Articles about Rock Lotto 2004

South Jersey Courier-Post by Brian Howard

Photo: CHRIS LaCHALL/Courier-Post
Rich Grote of Philadelphia (left), Ian Meyer of Royersford, Pa., (on drums) and Merchantville native Mike Guggino practice as Rock Lotto band Recess! Recess! The band gets two months to work on 15 minutes of original material before performing April 16 at Millcreek Tavern in Philadelphia.

On a frigid Thursday in February, a group of musicians gathered at The Khyber in Philadelphia. One by one, their names were drawn from a hat. As the 20th and final name was selected, the die was cast. Five groups of four people were bound together come hell or high water (or unavoidable social engagement) for the next two months.

Welcome to the world of Rock Lotto, the Philadelphia music event that's like The Real World meets Making the Band, minus the pesky television cameras. (read more)

Philadelphia Weekly by Julie Gerstein
File Rock Lotto in the category of things you wish you'd thought of first. Based on a ridiculously simple premise, Lotto randomly divides 32 musicians into groups of four, which are then required to write a 15-minute set of original material. A couple months later everybody reconvenes to see how good (or terribly bad) the experiment has been. (As far as the "rock" part goes, that's up to the musicians.) There's only one rule for participants: They must have previous experience playing a musical instrument. The first Rock Lotto was held at James Madison University in 1997 and was brought to Philly last year by Plain Parade's Maria Tessa Sciarrino, with great success. Here's hoping this year's bunch of musical masterminds can rock just as hard.

Philadelphia City Paper by Patrick Rapa
LOCAL KEY MUSIC 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. (read more)

Articles about Rock Lotto 2003

Philadelphia Weekly by Joey Sweeney
LUCK BE THE LOTTO TONIGHT!
Hey, you! Is Hip-Hop Karaoke fun, but you're looking for something a little more intense? Does Pop Quiz make you feel too much like some kind of Nick Hornby knock-knock joke? Do the audience participation numbers in the Big Mess Cabaret get your blood pumping, but leave you feeling too much like a drama geek? Well, does Maria Tessa Sciarrino have an idea for you: Fresh from such rock meccas as Chapel Hill and James Madison University, it's Rock Lotto. And, oh, what a sweet idea it is... (read more)

Philadelphia City Paper by Patrick Rapa
WATCHING IT HAPPEN
Rock Lotto is making little pop Frankensteins out of the local music scene. Organized by Maria Tessa Sciarrino (Sugar Town co-founder, Plain Parade co-booker and Her Jazz DJ), the Philly version of this infrequent indie tradition gathered regular and aspiring musicians a month ago and randomly grouped them into fours. These patchwork bands were assigned the mission of practicing and putting together one 15-minute set each for the battle of the bands-style showdown at The Khyber this coming Wednesday... (read more)