Camper and Corvette enthusiast...
Camper and Corvette enthusiast Emilio Delgado shows off his freshly autographed bass. "I got lost on the way up from Hialeah," Delgado told us, "but I still enjoyed the ride in my C6."
With its track-honed performance and prodigious record of motorsports achievement, the Corvette has always been a willing coconspirator when it comes to playing out its owners' racing fantasies. Just slipping behind the wheel of one of these plastic-bodied projectiles constitutes an invitation to channel one's inner O'Connell, a fact that might explain why the U.S. abounds with high-performance driving schools designed to safely--if not always cheaply--indulge such flights of vicarious fancy in a safe and supervised environment.
But let's assume you've completed a course or two at Bondurant, breezed through your SCCA qualification test, and all but bumped up against the redline of your god-given driving talents. Where do you turn when it comes time to plan your next Corvette vacation?
Rock `n' Roll Fantasy Camp could be the answer.
Launched in 1998 by entertainment producer David Fishof, RRFC gives rock stars manqu of sufficient means (more on that anon) the chance to meet, rehearse with, and perform onstage accompanied by real-life music legends like Roger Daltrey, Steven Tyler, and Slash. A variety of camp packages are available, at prices ranging from $1,999 to $12,999, depending on the location and length of the session. While that might seem like a lot at first glance, the actual per-day cost of RRFC is no more than that of most chichi ski lodges and private beach resorts--and it's not as if Vince Neil or Slim Jim Phantom is going to show up there.
Megadeth/F5 bassist Dave Ellefson...
Megadeth/F5 bassist Dave Ellefson (right) jams with two campers during a morning practice session. Rehearsals were held in the counselors' top-floor hotel rooms, likely to the vexation of guests staying below.
When the Rock Camp tour bus stopped off in Orlando recently, I loaded up our Jetstream Blue Z51 press car and made the short drive down I-4 to check it out. What follows is a partial account of my own RRFC experience, as scribbled in a reporter's notebook between celebrity sightings and brain-rattling jam sessions.
8:00 a.m.
The participants--"campers," in RRFC parlance--file into a meeting room on the top floor of the Lake Buena Vista Best Western, host site for Rock Camp Orlando. While waiting in line for my media credentials, I spy a middle-aged man sporting a rainbow-colored goatee and togged out in a shocking neon-banana suit. Fearful that I might have wandered into some sort of support group for the sartorially challenged, I ask the guy behind me if he recognizes Mr. Banana Pants.
"That's Mark Hudson," he says. "He's produced albums for Aerosmith, Ozzy, and a bunch of other guys. Oh, and he's Kate Hudson's uncle. Pretty cool, huh?"
Cool indeed. My fears assuaged, I settle in for the long day ahead.
Counselors Kip Winger (second...
Counselors Kip Winger (second from left) and Mark Hudson (in yellow) lead their group through a rendition of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" while attempting to ignore the creepy magazine guy in the corner.
9:00 a.m.
With everyone signed in, the group heads downstairs for breakfast in the hotel restaurant. While the campers tuck into their scrambled eggs and hash browns, "Head Counselor" Kip Winger introduces the musicians who will be joining him for the Orlando session. They include guitarist Gilby Clarke (Guns N' Roses), guitarist Elliot Easton (The Cars), bassist Dave Ellefson (Megadeth, F5), Hudson, bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), drummer Chris Slade (AC/DC), vocalist Mark Slaughter (Slaughter), and guitarist Earl Slick (David Bowie). It's an impressive lineup, and it isn't long before the campers are scarfing down what remains of their breakfast in anticipation of the rehearsals to come.
10:00 a.m.
The campers break up into groups based on their musical preferences. I tail a pair of serious-looking teenagers into a suite whose door bears a hand-written sign that reads "The Metal Room." Inside, Ellefson is preparing to run his charges--the serious kids, plus a singer and drummer who arrived earlier--through a set of hard-rock classics by Judas Priest, Motorhead, and his old band, Megadeth.