“Now raise your goblet of rock. It’s a toast to those who rock!”
Sorry for the delay in updating this post. So hopefully you’ve seen today’s paper and read that a “school of rock” is coming to Bricktown. What’s exciting about this news is we’re talking about the real deal here - the first American school to be affiliated with the London conservatory.
The director - Scott Booker, manager of the Flaming Lips.
Kudos to all the folks at UCO who no doubt worked very hard to make this happen. Not only did they do a deal with Booker, but they also went for nothing but the best when it came to creating instant legitimacy for the school. Kudos as well for seeing the advantage of placing the school in Bricktown instead of at UCO’s Edmond campus.
Everybody should benefit from this deal. The students will enjoy learning in an urban environment rich with performance opportunities and exposure to big name acts who routinely make a stop in Bricktown for dinner or a night out before or after a concert at Ford Center, Cox Convention Center or the Civic Center Music Hall (or, as with Paul McCartney, they’re just driving through, enjoying Route 66).
UCO deservedly will get a lot of positive publicity from the deal - and will likely see its reputation as a music, media and arts hub grow even more than it did with the opening of the very popular UCO Jazz Lab.
Booker once again demonstrates he (and the Flaming Lips) are dedicated to their hometown, even if Coyne has a tendency to drop F-bombs while on stage with the mayor the president of the Greater OKC Chamber (good times, good times).
And then there’s Bricktown. The district has been craving this very sort of addition. You won’t find this school in downtown Denver, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Kansas City, St. Louis - or even Austin.
Let them have the Hard Rock Cafes. The food is mediocre and overpriced and the experience is … franchised. I don’t know yet what sort of atmosphere 150 or so students attending a “school of rock” will have in Bricktown. But I doubt it will be duplicated anywhere else anytime soon.
October 8th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Tease.
October 8th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Will this “something” have food, drinks, music, or all of the above?
October 8th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Hopefully not another nightclub or franchise, unless it’s Planet Hollywood or Hard Rock Cafe…wait, could it be?
October 8th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Hard Rock??
Surely not…
October 8th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Nu-uh…a Hard Rock?
That would be SWEET!!!
October 9th, 2008 at 6:50 am
OOh Yeah!! HardRock Cafe or Planet Hollywood!! That would be great! Hopefully we’ll get a Wendy’s Restraunt and a SuperTarget also!!
October 9th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Steve, you teased us.
See today’s Oklahoman. It’s a school. A music school.
Still cool, but not what I was expecting.
October 9th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Wow, this is soooo much cooler than some 70/80’s theme restaurant with lame food!
Think bigger OKC; we deserve more than Planet Hollywood’s and Hooters knock-offs!
October 9th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Thank God it is not a Hard Rock. Nothing against HR, I would love to have one but this just blows my expectations out of the water. Wouldn’t it be great if they did some sort of American Idol type auditions for the first years’ students to create some pub?
October 9th, 2008 at 8:19 am
Wow…this is great news. I know that Boston’s Berklee School of Music adds so much to vitality and charm of my neighborhood. With 150 music students clustered in Bricktown, you can look forward to an improved music scene and some overly talented street performers. This is much more exciting than a Hard Rock Cafe or Planet Hollywood.
October 9th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Way better than HR.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Kudos to UCO and Scott Booker for leading the way on this project. I have always been proud to be a UCO student, this just confirms my thoughts that UCO is pretty progressive (already in the top 10 “green” universities in the country). How in the world did they pick Oklahoma City above any other U.S. city in the country? This is big!
October 9th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
This really is huge, and very exciting! I’m sure that the UCO folks really worked very hard and it is something to be very proud of. Hopefully other folks out there will be inspired to find ways to work with UCO on different projects that will enhance the Edmond/OKC area and give students some great opportunities. UCO has been overshadowed by OU and OSU for far too long!
October 9th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
This is amazing, just amazing. Thanks for the story, Steve!
October 10th, 2008 at 6:58 am
Thank god. All this Hardrock talk got me a bit scared. This is good news - I was thinking the other day how our music scene appears to be looking up. This should add to the momentum in a big way.
October 12th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
they asked my business partner to tech a class. i think it’s rad!