Concert Recap: Justin Roberts (Getty Center, Los Angeles, August 2012)

I can get so wrapped up in the constant thinking about kids music -- the planning of shows locally here in Phoenix, among other things -- that sometimes it's hard to simply relax and enjoy music. (I do see "adult" artists every now and then, but not as often as I might otherwise if I didn't have, you know, a family.)

So it was oh-so-pleasant to be able to go to Los Angeles' Getty Center last weekend to see a performance from Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players. It was the first of three weekends of concerts in the Getty's annual "Garden Concerts for Kids" series.

I can't think of too many nicer places to see a kids music show, and evidently many Angelos agreed.

There were many -- many -- families wandering around the expansive Getty grounds.  They were in the exhibits, the courtyards, and they were on the lawn that overlooks the Getty garden.  (That picture at the bottom of the page shows the crowd after a number of them had left following Roberts' first set.  Really, the place was packed.)

Before getting into the show itself, a word about the Getty Center as a concert venue for family shows.

The weather was about 75 degrees, the lawn is huge, and they gave out lawn blankets to sit on.  Let me repeat: they gave out lawn blankets to sit on.  What drawbacks were there to the venue?  Hm. Let's see... I suppose that if the sun were blazing, the unshaded portion of the lawn might be a tad uncomfortable.  And, um, the nearby snack cart stopped selling ice cream at 5 PM, before Roberts and the band had even finished the concert.

And that's it.

Seriously, if this were a series that went on through the year (it's only 3 acts over the span of 16 days, primarily to preserve the lawn's health), it would be hard to think of a nicer free concert series anywhere in the country.

But you're probably reading to hear a little bit more about the show itself.  After finding a blanket with Lucky Diaz, wife Alisha Gaddis, and daughter Ella near the stage, we settled down through a long set featuring Roberts' many hits, not to mention a couple new songs from Roberts, one about being a robot, the other about being an alien.  They were fun songs (one had a particularly '80s-synthesizer sound associated with it), and I look forward to hearing them on disk.  (Roberts said after the show he's still recording a few songs for the next "rock" album; the lullaby album should be out this fall.)

The five-piece band is a finely-tuned piece of entertainment machinery at this point, with an excellent sound, interactive hand movements for many songs, and wildly digressive puppet interplay from Tim (drummer Gerald Dowd), Little Dave (multi-instrumentalist Dave Winer), and Willy the Whale (guitarist Liam Davis), who has a fallback career as a Billy Joel cover artist should Justin call it quits.

Aside from getting a kick out of watching Diaz and Gaddis enjoying the show with handclaps and accompanying hand motions (Gaddis and I bemoaned the loss of the "trick-or-trick-or-trick-or-trick-or" hand motions on "Trick or Treat"), a couple of personal memories:

1) Miss Mary Mack singing along with a fair number of the songs.  Just goes to show that even if your kids reach double digits and are out of the target range of kids music, if they've listened to it enough (and it's memorable enough), good kids music can appeal even to the tween set.

2) Little Boy Blue lost a tooth -- that's how hard Justin rocks.  OK, he doesn't really rock that hard, but I'm going to remember for a long time the look on Little Boy Blue's face when finishing up his ice cream bar (one that required a long walk back to the main courtyard) and losing a long-wiggling tooth.

So, your takeaways:

1) Justin Roberts, fun as always in concert.

2) Justin Roberts' new songs -- good stuff based on one listen.

3) The Getty Center Garden Concerts for Kids: don't miss.

Lovely all around.

[Disclosure: Thanks to Sarah W. McCarthy at the Getty Center for extending us a welcome to the Getty.]

"Felt Around the World" - "We Are the World" for a New Generation

Felt Around the World coverBig news in the kindie world today as more than a dozen kindie puppets officially released a new song, "Felt Around the World," designed to raise awareness of puppet rights.  Accompanied by a video and a brand new organization -- Hand Aid -- the song is designed to make listeners aware of the inherent dignity of sock-, felt-, and cotton-based puppets both inside and outside the kindie music world.

The song is the brainchild of puppet songwriter Marion Aeder, who's written for such puppet music luminaries as Kermit the Frog, the Von Trapp Family puppets, and the version of Punch and Judy currently being performed by Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas.  "I was tired of seeing my puppet friends treated like mere toys," and wanted to give voice to the feelings all puppets have," says Aeder.

So he contacted his friend, the puppet impressario Mayor Monkey.  MayMo is best known, perhaps, as the excitable hand puppet band manager of Seattle kids music band Recess Monkey, but he also has served stints as a Public Interest Research Group organizer, and it turns out MayMo had been hearing many of the same concerns Aeder had.

West Ginger Liberty

The two puppets banded together -- Aeder providing the music and lyrics, and Mayor Monkey contacting his many compatriots in the kindie world.  For example, Socrates Monk, sock puppet manager of Australian-American kindie band The Mudcakes, was happy to join in.  Likewise, West Ginger Liberty, Princess Katie's right hand-er, puppet, also immediately said yes -- her performance on "Felt Around the World" is her first on-record singing performance.

Aeder and MayMo -- like Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, or Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, and Quincy Jones before them -- merged an anthemic song with a cast of stars.  Unlike "Do They Know It's Christmas?" or "We Are the World," however, they didn't need to all gather in one place.  Technological advances of the past 25 years meant that they could all record in the comfort of their own... homes, and send their work into Mayor Monkey, who by this time had also managed to corral (hound? badger?) Recess Monkey into playing backup and Jarrett J. Krosoczka into contributing album art.

Enthusiasm among the kindie puppets ran high for the project, with many new kindie puppets joining in, sometimes for very personal reasons.  "Felt" participants Macho Nacho and Mouth Trumpet from Musical Stew met after being placed in Time Out after a peaceful 2004 demonstration in Medford, Oregon as the "Puppet Movement" was gaining momentum. Others, like Yosi's super-exuberant Eugene (he of the instantly memorable adlibs during the song's bridge) or Todd McHatton's Marvy had no personal tie to the project, but found themselves instantly drawn in.  (Marvy is rumored to be working on a solo record, in fact.)  And clearly it gave some puppets like The Wolf, best known for his demolition business, an opportunity to share skills he's honing with Debbie and Friends.

Felt Around the World co-mastermind Mayor MonkeyWhile the primary purpose of Hand Aid and "Felt Around the World" is to raise awareness of puppet rights, it's also going to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.  (All net proceeds after mixing, mastering, and Mayor Monkey's new megaphone he bought to keep everyone in line will go to St. Jude's.)  Listeners got a sneak peak of the song yesterday at Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, Ages 3 and Up!, Saturday Morning Cereal Bowl, and Hilltown Families.  But you can purchase the song today at iTunes, Amazon (affiliate link), and CD Baby.

Or enjoy the video right here.  Remember, folks, puppets are people, too.  OK, they're puppets.  But they deserve our respect.