Hail to the School of Rock!

Music Row
By Brian Rademaekers

There’s a three-day weekend of big bombastic rock ahead of us, and it’s one to remind us why we’re glad to host the School of Rock in Philly.
Celebrating its first decade, the School of Rock, founded by Philly’s Paul Green, is dedicated as ever to teaching aspiring rock gods and goddesses to "learn to play music by playing music, at real rock venues in front of real rock audiences," as the school’s mission statement describes it.
While it didn’t hurt to have the publicity of a 2003 film that starred Jack Black and riffed on Philly’s School of Rock, Green has expanded his model to some 50 other cities.
Only here in Philly, though, will you find the School of Rock Festival, a three-day event that kicks off tomorrow night at the Electric Factory on 7th Street.
There will be dozens of bands, ranging from some of the biggest names in rock to the School of Rock’s "baby bands" — those ’tweens doing their best to rip things up onstage.
Though Green started the School of Rock here in 1998, this is just the second fest. Still the size — both in number of acts and the quality — is impressive.
Let’s start with the cringingly named Butthole Surfers, headliners for Friday’s breakout at the Electric Factory. These crazy Texans chugged through the 1980s and ’90s with their bawdy blend of psychedelics, metal, punk and a downright irreverent sense of lyrical humor.
Today their thrashy, disoriented sound is still drawing crowds, though it is hard to imagine the Surfers ever catching the wave that was the gold-selling Electriclarryland, with its catchy hit Pepper. Rumor says the band has an album in the works that could soon accompany its summer tour.
Also look for Brooklyn and New Hope’s Sound of Urchin, who provide a solid alt-metal set. Opening performances include a slew of those "baby bands," and who knows what pleasures that might bring, with awkward to awesome likely in the forecast.
On Saturday, things head east to the Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing. Headliners there are yet another ’80s band whose fame goes beyond those weird red helmets they wore: Devo.
Though decades have passed since their arrival in 1977, the Devo boys have barely paused to consider the effects of time, pushing ahead with live shows and visual art that have kept them fresh. Their rocking, punkish New Wave sound is a hard one to resist, too, and seeing them live no doubt will be a lesson in stage performance for the rock hopefuls.
Saturday also features the rock traditionalists Hold Steady. It doesn’t get any more straightforward than the band’s style of big, swarthy rock jams with smoking guitar riffs and upfront vocals.
On a more off-kilter note, look for Tragedy — an "all metal" tribute to the Bee Gees. Crazy, upbeat stuff that definitely lends a new and rocking edge to the band’s classic hits.
Upstaging the baby bands on Saturday evening are the School of Rock All-Stars. The best students from the school’s branches around country have been culled for this special ensemble.
The day of rock on the river will also feature a hearty bill of the baby bands and local notables like pop-rock pros Illinois.
For Sunday’s closing notes, return to the Festival Pier for the punk-gone-mainstream-rock sound of the Dropkick Murphys. Hailing from Boston, this band survived the ’90s and is getting through this decade with a huge sound of solid rock riffs and punk-coarse vocals.
The kicker for the show? It has to be Shred Fest ’08, a competition that challenges musicians to "forgo all sense of melody or subtlety and instead concentrate on producing as many notes per second (NPS) as humanly possible."
Could be heaven or hell, but the only way to know is to check it out. ••

Check it out . . .
What: School of Rock Music Festival.
What: The second annual fest thrown by Philly’s academy of rock.
When: June 27 through June 29. Times vary.
Where: Electric Factory and Festival Pier. Two- and three-day passes are available, as well as single-day tickets. Visit www.livenation.com.