The jamming sounds of “Are You Gonna Go My Way” by Lenny Kravitz, Wednesday, Nov. 6, kicked off a 12-song set for the Vancouver School of Rock’s performance program Best of the ’90s during a rehearsal preparing for the school’s first concert later this month.
The School of Rock, Vancouver students have been preparing for their midseason performance, fine tuning each instrument’s role in the songs for the last handful of weeks. The jam session is the first concert for the School of Rock, Vancouver. The music program, owned by Ken Weiner, opened in August.
Weiner, a long-time hobby musician, originally from New Jersey wanted to provide Clark County youth and adults with the same hobby, therapy and social career performing in a band has offered him.
“... What’s great about School of Rock, as opposed to just individual lessons, is that it is social for kids,” he said. “Not every kid is an athlete, you know. There are a lot of kids that are looking for their thing, and School of Rock ends up being their thing. It’s kind of a different kind of team sport.”
Weiner’s location is the first one in Southwest Washington. The School of Rock, which inspired the name for the movie, has roughly 400 locations around the globe, with other locations in Portland and Seattle, but the Vancouver location offers a closer option for Clark County rockers and aspiring musicians.
“We’re in a good place, and I’m looking forward to doing it in Vancouver, where I live, as well, because I do think that Vancouver and Clark County is just going through huge growth — kind of a renaissance, you know — especially with the new waterfront in downtown Vancouver and the growth that’s going on in Ridgefield and Camas,” he said. “I mean, it’s everywhere. So, I’m looking forward to our school growing along with the community.”
At the School of Rock, aspiring musicians of all ages and skill levels can take lessons and participate in band rehearsals.
“Typical music lessons are one on one. You know, you’re with your instructor. You go home and rehearse and that’s kind of a back and forth that doesn’t really go anywhere from there,” Weiner said. “What School of Rock does is we combine a weekly individual lesson on the instrument and follow that up with band rehearsal.”
Students attend 16-week seasons where they get to play a midseason show and an end of season concert, as well.
“It’s real rock shows at real rock venues, for not just friends and family, but for the open public,” Weiner said. “We sell tickets. The students are responsible for setup, breakdown, and all the responsibilities that go along with that.”
The midseason concert will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Brickhouse Bar and Grill, 109 W. 15th St. in Vancouver, with doors opening at 2:30 p.m.
Attendees will hear from two performance groups, Best of the 90s and British Invasion, as well as some jams from the adult program, SoRad. Weiner said the set will be roughly 12 to 15 songs in total between the three groups. The end-of-season concert, set for January, will include a full 12 to 16 songs from each band. He added that the final show of the season will also be at the Brickhouse. Tickets will be $15 at the door, with students and children 8 and under attending free.
For more information, visit vancouverwa.schoolofrock.com.