In a warehouse building in northwest Santa Rosa, a new live music venue debuts June 24, when Quiet Riot, heavy metal rockers since the '70s, play at the grand opening of the House of Rock.
The lavishly outfitted showroom was built four years ago as Rock Star University, a training ground and showcase for the founder's twin sons. This weekend, the House of Rock goes public in a big way, launching a summer concert series.
Even as veteran acts like Blue Oyster Cult take the stage in the new club, the boys appear as the opening act, moving the young duo V2 (pronounced V Squared) into the next phase of their career.
Santa Rosa chiropractor and entrepreneur Ignatious Anthony Piazza, whose business interests include the Front Sight Firearms Training Institute in Arizona, said he originally created Rock Star University to create a “safe and secure” environment in which he could give his 13-year-olds Vincenzo, drummer and singer, and guitarist Vittorio, professional-level experience.
With the capacity to hold audiences of more than 600 people, the House of Rock has a spacious thrust stage with a runway plunging out into the big showroom. Black-leather lounge seating is included around the edges of the performance hall, as well as a cafe, a gift shop, rehearsal space, dressing rooms and an upstairs recording studio.
“It started as a place for Vittorio and Vincenzo to learn how to perform,” said Piazza, who estimated the cost of the facility at $4 million or $5 million. The twins have performed there in concerts for as many as 400 people, and have recorded albums and videos.
“They're still too young for a world tour, so we decided to bring in some big names for them to open for,” Piazza said.
The House of Rock has grown into a potentially viable live music venue on its own, said Freddie Salem, a Los Angeles-based touring and recording artist, session musician and producer for more than 30 years. He has come on board to run the venue.
“The project has been a couple of years in the process,” said Salem, who met the Piazza family two years ago when V2 won seven awards at the 24th annual LA Music Awards, based on open online voting.
“The awards were one of those things where people get their friends and fans to vote for them,” said Cameron Peterson, the Santa Rosa jazz guitarist and music teacher who has been tutoring and mentoring the twins since they were 8.
At the time, the Piazzas bought full-page paid ads in The Press Democrat, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times to announce the awards. They prompted some puzzlement on Internet music sites such as the Journal of Musical Things and the Paris Review, with bloggers and readers wondering just who these musicians were.
“They're great kids,” said Peterson, who remains V2's music director even as the Rock Star University phase of the business fades out. “They're very humble and appreciative.”
The school had four additional students at its high point.
On the duo's own vsquared.rocks website, bios and photos of Vittorio and Vincenzo trace their progress from avid AC/DC fans in grade school to performing at the LA Music Awards and last year's benefit for Valley fire victims at Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa.
Now that the venue is opening as the House of Rock, Salem has an ambitious line-up of well-known performers planned during the summer, including The Tubes with Fee Waybill on July 9 and jazz stars Peter White and Euge Groove on July 24.
Because the House of Rock is the size of a cabaret rather than a coliseum, ticket prices are $50-$70 for Quiet Riot and $85 for Blue Oyster Cult. “You've got to pay for the acts,” Salem said.
He said expects the House of Rock to create a niche for itself - smaller than the 1,600-seat Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, yet larger than many Santa Rosa venues - offering a platform for national and regional acts.
“I think the House of Rock will fill a void,” Salem said. “We're bringing in acts, and we'd like to do something with local talent.”
You can reach staff writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. Read his Arts blog at arts.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.
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