http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/225973_rock27q.html Substitute teachers save Rock School jam
The worst excesses of rock performance were on display Wednesday night at Neumo's, where students from Philadelphia's School of Rock Music jammed for more than 90 minutes following a SIFF screening of the documentary "Rock School."
There was talent to burn among the dozen young musicians, but teacher Paul Green was so intent upon making them act out his own rock fantasies that little room was left for their personal lights to shine.
Green was a constant presence on the stage. He ran the show like a combination drama teacher and football coach -- jazzing the crowd, counting off songs and even messing with a guitarist's tuning gears while she was trying to play.
The night began promisingly enough, with a nice execution of "Black Magic Woman," but attempts at the more difficult music of Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa fell short. The individual players were fine, but the arrangements did not jell, and a bad sound mix was made worse by Green's fiddling with the levels.
Ann Wilson provided some temporary relief with a blistering version of "Barracuda" that brought the band together with its hard and steady rhythms. When she left the stage, the music faltered again, and even the simple beat of The Kink's "You Really Got Me" was unsteady.
After several more tunes, Green introduced Eddie Vedder as a person who was as synonymous with Seattle as coffee. "I've never been introduced as coffee before," the good-natured singer responded. When a fan yelled out, "You are the Bob Dylan of Seattle," Vedder answered, "I saw his last show, but still realize that was a compliment." Then he got down to business with a cover of the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated," followed by the Pearl Jam classic "Corduroy."
The kids probably learned more about rock 'n' roll in their 10 minutes with Vedder than in all their Rock School classes. Green had taught them how to pose as rock stars, but Vedder showed them that rock is about playing your guts out. And when you do that, there is no energy left for posing.
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