You Never Forget Your First Time

You may not believe me, but I've never been to a rock concert.  How is it possible that a woman in her thirties has managed to neglect a national rite of passage?  It's not through lack of trying.  I begged my parents for tickets to Corey Hart (hey, he was hot back then..).  I would have given my firstborn (before I met him, and now I'd only give him away if he was whining) to see the Blonde Ambition tour.  I sometimes have dreams of dancing onstage with Bruce Springsteen and being discovered as an actor (only I'd be smart enough not to name my daughter Coco).  I've been to the opera, the ballet, the theatre, the orchestra.  I've seen choirs, soloists, and street buskers.  I've seen professional, amateur, mainstream and avant-garde artists. 

Whom did I choose to see for my Very First Ever Rock Concert...?

The Wiggles. 

Yes, I am slightly embarrassed and enormously proud that my preschooler and I shared our first venture into the wonderful world of pop rock.  We went to see Pop Goes the Wiggles at the Skydome Rogers Centre this past weekend and had a blast. 

I was a little worried that my son wouldn't have a good time - he's a little put off by large crowds - but he really surprised me.  In fact, eventhough we were a good twenty minutes early for the performance, he wouldn't leave his seat.  Too bad, though, because I was gunning to buy him some concert swag (cute t-shirts! stuffed guitars! light wands!), but I was left to eye them sadly wishing they came in my size.  Most people wisely didn't get there until moments before, and I was all set to run down to grab us some floor seats, but it quickly filled up.  We bought tickets last minute and were up in nosebleed territory.

You could hear the collective intake of breath when the Wiggles appeared onstage in their Big Red Car.  Hell, even I was excited.  This was the closest I've ever been to international singing sensations, after all.  They very smartly began the concert with their most familiar songs like Fruit Salad, Hot Potato and Hoop Dee Doo and the kids were out of their seats jumping and singing.  Then they followed with a bunch of songs that were nursery rhymes set to music.  My son especially liked those.  In fact, when I dropped him off at preschool after the weekend and the teacher was reciting Humpty Dumpty, he spoke up in his best stage voice "I saw that at the Wiggles!!!"

My favourite parts were when Anthony tried several times to do a Patrick Swayze/Dirty Dancing impression (complete with a lift of "Baby"), when one of the guys dressed up in a big egg costume and was so rotund that he couldn't climb up on the wall to play Humpty Dumpty, and when the Wiggles tried repeatedly to throw gigantic inflatable fruit through a window onstage and kept missing.  Don't get me wrong - I wasn't laughing at them, I was laughing with them.

There's an unspoken opinion among some actors (not me), that you don't have to take children's shows as seriously, or put out as much of an effort.  It's not "real acting".  Anyone who's done children's shows - and done them well - knows better.  You actually have to put out more effort, because kids know when you're faking it and they call you on it.  It's true that are a little more accepting of mistakes.  And this is where the Wiggles showed their true professionalism.  When they messed up here or there, they laughed it off and made it part of the show.  And the kids thereby learnt that it is okay to make mistakes, as long as you shake them off and keep on going. 

I used to think that the Wiggles were merely entertaining, now I kind of think of them as role models.  Not too shabby for a first concert, huh?

Comments

[Mamalooper]

I sooo agree - the ability to entertain kids is an underrated talent. You have an audience with super short attention spans plus no emotional filter - if they don't like it, you'll know about it!

Saw another good group at Solar Stage on the weekend - Alistair Ant. A duo, one on guitar, both singing. And great puppeteers too. That's another underrated talent! They were great. Really connected with the kids in the audience.

[kgirl]

We went last year and had a great time - only missed it this year because a good friend was having her first birthday party at the sme time.

But dude, you need to get yourself to some live music, like adult-style, pronto. My first was Bon Jovi in grade 8, and I think I've been to about 600 concerts since.

[Mommy Advice]

The Wiggles isn't a bad first time concert experience. It just shows that you're the Mommy of all Mommy's. Kudos to you!