PJ Olsson's Rock Camp 2010

Are these kids cute or what?

And does PJ love his kids or what?

Little Rockers

Little Rockers Slideshow

A slideshow of some more Rock Camp groups rehearsing for Saturday evening’s performance.

PJ

Todd

Here are a few highlight shots from the Rock Star shoot with Adam Johnson.  Adam has hundreds of pictures from the shoot which he will be posting soon.  We’ll get a link out to you when the photos are published.

I’m pretty hard on these kids.  Every once in a while PJ has to remind me that they are in fact just kids and not professional musicians.  Which I know is true, but nevertheless, I know there potential and I want their talent to shine on stage.

Its hard to believe that the kids final show is only a few days away.  Our goal is to make the show about 2 hours with a brief intermission.  Yesterday, it took us 8 hours to run that 2-hour show.  Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do before Saturday.

(click on the photos to go to Mark Riutta’s full Gallery from Day 8)

We have a few big songs in the show that we haven’t even played let alone practiced yet, not even once.  Last night we made some last minute decisions and I found myself calling Hannah, Henry, Aaron, and Ben to quickly learn a song and be prepared to play it first thing this morning.  The cool part is that I am a hundred percent confidence they will know the music this morning and play it well.  These kids are truly amazing – all of them.

I think of myself as being pretty cold and dispassionate.  When it comes to putting on a show, I’m all about just putting the time in and getting the work done.  Still, I have had these strange moments watching the video footage, going through photos, and even watching the kids practice where I have just felt this feeling of pride and joy and how beautiful all of these kids are when they are working together to make music.  Sure, the metal heads were a mess at first, but man are they ever coming together now and playing some of the most technical music in the show.  And these young ladies, they are so beautiful inside and out and they just shine.  In these moments, I know that our little music camp (with all it ups and downs), its a worthy cause.

Today we are going to try running the entire show through twice.  Transitions between bands are very difficult.  We have a lot of stuff to work out yet.  I’m very curious to see where we end up at the end of the day today.  I know these, we will all be sweaty and exhausted (again).

Please support these kids by getting the word out about the final show this Saturday, August 7, at 7PM.  If we even get just 500 people in the Rozsa we will set record attendance for a summer show, I would like to see a full house.

Please post to Facebook about the show and ask your family and friends to do the same.  Add the show to every and any event calendar you know about.  It all helps!

- Todd

With show day approaching so quickly, the bands have started spending more time on the main stage at the Rozsa Center.  The Rozsa has a beautiful main stage but it’s also a huge stage which takes some getting used to.  One of our goals for this week is to get the stage “tuned in” so everyone can hear each other and still feel like a tight band even though they are all spread out.  Take a look at some photos of Monday’s rehearsal shot by Mark Riutta.   Thanks Mark for taking and sharing these great shots.  If you enjoy these shots, please leave a comment.