Indie Rock, Culture, Music, New York, Midlife Crisis all rolled into one blog.

I went to a concert yesterday at Town Hall in midtown NYC. It was at 1PM and there was a stroller check - They Might Be Giants were playing.

I had seen them back in college and a few times in the 90s. They were always fun, usually had some interesting brass and percussion instruments during the show. Would I still be going to see them at this point in time? Probably not. But, they are now part of the growing list of alternative artists who have gone to kids music.

It’s not much of a stretch for them – “Cow Town”, “Birdhouse In Your Soul”, would fit fine on a kid’s record. 

The audience was all mid 30’s to 40’s mom and dads, some in concert-ts. I spotted a renegade My Chemical Romance hoodie-wearing mom, while others had dug out their old They Might Be Giants shirts. 

My kids are 3 and 5 and they’ve seen TMBG before. The band has toured over the past few years for other kids releases. Yesterday my 3-year-old grooved along for about 40 minutes and then her nap-time kicked in and she passed out in my lap. My 5-year-old is mesmerized by live performances and was fixed on the band for the whole hour +. At home she’ll dance up a storm, but she’s very focused when a band is on stage. 

It’s kinda strange watching people with their kids at a rock show. Or even being with kids at a rock show. Usually they run away and there is a parent crotched down trying to catch them. Or  cry because it’s dark in the theater.  

I want to expose my kids to shows at an early age so it’s worth the effort. I’ll admit that I’ll be disappointed if they aren’t heavily into music. Can I ban Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers from the house?  No…but hopefully I can slip some cooler stuff on the iPod and it’ll eventually sink in…