FEATURE > BROADWAY
If there’s a single show on Broadway that best
showcases guitar, it’s Rock
of Ages. It’s packed with
’80s hits—from Twisted Sister’s
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” to
Quiet Riot’s “Cum on Feel the
Noize” and Pat Benatar’s “Hit
Me with Your Best Shot”—
which encourages crowd sing-
alongs and makes the gig a bit
more like playing to sold-out
crowds in a cover band than
backing a hit musical. Guitarists
Joel Hoekstra and Tommy
Kessler provide more than back-
ing licks—the two perform on
a 20' x 24' platform onstage
throughout the entire show as
members of the fictional band
Arsenal. As Kessler puts it, “I
like to think the guitars are one
of the main stars of the show.”
For Hoekstra and Kessler—
who split their time between
the Rock of Ages gig and touring
stints with Night Ranger and
Blondie, respectively—it seemed
a perfect match. Hoekstra
has played lead guitar since
the beginning. “I had subbed
on the show Tarzan that Phil
Collins wrote the music for,”
he explains, “and the music
supervisor for Rock of Ages was
the keyboard player on that
show. He looked me up, saw I
was with Night Ranger, and it
seemed to be a natural fit. There
really wasn’t an audition.”
When Hoekstra started,
the music was still being writ-
ten. “We didn’t receive the
music until the day of the first
rehearsal—and there were only
two rehearsals,” he explains. He
prepared by learning the parts to
the originals and going through
tapes of previous productions
of the show. “It allowed me to
prepare 50 percent or so for that
first day,” said Hoekstra.
Since the guitarists are
onstage, however, they can’t
rely on sheet music. “We
had to memorize the music
ASAP—nobody wants to
see a dude reading charts
while shredding!”
Kessler, on the other
hand, got the gig through a
blend of old-fashioned net-
working and social media.
Rock of Ages
GEAR
Guitars:
Joel Hoekstra:
DBZ Cavallo, DBZ Bolero,
DBZ Barchetta
Tommy Kessler:
DBZ Cavallo, Taylor 810,
Taylor 854ce 12-string
Effects:
Joel Hoekstra:
Fractal Audio Axe-Fx,
Ernie Ball volume pedal
Tommy Kessler:
Fractal Audio Axe-Fx
Accessories:
Ernie Ball Power Slinkys
.011-.049 electric strings,
Ernie Ball .012-.054 acoustic strings, Boss TU- 2
tuner (Hoekstra), Boss
TU- 3 tuner (Kessler), Tech
21 MIDI Mouse
Kessler (left) and Hoekstra (right) goof around with their stage axes—out of costume—on the Rock of Ages stage.
Photo by Rebecca Dirks
104 PREMIER GUITAR JUNE 2012
premierguitar.com
