Pining For The Fjords

It's a Monty Python reference, having to do an "ex-parrot." (Go ahead and Google it.) The blog's not dead -- I'm off for some (mostly) R&R and (a little) business. Expect more posts later next week. In case you missed it, make sure you read the ScribbleMonster report from Kidzapalooza and the report from Jackie Schimmel (from Justin Roberts' band) below that. I got pictures of the musicians, too, but Blogger was balky. Have fun. Rock on with your bad selves. Or good selves. Whatever.

When ScribbleMonster Played Kidzapalooza

When the cold, hard truth that I wouldn't be attending Kidzapalooza/Lollapalooza sunk in, I thought about who could write an interesting summary of their experiences there. And the first person that came to mind was Jim Dague aka ScribbleJim, whose newsletters (and few e-mails to me) have been generous and amusing. Jim's summary below -- covering both Friday and Saturday -- does not disappoint. Many thanks to Jim for taking the time to put this together.

****

The Bozo Show has been collecting dust or gone for about a dozen years now. Still, there are countless Chicago-area children’s performers who proudly and prominently list their appearances on “Bozo’s Circus” (and I think they stopped calling it “Bozo’s Circus” about 25 years back) in their bio. Heck, if I were on The Bozo Show, I’d do the same. In its heyday, there reportedly was a 10-year waiting list for tickets. You never knew anyone who actually got to attend the show. Except for ScribbleJayne. Her uncle did advertising for Channel 9, so she actually scored tickets and went as a kid. We’ve tried to figure out a way to somehow make that qualify as saying we appeared on the Bozo show. We can stop thinking about that now. Now we can say that ScribbleMonster played Lollapalooza.
For about six weeks leading up to the festival, I’m amazed at all the various calls, faxes and emails somehow related to the event. There are a mass of people involved in making this thing happen. A request is made for a picture and MP3 that can be used on the website. They need artwork for the Kidzapalooza coloring book, our technical rider, stage plot, more artwork for the official program, several requests for contact information, promotional materials… it goes on and on. And they provide us with tons of information. Still, we’re not really sure what to expect.

I drop off merchandise and pick up our artist credentials on Tuesday. I feel bad for the workers all over the park setting up stages and booths in the direct sun with 100 degree temperatures. The stage isn’t up yet, but the Kidzapalooza area is the best in the house. Lots of shade, close to the lake. Sweet.

Friday morning we arrive at about 8:00 am to load in. We flash our Artist wristbands and are waved in. When I get to the Kidzapalooza area, four guys swoop in to unload my gear before I even come to a complete stop. By the time I get out of my car, everything’s on the stage. After we get our stuff set up, we’re carted over to the catering tent for breakfast. Upon our return to the kids’ stage, we find The Blisters doing a sound check. They’re kids who are the same age as some of our own kids and they’re really good.

Our show is usually very hands-on (we’re mobile with wireless mics and guitars) but the stage is five feet off the ground with barricades on either side. There’s no easy way to split time between the stage and the crowd. We also have only 30 minutes to play. Neither of these things are a problem, they’re just different. With all our interaction and set-up for activities, we normally play about 15 songs in an hour set. Today we’ve come up with a killer set of 10 songs that we’ll try to blow through.

The gates open at 11:00 and there’s a long line waiting. Our set starts at 11:30 and Kidzapalooza is officially underway. It takes awhile for people to get into the park. With each new song, there are new additions to the crowd. The KidTribe gang is hula-hooping and dancing with kids on the lawn in front of us as we perform. All the color and movement add to the party vibe. The band is pumped and the sound is great. We don’t spend a lot of time with chatting or interplay. It’s more of a rock band set. Lake Michigan is directly behind us. We’re playing at Lollapalooza! This is so awesome. We get through all 10 songs in our half-hour and we have a ball.

After breaking-down our gear we chat with Miss Mia and Ratso who are taping interviews for the local TV treasure known as Chic-A-Go-Go. We then catch the first half of Asheba’s set before checking our guitars in at the artist area. We run into him a couple more times before the day is through. You can tell that Asheba takes his role as a children’s performer very seriously and I love this about him. Sure, our job is to entertain, but I also believe that we have a responsibility to set positive examples for our audience. Our kids are exposed to plenty of questionable language and behavior on television, from their siblings and their friends. Are farts funny? You bet. Am I calling for an end to farts? Hardly. Kids can and will find a way to have fun with farts on their own. They don’t need any encouragement in song from an adult. I’m thinking we can aim higher and still have some fun.

We explore the artist lounge area and marvel. We find a scattering of comfortable umbrellaed tables and padded lounge chairs surrounding a tented bar area complete with couches, lounge tables and video screens displaying live Lollapalooza performances. There’s also a large platform area for viewing the AT&T stage, a masseuse and a PlayStation2 adorned with guitar controllers for playing Guitar Hero. We have three 13-year-old ScribbleKids in tow – including a drummer and guitarist - who mingle with the Blister kids. I think they’re all grateful to have someone their own age to relate with. They talk about their gear, how long they’ve played, the fest, what bands they want to see and monopolize the PS2.

How great that the Kidzapalooza stage has actual kids performing on it. I’m excited for our kids to see The Blisters play. They have a great crowd (made up primarily of adults) and do an impressive set of covers with a couple originals thrown in. For me, the highlight is their version of The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence.” The audience was riveted. And the crowd went nuts over their encore of “Sweet Home Alabama.” The ScribbleKids were very much looking forward to seeing Panic! at the Disco and Death Cab for Cutie. At the end of the day, hanging with The Blisters and seeing them perform is the highlight of their day.

==========

Saturday morning runs about the same as Friday with ScribbleMonster performing at 11:30. The Candy Band and Justin Roberts are here loading in. The line doesn’t seem to be anywhere as long at the gate this morning. Maybe everyone is still sleeping off yesterday. Like yesterday, more people stroll in as our set progresses. There’s a group of teens who are clearly amused by “Chocolate Milk,” “Don’t Cry, Dance!” and “A Monster Goes Rrraargh!” It’s great to look out and see them dancing, singing and smiling along with the younger kids, KidTribe and all the hula-hoopers. As we leave the stage looking out at Lake Michigan, we all agree that we would have no problem doing this every day.

Next up is The Candy Band, a group of moms from Detroit who blend nursery rhymes and punk. Almond Joy totally rocks on the guitar and ScribbleBrett is ready to have her be my replacement in ScribbleMonster. The adults in the crowd are obviously amused and it’s a kick watching everyone (really, everyone—including vendors, security, police officers) laughing and playing along to their “Rock, Paper, Scissors.”

Knowing it will disappoint my mother who is a retired kindergarten teacher and huge fan (that combination and living in Chicago, I’ve seen Ella Jenkins many times) I still duck out on Ella to catch The Go! Team. As a fan, Saturday’s the day I’ve most been looking forward to. In addition to The Go! Team, The Smoking Popes are playing and neither one disappoint. The Go! Team’s music is so positive and fun. Live, they’re unbelievable. Their energy is non-stop. There’s no way you can sit still or not have a smile on your face. I’ve been waiting for a band on the “grown-up” stages to have this kind of energy and excitement. Come on! We’re at Lollapalooza! Go! Team!

I make it back to the Kidzapalooza area in time for the second half of Justin Roberts’ set and catch all of their second show. Justin plays with a very accomplished group of musicians who are as nice as they are talented. Not only does the band sound great, they’re great fun visually. Clearly they’re having a good time and they have many polished, entertaining moments where the band responds, reacts or moves in unison. Meanwhile, ScribbleMonster gets excited when we remember all the words to our songs.

Who knows what I was expecting from Chutzpah – a Jewish hip-hop trio. This easily could have just been silliness. But it was skillfully produced music with clever lyrics and choreography that, while humorous, also manages to educate and share the Jewish experience (seriously). Songs included “The Curse of the Blessing,” “In the Shtetl,” (that would be the Jewish ghetto) and “Superjew” (which is still running through my head). While singing a song about mothers, MC Meshugenah gets a phone call from his mother on his cellular headset. “Ma. I can’t talk right now. I’m on stage at Lollapalooza. No! Ma!” But the biggest laugh of the day comes when he declares, “Be crazy! Be yourself! But be prepared if people laugh.” So true, children. So true.

I figure that The Go! Team was to be the fest’s highlight until The Smoking Popes play. We get to watch from on the stage as they rip through a set of some of their best, plus a couple of new tunes. There’s a fun Spinal Tap moment when Eli’s amp starts picking up an AT&T commercial mid-song. The timing and reaction couldn’t have worked any better if it were a planned bit. The Popes’ new drummer is fantastic and the band so is tight and together. I love that stuff. I get goose bumps when they play “Pretty Pathetic” (that song is brilliant) and my eyes well up with joy as they end their set with the crowd singing along to “I Know That You Love Me.” It’s an awesome moment.

We run into Justin Roberts’ bass player, Jackie Schimmel, at dinner. During our conversation she mentions that Stefan at Zooglobble asked her to write something about her experience at Lollapalooza and asked one other person. “Yeah, that other person is me.” The secret’s out. News spreads like wildfire across the festival.

At Kidzapalooza with... Jackie Schimmel (Justin Roberts' Band)

[Looking for Justin Roberts' Today show appearance? Go here for the link and check out the Justin Roberts links on the right for more Justin reviews.]

Since I couldn't actually attend Kidzapalooza/Lollapalooza, I thought I'd do the next best thing -- have somebody else file a report for me. The first of the two reports comes from Jackie Schimmel, who plays bass for Justin Roberts. Jackie's been reading Zooglobble for awhile now, and I thought she'd be a great person to give a "behind-the-scenes" perspective from Kidzaplooza. And she does, in spades. It's long, but it was a long day.

Many, many thanks to Jackie for taking the time to write this and for letting me publish it...

******

Hi! My name is Jackie Schimmel, and I play bass in Justin Roberts’ band, The Not Ready for Naptime Players. I first met Justin through our mutual friend, Liam Davis, and I started playing with Justin in February 1998. I’m on all of Justin’s cds except for his very first one, Great Big Sun. The Not Ready for Naptime Players have played A LOT of shows together over the years, and we have a great line-up for today’s show: Justin, Liam, me, Dave Winer on trumpet, melodica, percussion (and the BIG SHOES), and Gerald Dowd (who also plays with Liam in his “grown-up” band, Frisbie) on drums.

Lollapalooza is unlike any show we've ever played before. For one thing, at most of our shows, we're the only band on the bill. When we've played at other festivals, they've been specifically for kids (so the other performers have been folks like Hi-5 and They Might Be Giants). Appearing at a festival which is primarily for adults is definitely a first for us. Lollapalooza is an incredibly well organized event -- every single person we encounter over the course of the day is friendly, knowledgeable and thoroughly professional – and the Kidz Stage performers were treated like royalty. I really can't say enough about what a great experience it was!

Here's a timeline of my day:

7:00 AM: Time to get up!

When you play in a rock band for kids, you have the exact opposite schedule from a regular rock band: instead of getting to the venue at 8 pm, sound checking at 9 PM and going on at 11 PM, we do all of those things 12 hours earlier. One of the good things about this schedule is that we don't stagger home at 3 AM smelling like cigarettes. Another good thing is that we aren't exhausted this morning the way the rock stars playing on the other stages appear to be!
8:45 AM: Justin & Dave are scheduled to pick me up. (Michael, Justin’s tour manager, emailed a copy of the day’s itinerary to everybody in the band on Friday.)

9:10 AM: Justin & Dave actually arrive. This is a fairly common occurrence (Why? Dave is always – how shall I put it? -- late. We love him anyway.). On the drive to my house, Justin does an on-air phone interview with Bill & Ella from Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child. Most of this interview takes place while Justin & Dave are in the drive-thru line at Starbucks. This is also a fairly common occurrence -- I think you'll find that most kid’s rock artists are highly-caffeinated.

9:30 AM: We arrive at the Artist Load-in Area right on time! Beth, the Stage Manager, comes to meet us with a golf cart to bring our instruments to the Kidz Stage. Liam & Gerald arrive right then, so they follow us to the stage in Gerald's car. It's a nice big stage right near Buckingham Fountain with lots of shady trees around it. Lollapalooza is spread over a HUGE area (the entire Grant Park) and our stage is centrally located. This turns out to be very convenient as the day progresses. Because so many bands are playing on our stage today, Lollapalooza has arranged for a "back line" of equipment for everyone to use: a drum set, guitar and bass amps, guitar stands, etc. It's really nice to be able to show up with nothing but my bass! I usually use a very small amp for our shows, and the amp on stage today has a huge cabinet with EIGHT 10" speakers -- I do not need to worry about being loud enough today!

10:15 AM: We all pile back into Beth's golf cart to ride over to the "Artist Relations" area. Lollapalooza has lots of “Fest Express” golf carts available to ferry performers from Point “A” to Point “B” – we take advantage of this option several times. We all get our special "Artist" wristbands (which are the equivalent of an “All Access Pass” for all three days of the festival!) and vouchers for breakfast, lunch & dinner (!) in the huge catering tent. Beth shows us around the Artist Lounge area which has deck chairs and a masseur and a PlayStation tent (we are momentarily concerned that Dave will forget to come back to our stage to perform) and a huge open bar. This is all pretty overwhelming. We decide to have some breakfast and -- Hey, look! It's Perry Farrell! All day long I find myself doing double takes as I pass rock stars just walking around.

11:30 AM: Back to the Kidz Stage. ScribbleMonster is playing “Beautiful Day” and the crowd is rocking out while KidTribe are getting everybody moving with hula-hoops. Liam & I walk over to check out the other Kidz area activities -- there are booths where kids can do all kinds of stuff: play different instruments, make their own t-shirts, get temporary tattoos, record their own songs, etc. Why didn't they have something like this when I was a kid?

12:00 PM: A great young punk band from Nashville called Be Your Own Pet is playing on the Q101 Stage, and I talk them up so much that Liam and Michael (our crew guy) join me on the trek to catch their set. (NOTE: BYOP’s lyrics are definitely not kid-friendly!)

12:30 PM: Time to grab some lunch before our first set. Hey, look! It's Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips! Curiously, he's already in the outfit he'll be wearing onstage tonight.

1:30 PM: I run into several members of Candy Band in the Ladies Room – Tammy (a/k/a Starburst) and I chat for a bit. Justin and I catch a Fest Express cart back to our stage. Hey, look! It's Carl Newman of The New Pornographers!

No matter how many shows we play, Justin is ALWAYS nervous before the show. He's a perfectionist, and I know he wants to be sure that he always puts on a great show for his fans, so it's just his nature to get a little stressed-out. Happily once we get on stage, he tends to relax. Justin heads backstage to warm up with some vocal exercises while I change into my stage outfit.

The amazing living legend, Ella Jenkins, is on the grass in front of the stage, performing with Asheba before a rapt crowd. I remember going to see Ella perform when I was a kid -- she's undoubtedly influenced generations of children to become musicians and to be unafraid to sing out loud. She is able to command a crowd’s complete attention in a way that few performers can. It just so happens that it's Ella's 82nd birthday this weekend -- Asheba leads the crowd in a special birthday song for her!

2:00 PM: Another great feature of Kidzapalooza is the interactive family Drum Circle. Ordinarily, the words "drum" and "circle" in such close proximity make me want to head for the hills, but this is really cool: the leader hands out percussion instruments to the dozens of kids and adults in the circle and everybody joins in! There is something utterly charming about kids banging on drums and shaking shakers and making NOISE with their parents right alongside them (rather than being told to pipe down). Judging from the big grins on everybody's face, the Drum Circle is a big hit.

2:15 PM: It's time for our first set! Usually, our shows are around 55 minutes long (we find that’s the attention span limit of our audience -- any longer and kids start to get a little antsy), but the Kidz stage sets are 30 minutes long. As a result, both of our sets today are heavy on the faster, punkier songs in Justin’s repertoire (which suits me just fine – I love to play the fast songs)! We open with "I Chalk,” the first song on Justin's latest cd, Meltdown! (it's one of my favorite songs to play, because the bass part is very busy), and follow it with my very favorite Justin song, "Our Imaginary Rhino.” It's so fun to play shows with Justin, because everybody in the crowd is always very enthusiastic, and they all seem to know the words to every song! It's great to see kids and their parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and friends and complete strangers singing and dancing together. We end the first set with one of Justin's biggest hits, "Willy Was a Whale" off of his second cd, Yellow Bus. Last Summer we went to Los Angeles to film a really cool video for "Willy Was a Whale" -- watch for it on Noggin!

3:00 PM: Time for a quick visit with my partner, Tamara, her sister Shannon and brother-in-law Marc and their kids, Maeve (10), Liam (8) & Molly (6). Everybody’s having a great time! Tamara and I run into Justin’s wife, Chris, who’s just arrived at the festival – we all head back to the Kidz Stage.

3:30 PM: We return just in time to catch the last few songs of Chutzpah’s set – they bill themselves as “The World’s First Ever Jewish Hip-Hop Supergroup” and they are FANTASTIC! While they’re on stage, the Brickheadz are breakdancing in the crowd.

3:45 PM: Almost time for our second set! Hey, look! It’s Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth! Justin is a huge fan and he nearly has a heart attack. Our friend, Piper Parker, who sang with us at our Ravinia show last month, just happens to be attending Lollapalooza today, so she comes onstage for our second set! We play a completely different set of songs this time (happily, after five albums, Justin has a LOT of great songs to choose from!) We open with "My Brother Did It" from Meltdown! and close the show 30 minutes later with Justin's signature song, "Yellow Bus" -- the crowd goes crazy!

4:30 PM: One last Drum Circle and the Kidz Stage closes up shop for the day.

4:45 PM: Time to drop off our gear at the Artist Relations area so we can go watch some other bands. Tamara and I load up all of Justin’s and my stuff and catch a ride in a Fest Express cart. Hey, look! It’s Jamie, Kaori & Ian (or possibly Sam) of The Go! Team! We love them! We shout "Yay! Go! Team!" at them and they shout "Yay!" right back at us. My one disappointment about this fantastic day was that The Go! Team was on opposite us and I couldn’t see their show!

5:30 PM: Time for the Smoking Popes! I convince Justin and Chris to join us for this great power-pop band’s set. Justin leaves the show as a new fan.

6:15 PM: We make the lengthy trek over to the other side of the park to catch the highlight of the day: The Flaming Lips. Fans dressed like aliens and Santas dance onstage while two enormous inflatable astronauts and an inflatable alien and Santa move about toward the rear of the stage. There are streamers and confetti and big blue balloons being tossed around the crowd. Wayne stumbles through the crowd in his “Space Bubble,” which looks a lot like an enormous hamster ball (Note to Self: Convince Justin to buy an enormous hamster ball).

7:15 PM: We make the trek all the way back to the other side of the park again to grab some dinner and hopefully catch most of The New Pornographers’ set. We run into Jim and Brian of ScribbleMonster and have a delightful chat over dinner. Hey, look! It’s the Smoking Popes!

8:30 PM: We walk over to catch a bit of Kanye West’s set and then call it a night.

Whew! What a day! We’re exhausted but had an incredible time! I can’t say enough about what a great experience it was to play at Lollapalooza!

A Whole Mess of Kids Stuff

Thanks to Devon, who points out a whole bunch of Washington Post kids' arts-related articles, including an interview with and recommendations from Dan Zanes. I've got a Jose-Luis Orozco CD -- I've listened to it a few times, but I'll have to go back and listen with fresh ears.

Review: Here We Go - Melissa

If I had a dollar for every time my name was spelled incorrectly, we'd have replaced the flooring in our house long ago. So I understand the decision by Los Angeles-based musician Melissa Szilagyi to drop her surname and perform simply as Melissa. It's also very pop-star-like. Her debut kids' music album Here We Go (2006), to be released next week, is 29 minutes of preschooler-friendly acoustic pop that sounds not a little like kids' music star Laurie Berkner. Whimsical stories ("Have You Ever Seen?"), interactive songs (the sea horses counting down from 5 to 1 on "The Seahorse Song"), and subjects of great concern to 3- and 4-year-olds ("Going on a Trip," "Chocolate Ice Cream.") Add to that Melissa's warm voice and sharp additional instrumentation (guitar, mandolin, harmonica, assorted percussion) from New York-based musician Beau Elliott, and the album is a perfectly good little collection of songs. The originals are well-crafted; the few traditional songs are innovatively arranged. It's not quite at Laurie's level, though, for a couple reasons. First, Berkner's songs have a river of good humor flowing through them; these songs, though by no means humorless, don't have enough of those moments of loopiness that keep parents sane while listening to Berkner's music. Second, you realize how important Berkner's band -- the bass and the piano -- are to her albums. Here We Go would have benefitted greatly from even a couple songs with a full band. The album is most appropriate for kids age 2 through 7. Listen to clips here or here. I'm recommending this -- it's a well-done and enjoyable album. (And I'm hoping Melissa finds even more talented musicians for her second album!)