philadelphia soul. The two hit it off, which would signal the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship between the singer and guitarist. 1975's classic Young Americans soon followed, as Alomar also helped co-write one of Bowie's biggest hits, "Fame," along with Bowie and John Lennon. It was also around this time that Alomar supposedly 'discovered' soul singer Luther Vandross, having him sing on Bowie's album, which ultimately led to a successful solo career of his own. Alomar quickly figured out that Bowie wasn't set on a single musical style for any period of time, as Alomar kept pace on such experimental and musically varied Bowie albums as 1976's Station to Station, 1977's Low and Heroes, 1979's Lodger, and 1980's Scary Monsters. The guitarist and Bowie also helped revive the career of punk icon Iggy Pop during this period, helping produce and co-write two of Pop's finest solo albums, 1977's The Idiot and 1978's Lust For Life.

So yep, I'm pretty excited about tonight.

In other news, I'm waiting for Eric to wake up because apparently he got in late last night and mumbled something about Rolling Stone giving Rock School three stars out of four. I don't know if he was talking about the movie or the soundtrack; if it's the soundtrack I don't know if specific kids' performances are mentioned or they just concentrate on the "names" like Ann Wilson, Jon Anderson, Billy Idol etc....arghhh...I'm so dying to wake Eric up but since he has the big NYC show tonight, I wouldn't dare.

I did see this very nice review of Rock School the movie this morning in the Seattle Weekly:

One of the principal ideas behind Don Argott's debut documentary, Rock School, is summed up in its first five minutes by an adorable, adenoidal little boy. Wearing an Angus Young–style shirt and tie, 9-year-old drummer Asa explains that "AC/DC's really easy, all you do is . . . , " then bangs out a beat that every AC/DC fan will immediately recognize. Rock music isn't rocket science, and the point is well-made by the students of Paul Green's irreverent Philadelphia-based music school. But Argott's film would be pretty one-note if all it did was show that elementary-school kids can play elementary riffs.

Fortunately, Rock School is really about relationships—primarily the ones between Green and his students (ages 9 to 17). And it's about how those relationships push young musicians past 4/4 rock rhythms, all the way to a Frank Zappa festival in Germany.

Anyone who has played in bands will recognize Green as that guy who always took it a tad too seriously. He confesses to having failed at the rock and roll dream of making it big, although he also says he'd only want to make it big if he could make it big in 1972. Still, it's clear that he's living out some vicarious fantasies through his students, but that would only be a problem if they weren't also having a genuinely good time and benefiting from his outside-the-box pedagogy.

Green's star pupils are C.J., a preternaturally talented preteen guitar player whom Argott paints as a mini Carlos Santana, and Madi, a high-school-aged Sheryl Crow–ish singer/songwriter who moonlights with the Friendly Gangsters, a Quaker rap group. Dry-ice clouds surround confident C.J. wherever he goes, while Madi needs—or does she?—cajoling, editing, and lots of direction from Green. Perhaps reminiscent of Jack Black in School of Rock, Green tells us he utilizes the kids' aptitude for learning without actually treating them like kids. You do get the sense that Green would scream and carry on with his shtick even with his mother.

Argott gets some narrative shape for his documentary as it culminates with the kids' big performance at the Zappa fest. Music fans will recognize that these particular students are beyond AC/DC; Zappa was a complex composer, and the students have expertly mastered his music. Even if you're not a Zappa fan, it's hard not to be thrilled by C.J.'s deft solo and Madi's slightly hesitant but bright smile when her band nails the toughest song of the festival.

You do worry about these kids, however—about their stars burning too bright too soon. Will they burn out or fade away while juggling their chores and homework? We'll have to wait for Rock School 2 to see. (R) LAURA CASSIDY

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I like this review because she's got a better handle on what goes on at Rock School and she understands Paul and gets it. She also appreciates how Don Argott portrayed him. I was distressed by the review in the Village Voice because again, it was as if the critic was looking to attack Paul and totally missed the point that the kids are there because they want to be there; that he does bring out the best in them; and anyone who has spent time with this group of musicians on the road knows about the unique bond they have with each other and with Paul. Yeah, there's a lot of screaming but there's a lot more laughing and good times. Rock School is a family...and that's what families do. People who love each other also lose their tempers with each other. That's just the way life is. So some critics choose to focus on the negative and completely overlook the positive. Again, that's why they are critics and not artists.

Which would you rather be? No wonder some are, um....small minded and bitter.

But all anyone has to do is view the tape I have of Eddie Vedder singing with the Rock School All-Stars backstage in Seattle and you will see how much they love Paul, each other, and how much they love the music.

Getting back to this reviewer's comments where she worries about whether the kids will burn out/fade away....sure, some might, but that's the way it is. Many will go on to music college; I predict many will go on the road with their bands or be studio musicians - they're in it for the long haul. Actually, I think a good portion of Rock School graduates will go on to be major stars...and you're going to see a whole slew of them who make it and credit Paul Green. In any case, these kids have a life long love of music which will never fade or burn out and they'll pass that on to their kids and maybe there's some hope for the future of music after all...Britney and 50 Cent be damned.

Meanwhile, how about that Rock School soundtrack? I've played it for anyone who will listen; everyone who heard it yesterday is in awe. I had phone calls from relatives, friends...people are blown away.

Funny stage mother story here. I went, against all of my principles, to Tower Records to buy it because my son went into town earlier and said he couldn't find it at any of the indie stores. He said he couldn't find it at Tower, either, which I found impossible to believe. So I go to the store, and where do I fucking find it? In the same bin, under soundtracks, as "School of Rock". In other words, they just put it in the same exact place; no separate divider, nothing. What, did the salespeople just think it was the same Jack Black CD, new cover?

I complained and then stood there while the clerk changed it. No way was I leaving that store until it was fixed. Now. Where are the accompanying posters? Why isn't it getting special attention in "New Releases"? Trust me, I got on that, too.