Sunday, August 10, 2008

It's my Rock and Roll Fantasy (camp)

I went to see Extreme and King's X last night at the House of Blues in Chicago. Both bands put on a good show and I enjoyed myself, though I was pretty tired of standing by the end. I told my friend, Roger, that we are getting too old to stand for 5 hours. Well, at least I am.

Anyway, the night started with Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp bands taking the stage. This is a very cool thing. You get put in a band with other people that sign up and an actual professional musician works with you. Then, you get to go on stage and rock out in front of a crowd. I think that would be a lot of fun. If you are ready for it, that is. And you have a fair sum of money laying around that you don't need. It is quite pricey.

I felt bad for a few of the guys out there. One guy was not very proficient at the guitar and barley played any of the three songs. Another guy did play, but it wasn't very good. I'm not entirely sure he was in tune. There was one guy, who was having a great time, but he only played the maracas. That seems like a lot to pay to play the maracas. Sure he was with a famous musician (I think he was with Elliot Easton of the Cars), but still.

Remember Kip Winger of Winger? He was the emcee and one of the band leaders as well. To be honest, they had the best performance, and everyone was involved. They did a good job with some hard songs (Queen!).

So, yes, I think it would be a lot of fun, but would I end up being the maraca guy? Would I get stuck with Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple who clearly only cared about himself? Or, would I have a great time? Who knows? It's too expensive to find out. I was thinking about putting a donation button to see if people would donate to let me go. I figure after a year I'd have 50 cents donated, I could put that in some interest bearing account, then my great-great grandkids could go. I'll have my body frozen so I could be thawed out to watch them play. Sound like a good idea?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nothing wrong with being the maracas guy. Unless the tambourine is more your instrument. :)

Mike said...

DC: Im more of a cowbell guy, which someone did play on one song. I just don't think it's worth several thousand dollars to play maracas and that's it. Drums on the other hand...

Florinda said...

I think that would be fun, although the stage fright would probably kill me.

I want to send my husband to race-car driving school in Vegas for his 50th birthday, which would be kind of like a fantasy camp for him. I've still got four years to save up for it :-).

Mike said...

Florinda: My step-brother's wife got that for him several years ago. He loved it. I think that might be a tad more scary than going in stage. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey I played with Glenn Huges that night and he was great to to be on stage with I had a alot of postive feedback from the crowd.
We only had 12 minutes on stage per band and one day to practise. One of our band members never even played the guitar only be on stage we had to teach him the songs that day. Maybe you should try it it was an all day event everyone was great the crew the rock stars I would do it again..

Mike said...

Anon: Hey, that's great! I'm sure you had a lot of fun. Maybe it's just Glenn's image that I took the wrong way. I know it's not cheap and I would be afraid to spend the money and be terrified on stage.

Anonymous said...

Hi Mike,
No problem! 12 minutes goes by really fast. Do you remember what songs we played?

Mike said...

anon: Smoke on the Water, I remember that! A johnny cash song? And the last is on the tip of my tongue. Sorry. I can barely remember what Extreme and King's X played. :)

Anonymous said...

Cool! Smoke on the water, Folsum Prison Blues and the last the song was American women.

I sang Folsum Prison Blues and played lead guitar.

Mike said...

anon: American Woman! Now I remember. I pretty much knew who you were based on the last posts. You did a good job!

Anonymous said...

Thanks! For the feed back.

Jammin Jay

Anonymous said...

Yes, it was a very cool night! I also played in one of the fantasy camp bands in Chicago. I got to play with Gilby Clarke (formerly of Guns & Roses). Luckily, I didn't have to shell out $2000 since I won my admission in a guitar playing competition. I won a guitar and the honor of hanging out with rock stars all day and then playing a few songs at the House of Blues. Besides the amazing experience of the whole day and getting to play at the HOB the bonus was watching Extreme. They really put on a great show.

Mike said...

Eliot: Sounds like you had a great deal. I got there just as your group was going up, I think. I remember him being introduced, but not the songs.

I think both bands played great. It was a fun show!

Anonymous said...

Hello! you can now go and check out the video of the bands that played at the HOB of Rock and Roll Fantacy Camp. Vote for my Band Cash, Smoke and Bitches or any other band to choose.

Thanks,
Jammin Jay