Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp

So my GF bought me a rock star for a day gift certificate earlier in the year for my birthday. She included the «groupie» pass too for herself to come and watch when I did my thing. So for many months I called and they kept telling me they had no open times etc… Finally a few weeks ago they said OK we can get you in on the day I was asking about. AWESOME!!!
So they send me an email confirming the appointment BUT its at a different location… not at their studios. So I just figure alright they are booked no biggie. I get to the date/​time/​location and this place is a pit. It’s old and smelly and not in the best neighborhood either. Again not going to let that stop me.
So we get inside and meet my guy that will jam with me. There is no real greeting or whatever. Just come in and lets go. Then there is no plan. Most of the 2 hours was spent trying to decide what we should try next. Just really disorganized the way it was supposed to go and tauted on the website was not at all what I experienced. Oh and the t-​shirts and gift swag promised… NOT. In fact as we were leaving the guy at the door wanted to charge us for the studio time we used… I was like no way. Here is my gift certificate number take it up with Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp.
I had thought about doing the 4 day camp but after this… I don’t think so.
Side Note… The guy I jammed with Jason was AWESOME and lots of fun to play with so no reflection on him. He did his job the best he could given the tools he wasn’t provided.

this space is now managed by touring and rehearsal pro’s. The rooms come with a PA and backline for only 20 a hour!

We used the rehearsal space, and since there are no reviews for that, I figured I’d share.
Our experience was very good. The staff was incredibly friendly; all of the equipment functioned as it should and the place was very quiet compared to other studios (MDV) which are almost unusable sometimes due to the «metal» bands that rehearse there at the highest volume level they can achieve.
The only complaint I have is the lack of parking! Not near enough to lose a star, but still a pain in the @ss.

I gave this is as gift for my husband. He absolutely loved it! He says he wants to do it again.

A few years back, I saw a piece on TV about RRFC. I thought that would be a great ‘I won the lottery’ gift for myself.
As it turned out, I got a chance to go (I won a contest) and attended the YES rock camp in July.
IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE!!! If you love rock (classic or hard rock) and dreamed of performing in any capacity, this is the place!
For starters, they find out your interests and what instrument you play (novice to expert, you will fit in). They placed me in a band with four other great guys that were definitely experts (I was vocals). I had performed in a couple of musicals in high school and never performed in a rock band before, so I considered myself a novice.
Mike Pinera (Blues Image and Iron Butterfly) and Buster Akrey (Steely Dan and solo artist) were our Rock Counselors who helped us pick songs that suited us and gave us the input to fine-​tune our performance. We ended up performing two nights at the MGM Grand at the Rogue, which is one of the greatest (non-​family) thrills I have ever experienced.
Besides rehearsing for several hours, we also had Rock Counselors (Joe Vitale, Rudy Sarzo, Gary Hoey, Kane Roberts and others) talk about their experiences and who they shared the stage with. Every counselor was awesome and allowed you to watch when they performed with their ‘camp band’.
Meeting the many of the original members of YES was beyond my expectations. We got to jam with them in the RRFC studios at different times (Alan White, Chris Squire, Jon Davison and Geoff Downes). They stayed and took pictures with us and were very approachable. Steve Howe played acoustic guitar for us for about an hour (YES songs, solo work and old blues tunes). Watching him play with ease was mind-​blowing. Jon Davison even stayed the night of his visit and joined in a jam session with campers and other Rock Counselors. Some of the members of YES even attended our performance at the MGM Grand Rogue.
David, Paul and the entire staff were awesome. I will absolutely make every effort to attend another camp again the future.

A truly life-​changing experience! I first went to RRFC as a kind of sabbatical — I needed a break from the rigors of work and thought the camp would be a great way to decompress and improve my musicianship.
Boy, did it ever! I’m now about to go to my 9^th RRFC camp, am in a band and feel as though I’ve satisfied my childhood ambition to perform music. I’ve met some amazing people, have some wonderful new lifelong friends, and have memories (including photographs and videos) I will cherish forever. If ever I’m feeling a bit down, I think about the camp experience — guaranteed to make me smile again!

My experience with Rock and Roll fantasy camp was quite a bit different than some previous reviewers. Consider in the review that we both did the camp (so we both paid) and we are going back in a week for the one day package. We will also (provided the right people are the guest stars) return to do the camp again, and I wouldn’t hesitate to, we had a blast and learned a ton.
The meaty review:
Preface — I am not an experienced musician, I have played about 14 months and 90% of what I can play is metal. My wife is a natural (seriously) on stage and has a great voice, but had never performed (as a singer) on stage.
We filled out the pre-​camp questionnaire and were placed with other campers similar in experience and musical taste, surprising in a camp mostly full of ‘old time’ rockers we found someone else willing to play Manson and Danzig.
Once the band was formed (yes initially day one its a free form jam) in the first afternoon, we went straight to work. Most of the afternoon was our rock-​star counselor trying to figure out what we could play and how to play it. By day two we were jamming just fine. (we never auditioned for anything because we were the rookie band).
Every day was filled with hours of practice, some instruction from rock stars and Q&A sessions with the big names (ours were Mike Pourtnoy, Alice Cooper, Jordan Rudess, Ace Frehley).
The last three nights were performances at the Rouge inside MGM. Really cool. You play live onstage with your band.
I can see how a seasoned musician might not like it, as a mid-​level or fan its amazing. If you want a straight ‘boot camp’ they do that also (or maybe look to Berkeley or MI as a school, not a fantasy camp).
Rock and Roll Fantasy camp (in the end) delivers what it says it will and more. You will have a blast, you will interact with rock superstars, and most all of them are super cool people that will help you grow as a person and musician.

We specifically attended the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp final performance because Steven Tyler was supposed to play with all of the fantasy campers bands, of which there were thirteen. He totally hosed everyone with a lame excuse of a sore throat. He said he was judging the best band and they would get to «sit in his car and listen to the latest Aerosmith album… Well, whoop di ding dong… and he didn’t even come thru on that!!!
He sat at the end of the stage, PRETENDING to be listening and giving equally lame comments when called upon. Otherwise, he was totally engaged with the Playboy bunnies, paid to pretend that they were interested in his old arse.
What was supposed to be a fantastic time, with the chance to meet and greet with an «Idol», turned into a very disappointing evening for which we paid BIG bucks. Imagine… you only want a picture of him, and his entourage shines a flashlight into your camera!!! HOW RUDE!!!
KUDOS to the Camp Counselors, ie… Mark Hudson, Kip Winger, Rudy Sarzo, etc. etc, who went out of their way to try and make up for Steven Tyler’s ridiculous behavior. Thank you to the campers who gave it their all, despite being let down by Steven Tyler, whom they also paid alot of money to play with.
Save your money, go directly to the counselor of your choice and stick it to David Fishoff who stuck it to us. He is supposed to be responding to our complaints, but, here it is, almost a month later and not a word.