Nick the Rock Star

Nick has been taking drum lessons for almost a year now at a music school near us called School of Rock. He recently switched from a "Rookies" class to a class called "Rock 101." It's pretty intense-a 45-minute drum lesson, 1 on 1 with an instructor every week and a 90-minute band practice with all the kids playing together. Today was Nick's first concert.

Nick's onstage at Q Bar in Darien, IL.

Yup, that's Nick on the drums in front of the "Budweiser Sound Stage." This school rents out local bars that have full stages and regular live music. They even charge a cover charge to listen to the bands, and there are teenage groupies who come sit in front of the stage to cheer the kids on.

For their playlist today, "The Super Rad Rainbow Unicorns" (Yes, that's their band name. They got to pick it themselves.) had on their set list: Wild Thing, Brown-Eyed Girl, Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap by ACDC, and Beverly Hills. Greg dressed Nick up in what we thought was cool rock star attire: a Beatles t-shirt with a button-down checkered shirt over it but unbuttoned. I'm not sure if this is what rock stars wear today, but it sounded good to me, who was a teenager in the 1990s.

Nick wasn't too nervous, all things considered. 

What does this sound like? Well, just imagine what a rock band made up of 7-11 year olds would sound like. That pretty much covers it. I was impressed because I could mostly recognize every song they played. They started out with "Brown-Eyed Girl."



This one is "Wild Thing," of course.






This next one is "Beverly Hills." Nick gets very serious when he's playing the drums. He opens his mouth slightly and really looks like he's concentrating.



I never really thought about the lyrics to "Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap," though I know I heard the song numerous times when I was a child.





Nick had his own fan club in attendance. Henry and Greg and I were all cheering and clapping near the stage, of course. (We took these pictures afterward, outside the bar where the lighting was better.)

Also attending as part of Nick's fan club was my dad and stepmom. Henry, by the way, wanted to be in every picture. I think he may have been a little jealous, though he was very complimentary to Nick after his performance.

Grandma Toni attended, of course, and stood next to Henry and clapped along with the music.

My mom and stepdad came, too, and my mom even loaned Nick her sunglasses so he'd look cool for this picture.

My musical education is practically nonexistent, so I truly have no idea what Nick is learning and practicing. Unlike most of his subjects, I'm utterly useless with his music homework. But I was very proud of Nick today. He was a team player, worked well with the other band members, and did his best. As far as I could tell, he's got some pretty good rhythm.  :)