Yo Gabba Gabba! Live... in Fort Wayne, Indiana?

Really. Sure, the Yo Gabba Gabba! folks went and hit NYC and LA, but now Yo Gabba Gabba Live is hitting the nation's breadbasket, with March shows lined up for Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Toronto (listening to live music is awesome, eh?), Cincinnati, St. Louis, and, yes, Fort Wayne, Indiana, population, just over a quarter million (with an MSA total of almost 400,000). For those of us in Phoenix (5th largest city in America, 4.3 million in the MSA), seeing shows like this go to Fort Wayne and not Phoenix (I know, this isn't a southwest tour, but you get my point) is just another reminder of how messed up the live music market here is. Maybe if they came here, Amare Stoudamire would join them on stage. Assuming he doesn't get traded soon.

Anyway, the NYC and LA shows had some pretty cool live guests (Dinosaur Jr., Snoop Dogg, the Roots), so I'll be curious to see who -- if anyone -- joins the fun in these slightly less major media markets. Tickets go on sale this week -- tour dates after the jump.
-- Minneapolis, MN - Saturday, March 13th - U.S. Bank Theater at Target Center - 3:00 PM
-- Milwaukee, WI - Sunday, March 14th - Riverside Theater - 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM
-- Toronto, ON - Tuesday, March 16th & Wednesday, March 17th - Elgin Theatre - 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM
-- Fort Wayne, IN - Friday, March 19th - Embassy Theatre - 11:00 AM and 4:00 PM
-- Cincinnati, OH - Saturday, March 20th - Aronoff Center for the Arts - 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM
-- St. Louis, MO - Sunday, March 21st - Fox Theater - 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM

Concert Review: Imagination Movers (Mesa, December 2009)

We are no longer the Imagination Movers' target audience, if indeed we ever were. Back before they were a Disney sensation, they were known to us only via CDs, CDs that I was just sort of "meh" about. And their good fortune (based on a lot of work) of securing a Disney TV show didn't help us, a non-cable-TV household. (We've only seen the show maybe a couple times.)

So while I was definitely interested in seeing the band in concert on their West Coast swing, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, either from my own perspective or that of Miss Mary Mack and Little Boy Blue.

First off, I expected, and found, a sizable audience for the band. The lovely new Mesa Arts Center was hopping Friday with attendees for various events, but the Movers had the biggest theatre and given that the Ikeda Theatre seats nearly 1,600, I'd guess that at least 1,000 of those were filled, which, well, beat out Dan Zanes when he last came through on a Friday night.

It helps to have Disney's muscle backing the band, I suppose, so I got this shot of labelmates' TMBG's cover/reworking of "Davy Crockett (In Outer Space)" playing on the video screen before the show. (I have chosen to omit photos of my kids' slackjawed appreciation of the familiar video.)

But 7:08 rolled around, the scrim went up, the band came out, and we were off.
It's a fairly simple set which will remind attendees of their TV set -- crates, primary colors, the swirling attic fan behind the drum kit. There's a video screen above the drums -- the screen was used most effectively when the band interacted with the Warehouse Mouse via prerecorded bits. They occasionally used the video screen for some other visual distraction during songs, but I didn't feel like those distractions were necessary.

Now, I've never been a huge fan of the Movers' music on disk (see "meh" above). I mean, the music was (and is) a lot better than quite a bit of kids' music out there, but nothing special. In part, I think the fine line the band has to walk as songwriters between entertaining and educating now that they have a TV show is very fine and some songs (like "Sunblock," not played in Mesa) sacrifice too much entertainment (particularly in repeated doses) in hopes of capturing some of that education.

Thankfully, in concert, the band doesn't necessarily need to be at their most educational. Instead, they can make silly jokes -- yes, kids go nuts when somebody quacks, a Mover says "Duck!" and everybody, well, ducks. Sure, there's a problem -- oh wait, sorry, an IDEA EMERGENCY -- to solve (it involves Smitty, don't ask), but it seems a little grafted on to the concert just to give a familiar structure to all the kids who are only familiar with the Movers via the TV show.

Amazingly, there was, as best I can tell, very little prerecorded music used during the show. "Farmer" Kyle plays drums during the set, which frees Rich to take vocals and move all around the place (he didn't play his own drum set often) . That's him zooming past while Scotty takes vocals on another song. The fact that Rich and Scotty are multi-instrumentalists and both take vocals mean that if you didn't get a chance to high-five a Mover during the show, you were probably sitting way in the middle of the row. That's one reason why I found the video screen somewhat pointless -- I was much more interested in what the guys themselves were doing.

This is going to sound like faint praise, but it's not meant to be -- the Movers are a very competent band -- Rich and Scotty play different instruments while Dave and Smitty hold down their instrumental responsibilities with aplomb. They don't show off during the show -- except for "Farmer" Kyle, who lets loose with by far the most raucous drum solo I've ever seen at any kids show -- but this is a band who feels confident enough in their abilities to drop not-only well-rehearsed excerpts of some Queen, AC/DC, and They Might Be Giants tunes in their show but also play local-boys-made-big Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle."

I think that last part goes a long way towards explaining their appeal to a healthy segment of the American populace. I think the Wiggles put on a decent show. But for American audiences, there's a bit of a cultural barrier with the Wiggles -- there were no Matt Leinart jokes or Mark Reynolds shout-outs during the Wiggles show -- that the Movers will never have to deal with. For the moment, anyway, the Imagination Movers are in that sweet spot of fame where they're popular but they haven't been overwhelmed by their success. They still enjoy playing these shows, that's definitely noticeable from my vantage point in the audience. These shows in front of maybe a thousand folks are a great venue for them, big enough for "whoa," small enough to avoid, "who's that down there?"

After playing for maybe 70 minutes, the band finished off with a song written when some of the parents in the audience were the age that their kids are now. It wasn't kids music, but the kids seemed to enjoy it, and they certainly bounced around enough given that it was past 8:15 by the time the concert ended.

As for me, I left the concert with a newfound respect for the band. I mean, I respect most of the artists I see in concert, but pulling off the kind of larger show the Movers did while still retaining the favorite-uncle/neighborhood-guy appeal that helped get them to this point is not so easy. I expect Movers' fans will definitely enjoy the concert experience, but even those more unfamiliar with the band will likely be charmed at some point during the performance. It bodes well for the Movers' future, with or without TV.

Set List (Dec. 4, 2009, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ)
(Apologies if I get some of the titles wrong...)
Imagination Movers Theme
Shakeable You
Intro / Simon Says
Can You Do It?
Brainstorm / TMBG Excerpt
What's In The Fridge?
Favorite Snack / Kiss Excerpt
I Want My Mommy
Calling All Movers / Van Halen Excerpt
Try Again / MC Hammer Excerpt
Playing Catch
Mover Music
Jump Up
Queen Excerpt
Season 1 Medley (Here We Go Again / Jungle Room / Monster in my Room / Nina's Song
We Can Work Together / Totally Awesome Drum Solo
Puppy Dog
In The Middle
Journey Song

This video was shot at one of the L.A. shows, I believe. Gives you a good sense of what to expect...

Imagination Movers - "I Want My Mommy" (Live)

Disclosure: The Movers' provided tickets for me and my kids to attend the show and to meet the band very briefly (along with a number of other folks) after the show. So now you know.

Randy Kaplan in Concert! (Or Why I Won't Be in Hollywood Sunday)

I probably would have made a bigger deal about the whole Kids' Day at Amoeba Records in Hollywood tomorrow (Sunday). Peter Himmelman in concert at 1 PM, assorted Yo Gabba Gabba! giveaways, et cetera, later in the day. (Hey, any place that features TMBG and Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang in-stores is OK by me.)

But Randy Kaplan is in concert tomorrow here in Phoenix at almost exactly the same time, and so he gets my time. The concert is at 2 PM at the Church of the Beatitudes and is part of the Not Just For Kids concert series. Tickets are just $3 per person, $10 per family. If you're in Phoenix, you've probably already heard about it, but if you haven't, do join us. It will rock, not in the strictly rock sense, but it'll be fun, just like it was last time.

Randy Kaplan - "Mosquito Song"

So How Was That Decemberists Kids Show?

Last month I mentioned how the Decemberists were going to kick off a new music/variety series for kids in Portland, Oregon called You Who. Well, a Zooglobble reader was there and sent in these impressions (along with a couple pictures)...

It was a true Portland-style, weird and wacky blockbuster event, as expected. Mostly it was very well planned and exciting. Some things could make it more kid-friendly. The house lighting was dim even before the show started, which made no sense and could be dangerous if you're trying to locate your kids. Also, there were just too many opening acts: animation, a puppet show that no one could really see or hear, a storyteller/humorist who was only funny to a few of the adults, and two opening bands including a pretty funny Arctic themed one singing about love "when the ice worms return" - plus the two hip and lovable owl characters "You" and "Who" plus the emcee leading sing alongs of the Hokey Pokey and "My Monster Lies Over the Ocean" plus the Halloween theming. About an hour into it, the Decemberists came onstage with the opening song, "Angel, Won't You Call Me?" and all of the adults in the crowd went wild. Many of the kids were dancing, too...

To me, it looked like the parents had a much better time than most of the kids (average age was a bit over 2). I mean, is "The Mariner's Revenge Song" really kids' material? Two teens were having a grand time in front of us, and Belinda and Hova from Greasy Kid Stuff later told me Georgia enjoyed it. Georgia (age 5) was disappointed that the kids' hair styling activity didn't happen as advertised, but she liked the music.

Basically, this sounds like an elaborately thought-out "Rock N Romp" with a high-powered act and poor time management this first go-round. I expect that those kinks will be worked through (well, they better, because if you think 23-year-olds get grumpy when the main act goes on 30 minutes late, we all know how grumpy 3-year-olds get), and I appreciate what Chris Funk is trying to do (see here for his views on the series). It takes guts to tell your own fans, "eh, skip this show."

As for the Decemberists themselves, they are not what I'd consider my first choice for a show for kids. It appears they gave it their best shot (look, wacky costumes!), but, man, a 9-minute song is, well... most kids artists would plow through 3 or 4 songs in that span of time...

The Decemberists - "Mariner's Revenge Song" (Live @ You Who Portland [YouTube]

Austin Kiddie Limits (ACL Fest) 2009: Final Thoughts

So I've talked a lot about Austin Kiddie Limits and the 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival generally. (Need proof? Here's Day 1, part 1, Day 1, part 2, Day 2, and Day 3.)

I thought I'd wrap up my coverage with a few final thoughts and suggestions for improvement about the AKL stage, plus add a few pictures.

1. The revised stage configuration of this year's AKL stage was an improvement. Less sound bleeding from the Xbox 360 stage next door meant that the AKL artists were never drowned out. Yay! And maybe it was just my imagination (or possibly the cooler weather), but the new layout seemed blessed with more shade.

2. It's still too loud between sets. Lord knows we're big fans of Romeo and his BBoy City crew (quite possibly Miss Mary Mack's favorite part of the festival this year), but they're forced to crank the volume to a point that it drives all the families away from the stage. Perhaps next year they can swap the dance stage and the pottery/kefia tents so that it's pretty close to the stage and the volume can be reduced.

3. There are probably points where the sound on the AKL stage during sets can be reduced -- I could hear 23 Skidoo's set close to half a mile away as we were crossing Lady Bird Lake.

4. Moving on to the weather -- I will gladly take a chance of (or actual) rain in return for cooler weather. I'm so glad that the festival's been gradually pushed back into October and am happy to see it further pushed back to the second week of October (Oct. 8-10, 2010) next year.

5. The guest sets have been really cool, and I'd love to see them used even more to drive families to see bands they wouldn't have seen otherwise. That was the case for me with K'Naan on Friday. I also got a chance to meet Ben Sollee backstage briefly on Sunday before heading back to Arizona, and based on this clip of Sollee covering "Wild World" later that day, I have a feeling that if I'd seen him at the AKL stage playing his cello, I'd have been sure to see him later that day on a bigger stage. (Though it should be noted, I did see him playing with Abigail Washburn the year before.)

6. The fact that the AKL stage hosted both K'Naan and Ben Sollee, both Mr. Leebot and Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, speaks to the fact that the stage can handle a fair amount of diversity, which is somewhat reflective of the ACL Festival as a whole. There's obviously only so much diversity you can have when you've got just 8-10 acts playing a set or two, but I encourage Tor to continue mixing it up as much as possible.

7. Can these festivals really be done with families? Well, it's definitely hard work, but if you're willing to sacrifice some of your own needs (sorry, Karen O, maybe next time), you can definitely see a lot. I'm conflicted because I have to balance my own musical tastes with that of my kids with my need to cover the festival (and the AKL stage in particular) on the press pass with the fact that my family lives in Austin and I want to see them, too. Sometimes I felt like I did none of those things well. But the AKL stage is situated about as well as it can be to serve as a base station for families exploring the festival. (And, hey, there's always babysitters.)

8. Finally, thanks to everyone at C3, particularly Tor, for making the AKL stage (and the press area) run so smoothly. Hope everyone reading got a good sense of the weekend of fun... Pictures after the jump...

Milkshake (Friday)

BBoy City (Friday)

K'Naan (Friday)

Lunch Money (Friday)

Master of Ceremonies Tor Hyams

Ralph's World (Sunday)