February 19-25, 2004

musicpicks

Rock Lotto

by Patrick Rapa

Local music key party

Recently, Maria Tessa Sciarrino popped in a CD from Philly's first Rock Lotto and was pleasantly surprised. The makeshift bands -- groups of four local musicians matched up at random -- were actually, you know, good. So the initial intoxication she felt almost a year ago on the Khyber stage was not merely an in-the-moment thing. "Hell, they're a lot better than some local bands that have been around for years," she says. This was more than enough reason to do it again.

Here's the deal with Rock Lotto, in case you don't know. People who can play instruments show up at Doc Watson's tonight with five-dollar bills in their hands. Their names are pulled out of a metaphorical hat in fours. There. A band is made. These strangers practice for weeks to get ready for their 15 minutes on the Rock Lotto stage. Winner gets money.

"There was an underlying fear that all of the bands could have dropped out," Sciarrino says of the original Lotto. "But they didn't. Only one did. They also could have royally sucked. But they didn't. An audience could have not shown up. But they came, in droves. What we got were outstanding performances and complete support. For a moment, Philly really felt like the city of brotherly love."

Last year's winner, Buddy (Dave Frank, Joey Muncie, Sam Henderson, Jason Schmidt), actually played a couple of real shows. "Which is what made me realize the judges picked the true winner," says Sciarrino.

And what does she want out of this edition?

"Can we supersize it? The maximum we can get is 32, and only 24 signed up last year. I want more women to play. I want people who play weird and unusual instruments. More, more, more. Given the success of the first one, it shouldn't be too hard to sway the masses, right?"

Thu., Feb. 19, 9 p.m., Doc Watson’s, 216 S. 11th St., 215-922-3427.

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