Rock'n'Roll Fantasy Camp Going On Tour

Rock'n'Roll Fantasy Camp Going On Tour






According to Mitchell Peters from Billboard.biz, the Rock'n'Roll Fantasy Camp, which matches ordinary people with rock star counselors who teach them the ins and outs of writing and performing music, will launch a 25-city club tour this summer.

Founder David Fishof tells Billboard that details are still being locked down, but the tour will be based on a one-day camp held Sept. 10, 2006, in Columbus, Ohio. With the help of such "rock star" counselor as Kelly Keagy (NIGHT RANGER), Simon Kirke (BAD COMPANY) and Gunnar Nelson (NELSON), campers rehearsed throughout the day, then served as the opening band later that night for DEF LEPPARD/JOURNEY at Columbus' Germain Amphitheatre.

"It was quite a success," says Fishof, a former sports agent who through the years has produced tours for such acts as the Monkees and Ringo Starr. "We were able to attract over 80 campers to work with our rock star counselors and be the opening act."

Fishof says the jaunt will begin between July and August, visiting "House of Blues-type" venues across the country. For a fee of approximately $2,000, between 80 and 100 people will be allowed at each one-day camp. That cost includes a select amount of concert tickets for that night's show.

Fishof will recruit 12 as-yet-unnamed rock star counselors who will each oversee one band in each city. Campers will arrive at 8 a.m., split into 12 different bands, and rehearse all day long. And "by 6 p.m., they're opening for a major rock act, which has yet to be named," Fishof says. "Each band does one song in front of a major act."

In related news, Fishof recently cut a deal with Elisabeth Murdoch's U.K. media company Shine to produce a television series about Rock'n'Roll Fantasy Camp. But unlike many reality shows, this one won't be about winning or losing, according to Fishof. "We're not 'American Idol' -- we're more like 'Extreme Makeover,'" he says. "It's about how the power of music will change your life."

Launched in 1997, Rock'n'Roll Fantasy Camp now has annual camps in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and London. To help celebrate its 10th anniversary, musicians SLASH, ROGER DALTREY, JOE WALSH and JACK BRUCE, among others, will gather Nov. 7-11 for a special camp at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino.