www.KISSopolis.com | Photo Credit: Tommy Thayer
Here's a photo of Joey Allen (Warrant) Eric Singer, Chuck Garric, Robby Krieger, Alice Cooper, Sebastian Bach, and Tommy Thayer at Chuck Brennan's Rock And Roll Academy on Thursday, March 28, 2013 in South Dakota.
Brennan Rock & Roll Academy:
Brennan Rock & Roll Academy was established to help children
uncover and develop their love, passion and talents through the power of
music. Through positive education and encouragement from kind and
gifted musicians the students learn music, performance and industry
skills while learning to dream bigger and believe in themselves more by
gaining self-confidence through something they are truly excited about…
music, the universal language.
Brennan Rock & Roll Academy
will provide music education for Boys & Girls Club kids that focuses
on Rock & Roll instruments: guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, and
vocals. Members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sioux Empire will
be able to receive weekly one-on-one lessons with professional
musicians, along with weekly band rehearsals to prepare for upcoming
concerts. As they continue to cultivate their skills, they will
participate in a live performance in front of a real crowd. Super cool
transportation will allow kids to attend the Academy and/or the Eastside
Boys & Girls Club.
Fox News - Associated Press:
A pair of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers took the stage Thursday in South
Dakota for the first show in a week of concerts benefiting a music
academy for Sioux Falls Boys & Girls Clubs members.
Alice
Cooper and guitarist Robby Krieger of The Doors jammed with a who's who
of '80s glam and metal to help christen the $3.6 million Brennan Rock
& Roll Academy in Sioux Falls. Also performing: Joey Allen of
Warrant, former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, and Eric Singer and
Tommy Thayer of KISS.
"These guys all know my songs, so I'll be
doing four or five of my songs, and then a couple of Doors songs,"
Cooper told The Associated Press before the show.
He said he was
looking forward to performing the late Jim Morrison's parts on "Break on
Through (To the Other Side) and "Back Door Man."
"I'm filling in for Jim tonight. I've done it many times," Cooper said.
The all-star band also planned to perform some KISS songs and a little Skid Row.
The $1,000-a-ticket concert is a fundraiser for the center, which is
the brainchild of Sioux Falls native Chuck Brennan. Brennan, the founder
of short-term lender Dollar Loan Center, based his idea on Cooper's
Solid Rock Foundation in Phoenix.
Cooper said about 100 kids a night are flocking to his Solid Rock center, which opened about two years ago.
"If you take one kid out of a gang and get him involved in rock 'n'
roll or get him involved in a guitar or bass or drums, you don't just
change that kid, you change the neighborhood," he said.
The
Sioux Falls academy has had the feel of an exclusive, intimate venue
this week, but starting in April it will become the afternoon home for
young people looking to learn or improve their skills in guitar, bass,
drums, keyboards or vocals.
Lessons will be given in nine
soundproof rehearsal rooms, five of which are wired to a professional
mixing and recording studio. The four upstairs rehearsal rooms will
honor KISS, with each decorated as an homage to the band members'
characters: The Demon, Starchild, Catman and Spaceman.
KISS'
Thayer, who grew up playing saxophone in a school music program before
he ever touched a guitar, said the facility will spark kids' creative
side.
"I'm blown away with this whole facility," Thayer said. "I think it's a great thing."