By Dante Spado
School of Rock was one of my favorite movies growing up. For several years when my family traveled to New York during the summer and for Christmas, my sister and I would watch the movie on the way up and the way back. That’s about four times a year for three or four years. The point is, I’ve seen it a lot.
For those unfamiliar, School of Rock is a movie about a wannabe rockstar, played by Jack Black, who poses as a substitute teacher for some money and ends up forming a band with his elementary aged-students, one of whom is played by Miranda Cosgrove. It’s a great movie, and during my younger years I longed for my own “Mr. Schneebly” to show up and teach me to play guitar instead of math.
Thankfully, for those without the patience to learn how to play guitar or drums, there’s a game called Rock Band (I did play the trumpet for six years though, give me credit). If you aren’t familiar with School of Rock, I KNOW you’re familiar with Rock Band (or Guitar Hero). The games, which were a big hit in the early to mid-2000s, replace guitar strings for color-coded buttons that you press as the matching colors come down the screen. It’s endless fun, and the game will have you feeling like Eddie Van Halen or Phil Collins in no time.
Due to the pandemic that I’m sure you’re all aware of, many activities that I looked forward to in college, like going out to bars, were put on hold. How does a second-semester senior fill his time you might ask? If you guessed playing Rock Band, you’re correct (50 gold stars for you).
It started out as a joke last semester. Before winter break, my roommate, Alex, told my other roommate, Randy, to ask for a Rock Band drum set for Christmas. I think Alex thought it would be funny to ask for an outdated (albeit cool) piece of technology for Christmas (the first game came out in 2008). Sure enough, Randy asked for it and got it, which resulted in Alex bringing his old Xbox, guitar controller and copy of Rock Band 2 back to our house.
In all honesty, I thought it would be a fad. I thought we’d play for a week or two and lose interest. Two Rock Band games, a Guitar Hero game, a microphone, a pair of clout goggles and dozens of hours spent playing proved me wrong. At several points throughout the day, we’ll hop on to play two or three songs. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been listening to a Zoom class and Alex and Randy playing “Drain You” by Nirvana at the same time.
While I know it drives our girlfriends insane, it provides a lot of fun for us. Sure, I may not sound like Gene Simmons, but you’d be crazy if you thought I don’t try to belt out “Detroit Rock City” like him. Alex is no Dave Grohl, but he beats those drum pads to the rhythm of “In Bloom” as good as anyone. And you can always count on Randy to get 100% accuracy on “Hungry Like the Wolf” on expert mode.
The point is, while some people’s new pandemic hobby is baking bread or watching The Queen’s Gambit, ours is playing Rock Band. To bring this thing full circle, there’s a song on Rock Band 2 called “Master Exploder” by Jack Black. Yes, the same Jack Black in School of Rock (the guy is actually musically talented). It’s a TOUGH song on all three fronts, and we spent a lot of time perfecting it. The Jack Black song reminded me of my childhood, spending many hours in a car watching School of Rock, so a few days ago Alex and I sat down and watched it, as he hadn’t seen it before. The movie still holds up, and features a lot of great classic rock songs such as “Immigrant Song,” “Moonage Daydream,” and “Edge of Seventeen.”
We may not sound like Mr. S and The School of Rock at The Battle of the Bands, but if you swing by our house on any given night, you’ll be sure to hear us rocking out.
(For those of you who are School of Rock fans, watch this video of the ten-year reunion for some serious nostalgia.)