The band whose stage dive accident inspired Jack Black in ‘School of Rock’
Jack Black is a force of nature. With so many different facets that make up the entertainer, it can be hard to describe him to people who might not be familiar with his work. Realistically, the best way that you can introduce anyone to Jack Black is by showing them School of Rock. It is a fun, wholesome comedy that has cemented itself as a classic. It stands the test of time and still holds up as a perfect piece of cinema.
School of Rock sums up Black perfectly. It demonstrates his affinity for rock music while also demonstrating his comedic ability and undeniable charm. The film shows the actor pretending to be a substitute teacher to make much-needed rent money. While teaching, he discovers the kids in his class have extraordinary musical abilities and uses them to start his own rock band.
With a stellar cast and soundtrack made up of hard-hitting originals and rock staples such as ‘Highway To Hell’, ‘Edge of Seventeen’ and ‘Immigrant Song’, it’s a film that’s almost impossible to watch without being converted to the power of both rock and Black. “My best memories are just those group of kids and how funny and great they were,” said Black when discussing the movie to Entertainment Tonight, “It’s definitely the highlight of my career, I can say that. Honestly.”
The movie knows what it wants to be from the very start. With a stellar soundtrack made up of rock gods who always feel untouchable, Black gives an incredibly grounded performance from the point of view of a fan who wants nothing more than to walk in the footsteps of his heroes. The before-and-after of this moment is perfectly personified in the film by stage dives.
The opening scene consists of Black playing in a rock band who are steadily growing sick of his on-stage antics and desire to be like the greats. He runs around the stage of an almost empty bar, playing an extended guitar solo before opting to stage dive. It doesn’t bode well for Black, as the crowd refuse to catch him, and he lands face-first on the grimy floor. This moment comes full circle at the end of the gig, where his stage dive is successful, and he has a serious rock god moment.
It turns out that as the movie persistently draws from real-life rock’ n roll events, so too were these stage dives inspired by a gig that Black had been to previously. Black recalls going to a gig at LA’s Viper Room to watch the UK rock band The Cult. During that gig, Ian Astbury decided to leap off the stage in a similar fashion, only to fall flat on his face as the crowd parted.
They say that life imitates art, and in the case of School of Rock, that’s true. A movie that tries to ground the rockstar wannabe begins with literally putting rockstar wannabes in the ground.
