The final Rock School Show for Eric Slick: Tonight at the World Cafe, the All-Stars perform the music of Pink Floyd

So tonight is very bittersweet for me. My son Eric will be on drums for his final Rock School show ever when the All-Stars perform the music of Pink Floyd at the World Cafe. There are two shows, one at 7:00 p.m. and one at 10:00 p.m. and they are two distinct sets. You can purchase tickets at the door or order them online here.

A couple of things. First of all, Paul could not have said it better when he posted the following on the Rock School forum board:

"I am already getting a little sad about Saturday. This group has meant the world to me, and to see you go is very difficult. The only thing that tempers it is the knowledge that great things lay ahead for each of you. So to Slick, J-Bless, Gargano, Madison, Lauren Polley, Liam, Max DiMezza, Fil, Nitz, and Larry Allen...THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING."

For those who don't know, the above eight kids are now over 18 years of age and tonight marks "graduation"...99% of them have their own bands now; my son Eric is involved in four different projects and will be touring very shortly -- his drumming with other established bands may take him all over the world this year but I'm sure he's going to have tears in his eyes tonight when the last song is played. Unlike other Rock School All-Stars who have "retired" in the past only to come back and perform at special events on Paul's behalf, Eric is steadfast that tonight is his last show; he is moving on.


Jeremy Blessing

I've witnessed incredible changes in a lot of these kids. Jeremy Blessing I remember as a young 14 year old with short hair and braces...but you could see he was a rising star even back then. Yesterday in New York City at the Hard Rock Cafe opening, people were staring at him, like, WHO IS THAT? And the infamous Naked Cowboy, there himself for the guitar smash, brought along his teenaged daughter who shyly came up behind Dad when he tapped Jeremy on the shoulder and said "My daughter thinks you are cute and would love to have her picture taken with you."

And she hasn't heard him play! Remember his name. He's going to be a superstar.


Lauren Pollock with Jeremy, Chris Gargano, and Fil Smith in the background

Lauren Pollock. I first heard her sing about three years ago and I was like Holy shit, this girl is 15? She has such soul in her voice, such incredible range...there is no way she isn't going to be major league famous. The fact that she is drop dead gorgeous won't hurt her cause, either, and she's one of the sweetest girls you'll ever meet.


Madison Flego

Madison Flego. I don't think even I was aware of the vastness of her guitar playing talent until I heard the opening solo in Shine On You Crazy Diamond in Germany last weekend. I had goosebumps just from watching the webcast and from what I hear from those in the audience live, 5,000 people were brought to their knees. I cannot wait to own the DVD of this show (should be ready in about 3 weeks I hear). I was always aware that this chick could sing. Again, her vocals in "Summertime" give me the shivers.


Max DiMezza, Fil Smith, and Eric Slick

Max DiMezza - I literally watched him grow up before my eyes. He is one of the best bass players (well, besides my daughter Julie and her boyfriend Matt) to ever come out of Rock School. He's got a unique jazzy talent; you can tell he's in love with the blues and has awesome taste because he brings a certain class to his playing which distinquishes him from everyone else. I'm not sure if Max plans a career in music or will end up a brain surgeon, but whatever he does, he's going to rule.

Fil Smith has always been a favorite of mine. I think he's got an amazing singing voice; he's probably Rock School's best rhythm and acoustic guitarist ever, and I think he brings a quiet dignity to his leads as well. He's off to Oberlin College and he's another kid who is going to be a success in whatever field he ultimately decides to pursue.


Larry Allen in the forefront

Larry Allen is a fucking awesome keyboard player. I know Larry is going away to college and it's my guess he's going to end up an attorney, but this kid could play the keys with any major rock or jazz band, he's that good. And he's smart and nice, too, and though I've known him only a couple of years, I've really enjoyed any interaction I've had with him. Last year on the bus tour he remained good natured and stoic even when a lot of us were losing our minds.

Nitz I'm pissed at because he is playing bass in my son's band, Flamingo, instead of my daughter, when bass is not his instrument. Hahahahaha - but what can you do, there's a whole story there but I still say he's a nice kid and a great, great guitarist. Nah, really, I'm cool...just can't find his photo anywhere but I will continue to look. He recently brought out his trumpet on a couple of songs and really impressed me.

Liam and Chris Gargano I really never got a chance to know because they were just added as All-Stars this year but I've enjoyed watching and listening to them and they were great additions to the program.

So that's all for now -- please try and make it to the show tonight and I'll be back tomorrow with a review of the show and a formal goodbye and thank you to Paul.

Eric Slick and Rock School All-Stars Smash Guitars at Grand Opening of Hard Rock Cafe, Times Square

So yeah, today my son, Eric, featured front and back above, along with Paul Green and a small group of All-Stars -- Madison Flego, Lauren Pollock, C.J. Tywoniak, Jeremy Blessing, Joe Randazzo, and Sarah Zimmerman were part of group of 100 celebrities smashing guitars to celebrate the grand opening of the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. They got to smash axes with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Little Steven of Bruce Springsteen/Soprano's fame.


Brian Wilson


Little Steven


Brian Wilson and Little Steven


Group shot

Here's a portion of the press release:


HARD ROCK ROCKS TIMES SQUARE
Hard Rock Cafe Opens at Historic 1501 Broadway Building

Opening Day August 12 to Be Celebrated with the World's Largest Guitar Smash

New York, NY, August 11, 2005 - New York City will be rocking on August 12 when Hard Rock International opens its flagship cafe in the center of Times Square. Hard Rock International will be moving from its original location on 57th Street to occupy the former site of the historic Paramount Theater. As part of the move, Hard Rock will be transferring music memorabilia from its unparalleled collection, including priceless pieces from The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Billy Joel, The Ramones and Elvis Presley.

The new Hard Rock Cafe New York will officially open at its new location at 1501 Broadway upon the smashing of more than 100 Gibson guitars, branding the moment as the World's Largest Guitar Smash. The historic guitar smash and opening of the Times Square cafe will kick off a month-long celebration, which will include rockin' concerts and special events, as well as a grand opening party, featuring a live performance by super group Velvet Revolver. The grand opening celebration will benefit Peace Games, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending the trend of violence in the U.S. by teaching children to become peacemakers in their schools and communities...

The memorabilia being featured in the new Hard Rock Cafe New York includes some of the most valued and treasured pieces of rock history," adds Dodds. "The doors to the Beatles' Abbey Road Studios, Elvis' tuxedo, hand-written lyrics by Jimi Hendrix, guitars cherished by legends, including Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton, and more contemporary items, including stage costumes worn by Madonna and Gwen Stefani -- the rock artifacts that can be seen in this space are truly breathtaking for music fans.

Even Pete Townshend Will Be Impressed by This Guitar Smash! Traditionally, Hard Rock executives smash a guitar or two at the opening of a cafe. However, Hard Rock has decided to make its grand entrance by smashing 100 guitars, creating the World's Largest Guitar Smash on the world's greatest stage Times Square.

On Friday, August 12, more than 100 Gibson guitars will be smashed simultaneously outside the new home of Hard Rock Cafe New York, signaling its official opening. Members of the Hard Rock family will be joined by several New York notables and celebrities, including Steven Van Zandt and Brian Wilson, for the guitar smash, a moment that will go down in rock history. For each guitar smashed, Hard Rock will donate a new guitar to Peace Games, extending the influence of music to the masses. Rita Gilligan, one of the original servers from the 1971 opening of the first Hard Rock Cafe in London, will be leading this historic smash.

I'm in Opium! (no, no, not what you are thinking...though I suppose at one time....)

So how cool is this, I have a story published today in one of my all time favorite magazines, Opium. Check it out!.

Also, a bunch of insane writers from Zoetrope are planning a meet-up in honor of Opium's first print issue...please e-mail me if you are interested in joining us for drinks, dinner, and drinks beforehand. Here's the details of the Opium event itself, where we will, of course, eventually end up:

Opium Magazine Presents . . .
The OpiumMagazine.print #1 Launch Party!

When: August 20 , 2005, 7:00 p.m. (Saturday)
Where: New York, NY
Happy Ending (212) 334-9676
302 Broome St. (@ Forsyth)
Directions
Subways:
B,D to Grand Street
F, J, M, Z to Delancey
How Much : Free!

After four years of unrivaled online publishing, Opium Magazine is ecstatic to present the debut of their first tangible venture: OpiumMagazine.print #1, A Whopping Collection of Fanatical Literary Brilliance. This first-ever print issue features original works of fiction, poetry, cartoons, art and interviews (53 contributors in all!).

To celebrate, Opium will host contributors from around the world on August 20, 2005 (at 7:00 p.m.), for a one-night only extravaganza at NYC’s Happy Ending ( 302 Broome St). There will be readings (by actors), two-question Q&A’s (with contributors) and a story read all the way from China (in English), via-satellite! There will be giveaways (an Opium-branded toaster, for one), and a cartoon auction, followed by a party that will deliriously captivate, and potentially drunken. Plus, everyone who attends will receive an OpiumMagazine.button for the lapel of their choice!

You’ll laugh aloud, we’ll cry silently, and throughout the night we will gladly trade one of our copies of Opium’s .print for a discounted cash fee.

Join Opiates . . . Todd Zuniga, Pia Z. Ehrhardt, Will Layman, Heather Kelley, Jim Ruland, Nick Antosca, Larry Gaffney, Susan Henderson, Tao Lin, Rose Gowen, Tom Fugalli, C.J. Kershner, James J. Williams III, Diana Grove, C. Allen Rearick, David Barringer, Ryan Bird, Angela Lovell, Kim Chinquee, Anthony Tognazzini, Thomas O’Donnell, C.M. Evans, Vince LiCata and many more!

Ike and Reno

Ike Willis and Joe Randazzo in Germany last week. Perfect, eh?

This isn't one of Gary's photos, this is one I found on line which for some reason cracked me the hell up.

More later...lots of family stuff to deal with right now for a change.

Oh my god...

The Rock School set list from Zappanale 14

Can't do a proper post now but two things:

Rock School All Stars - start saving your money as I will soon be blackmailing you all -- Gary told me EVERYTHING! HAHAHAHAHAHA - Oh my god, I so wish I'd gone. YOU GUYS ARE HILARIOUS!

Seriously, and more importantly:

Olaf of the Arf Society slipped Gary a DVD of nothing but Rock School's Friday night Zappa performance and I've never, ever, ever seen or heard anything so great in my life. And in a teary eyed mother moment for sure, the back of the 2005 Zappanale DVD talks about the history of Rock School - the title says 'THE KIDS ARE BACK", there's an awesome photo from 2003, and right on the cover it talks about my daughter Julie and says that she's so great even John Entwistle would have gone crazy. It also gives a nod to Ms. Lauren Pollock and Dom Malandro.

Eric and Gary also came home with rare Zappa imports - DVDs and CDS, a Pink Floyd bootleg CD with a live version of Echoes and a stripped down version of Great Gig without the female singers; a bootleg of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles playing together (oh my god, I almost fainted when I heard Dandelion), and the Stones with Muddy Waters.

I am one happy woman today.

More...much, much more...later. They used a 35 mm camera so I need to take 16 (yep) rolls of film to get developed and made into a CD so that I can post them...Gary said he took pics of every All-Star and a lot of...moments...which is why you All Stars had better start saving your money. (Kidding, kidding)

Just heard from Germany!

(Julie and me at Zappanale 14 - photo courtesy of Janine Pollock. I'm the one with the beer har har)

Okay, hooray for Joanne Milandro who has an international cell phone. Gary just called me. It's well after 3:00 a.m. in Germany now and he said it was insane -- the crowd would not let the kids off the stage and he's so excited he can't sleep (they just got back to the hostel!) He said the audience kept screaming for the kids to play more; over 5,000 people were in fucking awe and the Paul Green School of Rock Music stole the entire Zappanale 16. He said he's never experienced anything like it EVER (and Gary saw not only the Beatles play at JFK Stadium but Jimi Hendrix as well); that the kids -- every one of them -- played the best music of their lives; that they are all superstars and are being treated as such by every adult fellow musician in attendance from all over the world, many of whom played with Frank Zappa at some point in their careers; and that the only low of the trip is that it's 44 degrees and hailing! Gary said it's so cold smoke is coming out of their mouths when they talk, but that the folks running the festival handed out free sweatshirts (very cool Zappanale 16 ones) to all of them. Wow. When I was there with the kids two years ago at Zappanale 14 it was so hot we wore tank tops or t-shirts and shorts. But oh my god, they played for three and a half hours tonight. That's like...unreal.

Anyway, most importantly, I instructed Gary to bring home many DVDs so that all the parents can have one and Linda, Joey is doing fine; the kids are all eating more than enough...in fact, they are getting their faces stuffed by everyone everywhere -- Gary said the food at the festival is incredible and the kids don't have to pay for anything. Gary is sharing a room with 10 kids - Jeremy, Dom, Haffy, Matt, Bosco, Cameron, Joey, Mike, Dan, and Chris. He said he's taking care of all of them and they told him he's the coolest dad ever (hahaha - unlike me on tour, who probably scared the hell out of all of them because I'm so fucking neurotic).

Carolyn, Gary also told me he took Eric shopping for something special for you, so, err..act surprised.

Anyway, he sounded so wired on the phone now he has me all wired and I can't sleep either...and we have to all wake up at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow because yep, that's when the finale begins in Germany, only it will be 11:00 a.m. there.

Night night.

Reminder!

Beginning in just a half hour, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time, the Zappanale Festival begins broadcasting right here!. While my son, Eric, and the rest of the Paul Green School of Rock Music All-Stars will not take the stage until after 1:00 p.m. Eastern time, the kids will be standing in front or by the side of the stage throughout the whole concert watching the other bands until it's time for their performance and who knows, the camera may very well pan the audience.

While Eric Slick and the Paul Green School of Rock Stars are in Germany performing at Zappanale 16...Robin Slick unemployed, days 3 and 4 Part I

Asparagus appetizer at Chloe Restaurant

Hi, there.

Well, I haven't posted in my blog for a few days because I've been too busy eating. This is sad but true. No, actually, it's not sad, it's fantastic. Eric and his daddy left for Germany yesterday at 12:30 p.m. and Julie and I immediately embarked on our latest culinary tour of Philadelphia.

We had dinner at Chloe at 2nd and Arch Street. Chloe may now be my all time favorite restaurant. Okay, okay, I know I say that about every cool place I visit, but my God, this is as good as it gets, and it's BYOB...people were showing up with a bottle o'red and a bottle o'white and drinking them all down with each course. Next time, I will do the same; this time, because I was with a 19 year old and it was 100 degrees out and she is making me walk everywhere (there and back...mapquested it...6 miles roundtrip) I decided to stick with water.

First up: A warm bread basket with complimentary homemade hummus. Hummus like I've never tasted. Not merely rank cloves of garlic and mashed chick peas, but a puree of chick peas, corn (yep, corn) and chipotle, rimmed with a circle of high quality olive oil. Julie and I started eating it with a spoon; they give you so much it was like eating the world's best mashed potatoes with half the calories.

Okay. Appetizers next.

Julie elected to have the daily special, which was a chilled peach soup with champagne. (Oh sure, she got to drink...I tasted it and there was like half a bottle poured in there so I helped her finish it bigtime). It was topped with an adorable miniature almond taco. It was tart, refreshing, and maybe the best cold soup ever.

My appetizer ended my search (at last!) for the best freaking mussels I ever ate in my life. These were from New Zealand, and each mussel was the size of my fist. There were at least a dozen of them, floating in a sauce made of white wine, tarragon butter, leeks, and dijon mustard. Came with grilled bread. When I was finished the mussels, I used an empty shell as a tablespoon to eat all the "soup" once I'd killed the bread. I will dream about these mussels for weeks to come; in fact, my birthday is in two weeks and this is what I will be having.

Pictured above was the appetizer I almost got and will certainly try on another occasion -- grilled asparagus wrapped with apple wood smoked bacon and boursin cheese, served with spicy tomatoes and reduced balsamic vinegar.

For entrees, Julie chose sushi grade tuna seared rare in banana ginger soy broth with jasmine rice, seaweed salad and crispy wonton chips. I don't even like tuna that much but went nuts over the forkful she reluctantly, well, forked over.

But mine was the real winner. Pan seared sea scallops served atop a crispy potato pancake with spicy watercress and red onion salad and smoked chile and sour cream drizzle. Oh my god, I never wanted that dinner to end.

Dessert? Oh yeah, we had room. I don't know how we had room, because the portions were so big they were falling off the plate, but we made ourselves have room because the desserts, which are daily specials and change every day (duh), were so spectacular. We did decide to share, though, which was smart, because that too was HUGE.

Hot banana bread pudding sitting in a pool of half caramel, half raspberry, topped with home made toasted coconut ice cream.

Sigh...

More later. I just realized how much I miss Eric and now I need to go upstairs and listen to the Rock School soundtrack so I can hear him play drums.

By the way, please buy the CD. You can find it at www.towerrecords.com or www.amazon.com, etc.

Some important info for Rock School All-Stars going to Germany (and Robin Slick unemployed, Day 2)

That's a photo of Zappanale 14 two years ago in Bad Doberan, East Germany, and yeah, yeah, that's me in front on the left with the long blonde hair. Wtf, I'm always posting pics of the kids...

Okay, as I enter day two of my retirement, I obviously have way too much time on my hands because I've been playing with the German to American translation book Eric went out and bought last night.

But first things first. I got an e-mail from Paul, who gives an educated guess that the kids will be seen on the webcast 2:00 p.m. on Friday and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday and probably around 2:00 p.m. Sunday for the finale. This is all eastern standard time. Seriously, just in case, I'd tune in sooner and like I said yesterday, you'll get to hear some great music and see some incredible sights so you've got nothing to lose.

Here is the link for the webcast: Fab Channel Zappa!

And now the moment you've all been waiting for -- important phrases you must memorize for hourly/daily use in Bad Doberan:

Nr., tue ich nicht Drogen

(No, I do not use drugs)

Wo ist das Badezimmer?

(Where is the bathroom?)

Nr., tue ich nicht Drogen

(No, I do not use drugs)

Ich bin zu jung zu trinken.

(I am too young to drink.)

Nr., tue ich nicht Drogen

(No, I do not use drugs)

Was ist gut, hier zu essen?

(What is good to eat here?)

Nr., esse ich nicht Schweinschnauze noch Schweinknöchel!

(No, I do not eat pig snout nor pig knuckles!)

Ja stimme ich, Präsident Bush bin ein dummes moron zu

(Yes, I agree, President Bush is a stupid moron)

Nr., tue ich nicht Drogen

(No, I do not use drugs)

Ich bin zu jung zu trinken.

(I am too young to drink.)

Ja stimme ich, Präsident Bush bin ein dummes moron zu

(Yes, I agree, President Bush is a stupid moron)

Wo ist das Badezimmer?

(Where is the bathroom?)
****************
Have fun, guys! I'm so, so jealous I'm not coming along this time but someone has to be victim of Julie the Social Director!

One major tip: The CD tent on the festival grounds is fucking awesome. I brought home Beatle and solo Beatle CDs that caused even the world's biggest Beatle historian to drop his jaw. The imports and bootlegs in that tent are a collector's dream, and the prices are incredibly cheap. Obviously the emphasis is on Zappa but you can find stuff you never knew existed and you're all gonna freak. Also, you will want to go to the "dollar store" on the main drag and stock up on Ritter Sport Bars, preferrably with coconut or hazlenuts. This is the best fucking chocolate bar you will ever eat and it's only one Euro and it's king sized. Bring some home for your poor parents!

And one more time, all together now:

Ja stimme ich, Präsident Bush bin ein dummes moron zu

Day 1 - Robin Slick, unemployed

Last night I dreamt about work and I was running around, because it kept getting later and later and I couldn't find my shoes; I couldn't find my keys, etc.

I woke up all freaked out and then I remembered: I DON'T HAVE TO GO TO FUCKING WORK EVER AGAIN! (Well, at least not in the law office! And more on that in another post...let's just say my last day did not include a gold watch...not that I'd be caught dead in a gold watch)

And so in celebration, my daughter and I are going to breakfast in the Italian Market to have the above mentioned world's best chocolate chip muffin at the Fitzwater Cafe.

Here's a quote about Fitzwater Cafe from a fellow food lover and writer: "What I went for is the muffins. Philadelphia Weekly food writer, Lauren McCutcheon, wrote that she would travel miles for their Chocolate Chip Muffin. Even if she tends to be hyperbolic, the opportunity to have a really great muffin was far to promising to let pass. Despite some skepticism, when I saw the uniquely saucer-topped muffin (pictured) I was sure it would be damn tasty. Sure enough, the muffin had a great browned outside with a dense interior that was milky and studded with tasty semi-melted chocolate morsels. I was suprised that the dense crumb was not dry at all, maybe because it wasn't overly sugared. A nice sweetness was provided by the sugar crystal-encrusted top".

Mmmmm. It's at least a three mile walk which we will do round trip to offset the calories of said muffin, but then we are continuing on for a shopping spree in the Italian Market where we will buy fresh baked bread, homemade mozzarella cheese, jersey tomatoes...oh man, we're going to have a simple, peasant dinner tonight with lots of wine for me. Eric and his dad will be leaving for the Zappa festival in Germany on Wednesday so Julie and I are considering this week and next our official vacation from the world weeks - the recording studio where she works is closed for two weeks as well while the owner vacations in New Hampshire, and other than some projects she's got going with some fellow musicians, she's MINE ALL MINE. We're going to be taking some day trips to New Hope, PA, New York, the beach...and then it's back to work for her and serious writing for me.

By the way, I don't know if Rock School parents know this, but the kids will be simulcast on the web during Friday and Saturday nights' performance and I will of course provide the exact link starting Thursday. Taking into consideration the six hour time difference between here and Germany, I'm thinking we should start huddling around our computers around 1:00 p.m. but in reality, they probably won't go on until at least 3:00 p.m. our time. I've searched the Zappanale website everywhere for times but all it will give me is schedules and dates. Rock School is headlining and I'm trying to remember when the headliner played in Germany when I was there two years ago at Zappanale 14...I'm thinking it was 9:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. there but I'm not sure...but wtf, most of you are at your computers anyway. I know the truth!

Don't worry -- I will research this and I will find out one way or the other; if not, the very worst that will happen is that you'll get to see some great music for a few hours before our kids go on. And...it's totally free! And not only that, after the shows, the kids will be given an immediate DVD of the performance. Well, not sure if each kid gets a free DVD or just Paul...but still, I know they're available for sale so make sure your kiddies have a few extra Euros.

Oh, and the finale is on Sunday! Don't know what time, but all I can tell you is, last year our kids, in my opinion anyway, stole the show. So you don't want to miss that, either, and I have a feeling as the festival progresses we'll be getting more info either via cell phone calls from the kids or the webcast itself.

I do know the kids have to be at the airport at 3:00 p.m. and if you cannot provide a ride, BK and Dave will be leaving from Rock School so you can get in touch with them or the school. I also have the info for the return trip home as well as some other tips for the trip since I am a Bad Doberan vet so you can also feel free to email me with any questions. Like, pack sunscreen, change money into Euros at the airport, a little pocket translation book is a must because absolutely no one, and I mean no one, in the shops of Bad Doberan speak any English at all and that includes all of the restaurants as well; bring a towel because the hostel does not provide them and you're gonna be pretty miserable taking a shower without one and that goes for soap, too...arghh..you know what, maybe if people have questions I will type a comprehensive list here for everyone.

(See? Already I'm working again and this time without pay!)

Anyway, more later...that muffin is calling out my name!