I’m bummed that we did’t make it to the Deedle Deedle Dees show this afternoon.  We’ve heard good things.  But.  Since Nate and I both work full-time, we have to push some of the girls’ extracurricular activities (read: gymnastics) to Sundays, which means missing out on No Nap Happy Hours for the time being.  But I figure, since I never wrote show reports for the first two, I could spend part of the day reliving them.

First, some insight on the series in general, in case you’ve been on the fence about making the trip.  The Iron Horse is an awesome venue.  It makes you feel like you’re at a show you might have gone to before breeding.  The lighting is just dim enough, and, hell, there’s a bar.  That’s what’s missing from most kids’ shows:  decent beer.  Or beer in general.  Plus, the shows aren’t at in the morning.  Sorry, but there’s nothing rock and roll about 11am.

Rhys took kind of an artsy photo of the place:

We made one big mistake when heading to the Lunch Money show on July 26th:  not bringing food in the car.  On a two-hour ride.  What were we thinking?!  Geraldine held up fine, but Rhys was cranky and whiny (which is how I get when I haven’t eaten…just ask Nate…so I had plenty of empathy for her).  By the time we got the food we had broken down and ordered, the show was over.  But that’s okay, because it gave us plenty of time to, as Rhys puts it, “say hi to that [guy/girl].”

One cool thing about the shows was that the dance floor was self-regulating.  Just push ’em out there and they’ll be fine.  Although I did intervene when they played “Dizzy.”  There wasn’t nearly enough spinning going on!  And I spent a decent amount of effort keeping Rhys occupied during the latter half of the show.  During “Tiny Dinosaurs” I tried getting her to roar; what happened was, I roared, and she buried her head in my shoulder.  But after we ate, we had this conversation:

Rhys:  Next time, can I roar?

Me:  Well, I think next time we come here, it’s going to be a different band.

Rhys:  But, next time in the car, can I roar?

Me:  Aw.  Of course.

I broke in my new camera by recording “A Cookie as Big as My Head”:

[Watch it on YouTube]

Nate and I enjoyed the show as much as the girls did.  His first comment afterward was, “So, are we coming back next month?

So we did go back for the Justin Roberts show on August 23rd.  This is the part where I admit that I wasn’t a huge fan before the show.  It’s just…he’s so established. ^[1]  And maybe something about timbre that I shouldn’t be childish enough to admit to.  But, hey, we own two of his albums…so we started listening to them about a week before the show, and a few of the songs emerged as early favorites (although rhyming “chalkboard” with “awkward” was a major cringe factor for Nate).

The show was awesome.  You’ve got to hand it to the guy:  the place was packed.  At first I thought they oversold it, but we found a small unoccupied booth up on the loft.  And that was fortuitous, because it turns out the best place to shoot a video is from the top of the stairs.

I have yet to get tired of watching this video of “Yellow Bus”:

[Watch it on YouTube]

We now count ourselves among the legion of Justin Roberts fans.  As testament to this, our family collectively had “My Brother Did It” stuck in our heads for a week.  Someone would start humming/singing “dididididit,” and it would get the rest of us singing/humming it.  Crap, now it’s in my head again.

So, that’s me vouching for the No Nap Happy Hour series.  I would also advocate for a trip to Herrell’s Ice Cream after.  So worth it.  Props to Bill Childs of Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child fame for putting the series together.  If you’re a New Englander, take advantage of your chance to see Uncle Rock (10/18), Brady Rymer (11/8), and Bill Harley (12/6).  Maybe we’ll blow off gymnastics one week and see you there.

^[1]  No, I’m not some hipster that I can’t be caught liking a popular band, but I know that there’s more good music out there than I can handle in a lifetime, and find it much more rewarding to be discovering new stuff.  That’s all.

The band:  The Flannery Brothers, probably the most toe-tapping/dance-inducing sibling act out of Bangor.

The date/venue:  Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 3:00 PM at the Kaleidoscope Children’s Museum in my hometown (Manchester, NH).  Though it was our second visit since they relocated from Concord, arriving at 2:30 didn’t allow sufficient time for exploration, and Rhys was too distracted to sit still for the show.  Geraldine sat through most of it.

Unfortunately for the Flannery Brothers, the “stage” is only about three inches off the ground.  Kids charging the stage wasn’t a huge issue (although the kid who wanted the tambourine got it), but there was no way for kids to get up and dance without blocking everyone who was seated.  And this show was meant for dancing.

The show:  They were a lot of fun.  A lot.  It was acoustic, with one guitar and sometimes a tambourine.  They were personable, with a fair amount of silliness.  And they played “Johnny B. Goode”!  Automatic +15 for Chuck Berry covers.

I took a video of their song “Sunglasses.”  The sound quality is pretty terrible.  They were playing in a huge open room.  I thought it sounded great when we were there, but my camera didn’t seem to think so.

The Music:  The Flannery Brothers debut album, Love Songs for Silly Things, came out last month.  The songs are fun and catchy, and—as I’m sure you’ve gathered from the title—typically silly.  There are none of those “moral” songs (e.g., it’s-really-fun-to-clean-your-room songs), nor “issue” songs (e.g., new-baby-sister songs), nor are they condescending (e.g., let’s-sing-about-farm-animals-because-that’s-something-kids-will-understand songs).  Theirs are the best kind of kids’ songs:  the this-is-genuinely-coming-from-us-but-will-appeal-to-you-too songs.  Add danceability and a large helping of humor, and you’ve got a can’t-lose album.

And I love that they’re local.

album reviews:
Dadnabbit

I think 48 hours is the best amount of time to subconsciously process an event, in most cases.  I’ve given Sunday’s Recess Monkey show more than twice that time, and now I have something else screaming for my attention, so here goes.

Overview:  If they come to your general area, you must, must go.

The Band:  Recess Monkey, a trio of Seattle elementary educators who are consistently compared to the Beatles (though I think they’re outgrowing that comparison).  The boys are Drew on guitar, Jack on Bass, and Daron on drums.

The Date/Venue:  Sunday, July 12th, 2009 at 12:30 PM at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.  We sat in the front row for fast access to the “dance floor.”

The Crowd:  It was a small group, and the kids were young.  There was a lot of enthusiasm and audience participation, which I think was owed to two factors:  parents who were willing to get up and participate, and the specificity and demonstration of tasks.  Reach up high, then get down low like your on a roller coaster.  Do the monkey bars, like this.  Make your mouth sound bubbly when you sing “aquarium.”  Stuff like that.

I got a look that I couldn’t quite place—something on the neutral/positive end of the spectrum, within the realm of inoffensive staring—from someone in the audience at one point…I think because I was singing along.  Um, yeah.  We’re fans.  We didn’t end up here by accident.

The Show:  We almost didn’t go, due to silly things like money and distance.  Pfft.  On one hand, I guess we would’t know what we were missing, but on the other hand, I can’t imagine having missed it.  It exceeded my expectations on all fronts.  Way awesome.

It was a good mix of new and old songs, with representation from all of their albums.  They opened with “Rainbow Road,” in a rendition that was an improvement over the album version—more upbeat, and with the “yellow trikes” lyric taken up an octave.  Loudly.  Here’s a list of the other songs I can remember them playing (not in chronological order):

• “Aquarium”
• “Backpack”
• “Boogie Monster”
• “Bubble Factory”
• “Down, Down, Down”
• “Fort”
• “Haven’t Got a Pet Yet”
• “Knocktapus”
• “Marshmallow Farm”
• “Monkey Bars”
• “Pet Shark”

Jack made a good emcee, to the extent that the term applies here.  Introducing the songs, giving instructions and furnishing examples, pointing out Drew’s cuteness (which earned applause)…he had it covered.

After the show, Rhys really wanted to say hi to the band, but they were busy packing up and getting out of the way for the Just So Stories production that was happening soon after, so that didn’t happen.  All was not lost, though, because we spotted Jarrett Krosoczka in the audience.  True story.  Recess Monkey recorded the Lunch Lady Comics theme, remember?  Anyway, before we went to say hi, she and I had this conversation:

Me:  Hey, see that guy in the yellow shirt?  (beat)  His name is Jarrett Krosoczka, and guess what?  (beat)  He wrote Bubble Bath Pirates!

Rhys:  My book?

Me:  Yeah!

Rhys:  My book that I get to keep?

Me:  Yeah!

Rhys:  My book that I got for Christmas?

Me:  Yeah!

Rhys:  That I get to keep?

Me:  Yeah!

Apparently I’m a cheerleader.  Also apparent:  we’ve been using the library so much that getting to keep a book is a huge deal.  Even though we own tons.  Anyway, we got to say hi, so she was happy, and I got to pat myself on the back for correctly identifying a kidlit author in the real world, so I was happy.  Also, his baby is rather cute.

I have no photographic evidence of this one, but check out the videos from Out with the Kids and Spare the Rock from the day before/of.  And I hear there’s going to be a RM segment on tomorrow’s Spare the Rock.

The Band:  Dan Zanes and Local Friends.  Surely you know Dan Zanes, the iconic family musician who always plays among an entourage of talented musicians, but unless your from the Concord (NH) area, you probably don’t know his local friends.  The only person who was introduced with a full name was Donald Saaf, Zanes’ brother-in-law, who is a talented musician and even-more-so talented illustrator (he does all the DZAF album art).  The rest of the all-ages crew were introduced by first name.

Date/Venue:  Sunday, May 10th at 2:00 PM, at the Bow High School.  It was the 10th annual DZ Friendly Kitchen benefit show, which is organized by Zanes’ mother, Hope Butterworth.  Butterworth is a former president of the Friendly Kitchen, the only soup kitchen in the Concord area.

The Crowd:  As would be expected by Zanes’ family-friendly music, it was an all-ages audience.  It was our first year going, but it seemed like there were more than a few regulars who have been going to the benefit for years.  Most were very familiar with his songs.  Half of the song announcements elicited gasps and other indications that they were favorite from the people around me.

The Show:  Driving to the show, there were three pressing questions on my mind.  What color suit would he wear?  (Orange jacket, white pants.)  How fabulous would his hair be?  (Insane and curly.)  And would he play “Let’s Shake”?  (No.)

From the get-go, the audience was involved in the show.  Zanes started out with a solo song, gave us a choice between sentimental and rowdy (we chose rowdy), and had the audience sing the chorus.  Once the rest of the crew came out, the party got started.  We were told to show our appreciation with wild dancing, and both kids and adults obliged.  Between songs he talked about how, growing up in New Hampshire, people had to be tricked into dancing; about deportation and the New Sanctuary movement; and about the practicality of studying Latin in high school.

The best part of the show was “Rattlin’ Bog.”  Everyone on stage added something to the tree limb, and Saaf drew it all so the audience could keep track.  (I snagged a photo of it after the show.)  From the top down, it was a crock pot on a lizard on a bear on a piano on a hockey stick on french fries on a pelican on a lobster trap on a crab on an ice cream cone on the limb on the tree in the bog down in the valley[-o].  This was punctuated by Zanes’ intermittent banter (e.g., the pelican “only makes sense”).

Fun Factor:  10

Set List:

• “Pay Me My Money Down”
• “Smile, Smile, Smile”
• “Up above My Head”
• “Wonder Wheel”
• “The Welcome Table”
• “Farewell to Nova Scotia”
• “El Canario”
• “Hop Up Ladies”
• “Hello”
• “Malti”
• “Rattlin’ Bog”
• “Under the Sun”
• “Catch That Train!”
• “Tennessee Wig Walk”
• “All around the Kitchen”
• “Sweet Rosyanne”

Photos:  There are too many to post them all here, but you can see them on my Flickr account.  Here’s a favorite–

The Band:  The Jimmies, who are aptly self-described as a “burgeoning, NYC-based rock band for kids,” and are also my daughters’ top-requested artist for car rides (when they control the dial), which I happily oblige. ^[1]

Date/Venue:  Saturday, April 25th at 11:00 AM, at the Bushnell in Hartford, CT.  It was a nice location, but with an orchestra pit front and center, there wasn’t a lot of room for the kids to congregate and rock out.  Normally I would have gotten up to dance a little myself, much to Geraldine’s embarrassment, but I didn’t see a spot where I wouldn’t be blocking someone’s view.

The Crowd:  I was surprised that there weren’t a lot of young children there.  I didn’t notice it until front man ^[2] Ashley Albert asked the kids to name the weirdest thing they could think to put on a peanut butter sandwich.  Rhys was at the back of the crowd, and came no taller than shoulder height of any of the other kids.  She is petite for four, but still.

Speaking of Rhys, I’m proud to say that she seemed to be the first to start dancing.  At the first opportunity, she got up and started to pogo right where we were sitting.  Although I don’t think anyone would have known, because she wasn’t much taller than the seating.  Okay, maybe she is short.

The Show:  I don’t want to give too much away for those of you planning to see the Jimmies in the future, but there may or may not have been beach balls, a slide whistle, a bubble machine, and a few other props involved.  It was a very entertaining show, and the girls had a blast.

Fun Factor:  10

Set List:

• “Somebody’s Birthday”
• “Birthday”
• “What’s on Your Shirt?”
• “Cool to Be Uncool”
• “Punxsutawney Phil”
• “Bonfire”
• “The Peanut Butter Polka”
• “Bedhead”
• “Soaper the Scardey-Bot”
• “Taddy”
• “Tea Party”
• “Do the Elephant”
• A 1980s dance medley that included covers of a-ha, Generation X, The Go-Go’s, Madonna, and more.
• “Wash Up”
• “Everyday’s a Holiday”

Autographs:

Photo:

What’s next for the Jimmies?  They have a DVD coming out soon, and sometime thereafter will be recording their next album, Every Day’s a Holiday, which a reliable source tells me will have a song called “Four Eyes Are Better than Two.”

^[1]  I have disavowed any knowledge of their grandparents ever having bought them an Imagination Movers CD.

^[2]  After consulting with my spouse, we have expertly concluded that the term “front man” is gender-neutral.