Rock Tour Producer Makes Fantasies Come True: In the mid-‘80s, former sports agent David Fishof began producing all-star rock tours, starting with the Happy Together Tour (featuring The Association and The Turtles) and continuing with the Monkees 20th Anniversary Reunion Tour, The Dirty Dancing Live Tour and, starting in 1989, the first 15 of the perennial Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band tours. Having worked over the years with the legendary likes of Roger Daltrey, Joe Walsh, Bill Wyman, Peter Frampton, and countless others, Fishof’s desire to share these experiences inspired him to create the one-of-a-kind, rock star-studded Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp. Initially sparked by a practical joke played on him by Joe Walsh and Levon Helm during the first Ringo tour, in ‘97 he launched the first camp with a mission to allow people from all walks of life and different levels of musical talent and experience to jam with their musical heroes.
Still Going Strong: Boosted early on by being featured on Ellen and The Simpsons (in a famous episode featuring Mick Jagger and Keith Richards), the enterprise has invited thousands of truly happy campers to work on music, develop live presentations and jam with their heroes. “It’s grown considerably,” Fishof says, “because it reminds the big-name rock stars we bring in of what it was like for them when they started, and everyone realizes that it’s life changing. My favorite thing is when campers email me daily to express their appreciation and that they’ve used the experience to join a band or write songs. They all find their happiness at Rock Camp. Our campers and counselors have become family.” Its success has spun off a VH1 reality TV series, a Rock Camp podcast, a comedy fantasy camp (whose inaugural run in 2023 featured Jay Leno and Adam Carolla), and the 2021 documentary Rock Camp: The Movie, available on Amazon Prime and other streaming platforms.
A Counselor’s Perspective: After careful consideration of a camper’s skill level and musical preferences, campers are given a list of songs to practice before arrival. At camp, they are placed in a band of like-minded and equally skilled campers and mentored by a rock star counselor. They will also be able to learn from other counselors during daily master classes on particular instruments and vocals and during nightly themed jam rooms. One of the camp’s regular counselors since 2019 is Vixen lead guitarist Britt Lightning, who also helped produce 150 online master classes with Daltrey, Alice Cooper, Yes, Joe Elliot, and others during the pandemic lockdown era. She has since become Rock Camp’s musical director. “To be able to be a musician and do what I love is a gift I’m grateful for,” she says. “It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to help others realize their dreams and facilitate and be there for their special moments as they make their dreams come true. Playing a role in the joy our campers experience makes us all realize it’s the greatest thing we can do.”
Upcoming Camps: The Rock ‘n’ Soul camp in Ft. Lauderdale, FL (December 4-7) will allow campers to jam with Felix Cavaliere, Mark Farner, Jason Scheff of Chicago and famed members of Billy Joel’s band. Running November 6-9 and November 13-16 in Phoenix, AZ, Welcome to My Rock Camp will include jams with Alice Cooper and Rob Halford. Rock Camp will also host a Singer-Songwriting Fantasy Camp in Los Angeles October 23-26 featuring Linda Perry, Narada Michael Walden, and GRAMMY-winning vocal coach Autumn Rowe.
Contact 888-762-2263
