School Of Rock Bellevue Summons Their Spirit Animals at The Crocodile

Want to hear the next musical wave? Listen no further than the School Of Rock!

The school trains and nurtures the music inside young people, and helps them find their place on stage. As part of their classes, the kids get together and perform themed concerts regularly. Recently, I watched School Of Rock Bellevue do an Alice In Chains tribute show.

And on September 22nd, the school gathered again at The Crocodile – this time in tribute of their favorite animal songs and bands!

The show was called Tribute To Spirit Animals, and the setlist was an impressive mix of songs that spanned five decades:

House Of The Rising Sun (The Animals)
Eye Of The Tiger (Survivor)
Fool For Your Loving (Whitesnake)
Baby Snakes (Frank Zappa)
Where Eagles Dare (Iron Maiden)
Dangerous Animals (Arctic Monkeys)
Freddie’s Dead (Curtis Mayfield – Superfly Soundtrack)
Born To Be Wild (Steppenwolf)
Rock Lobster (The B-52s)
Wolf Down The Earth (Gojira)
Happy Together (The Turtles)
Rumble In Brighton (Stray Cats)
L.O.V.E. Machine (The Roosters)
Too Many Puppies (Primus)
Don’t Fear The Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult)
Crystal Skull (Mastodon)
Elephant (Unknown)
Run With The Wolf (Rainbow)
Hotel California (Eagles)
Sails Of Charon (Scorpions)
Domination (Pantera)
Bulls On Parade (Rage Against The Machine)

The students rotated through the songs and instruments on stage; it was clear that their classes move them through everything – Strings, Keys, Percussion and Vocals. Each of the students changed musical roles depending on the songs. Not all students were on change at the same time, as there were too many. But each one got multiple opportunities to perform, and their skill was impressive!

I wasn’t accomplishing nearly as much at that age.

Hearing teens play the classic rock songs of my own youth gave a whole new perspective to the music. These kids are playing and appreciating songs that were written and recorded decades before they were born. Such things are a testament to the influence of rock from the 60s, 70s and beyond.

With songs like Whitesnake’s Fool For Your Loving, I came to love it even more – knowing that a new generation has taken something from the mid-1980s and given it new life in the 21st Century. The strength and passion of the chords and lyrics came through loud and clear, to the point that the song’s age became irrelevant.

That’s the power of music.

My big surprise of the day? I was introduced to the heavy-handed metal of Gojira when the students played their song Wolf Down The Earth! This song, compiled in the setlist with simpler songs like The Turtles’ Happy Together, showed the variety of the students’ influences when putting this concert together.

The school’s rendition of “Where Eagles Dare” was tight and on-point with the original song. The vocalist showed tremendous power and control. I can imagine there was a lot of practice to dial in Iron Maiden’s signature beat and syncopation. And the students nailed it!

The school isn’t just teaching the students to sing; they are also teaching stage presence. How does one portray the passion they feel inside for the song they sing? What do you do with your hands? Training releases that. It was inspiring to see these young singers belt out the songs and learn their place on the team when front and center. That’s an important job!

A very big (and welcome) surprise for me was to hear the Scorpions Sails Of Charon from 1977. Released on their final RCA studio album Taken By Force, it has been forever one of my favorite Scorpions songs. It was so nice, once again, to hear students pay tribute to its classic groove!

The School Of Rock Bellevue schedules several concerts like this per year. Tickets are available and proceeds go into supporting the school and venue. Check their Events Page on Facebook to keep tabs on the upcoming shows!