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Sat. June 19 & Sun. June 20 The first time we met Joe Strummer - February, 1979, Harvard Square Theatre (then a one-room concert and movie venue) - we talked with him about what the Clash was doing compared to what had been done before. "How're any kids gonna have a chance, if they grow up listening to Yes?" he said. (I'm paraphrasing; my memory isn't that sharp.) Basically, he said, part of the punk rock revolution - rebellion against the staid status quo, high unemployment, class di vision - also had a lot to do with musicianship. Anyone could pick up punk rock. Sure, some were very good at it and got better, but it three-chords was a great DIY way into making yourself heard, making yourself matter. That's one of the things he hoped the Clash would inspire. Which it did.
But every wave has a backlash. The neo-hippies came in with the jam-band rock of Phish and its offspring. Prog rock came back with, well, lots of bands, the best of which is Porcupine Tree. Rock is cyclical. As much as we identify with Strummer and the Clash - it hit us where we lived - we were (remain) big fans of Peter Gabriel and most anything Robert Fripp does. We talked to Gabriel just after he left Genesis and he said one reason he left was he thought prog-rock "was about exploring music and it came to be about using keyboards." It also got abstract, obtuse and ornate. Lots of demons and wizards and stuff, not exactly connected to rockin' around the clock and searching for sweet 16 or, for that matter, hoping for a white riot.
On Saturday June 19 and Sunday June 20, the kids will have their say when it comes to prog-rock as the best of the 9-17-year-old studetns at the Arlington branch of the School of Rock will tackle odd time signature tunes from the likes of Rush, Yes, Genesis, Tool, Dream Theatre, Jethro Tull, and King Crimson (in photo). SoR Music Director Bill Galatis labeled this season’s "Progressive Rock" show “an advanced show”, and for valid reason as the intricate instrumental patterns and textures, certainly require much more than minimum effort to master. Starting if February these students took weekly and sometimes bi-weekly 3-hour rehearsals, in addition to private lessons, to prepare to take the stage at The Middle East Upstairs, with an assortment of keyboards, basses, drums, guitars, and strong vocal manifestations. (Mellotron, anyone?) Tickets are available for $10 in advance. Both shows are all-ages (of course) and at 1 p.m. 472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-864-3278 www.mideastclub.com or 617-923-3434 http://progrock.eventbrite.com |
