The last time I was in the JLC, it was for the Who concert at the end of September. The audience that night skewed a bit toward the thirty plus demographic, but the crowd was there to rock. Beer flowed copiously. The ticket cost me two hundred dollars. There were no dancers onstage, and definitely no choreography for the band.
Fast forward approximately a month and I’m back in the JLC for another musical extravaganza. I’m accompanied by the boys. Not the friends I caught The Who with, but my four year olds, Jonathan and Aidan. This is their first concert! Tickets are a little more reasonable, although I didn’t get floor seats this round. I didn’t really think we needed to be that close when there was expected to be a dinosaur on stage. The front rows are always at risk of being hit by flying bouquets of roses at these things anyway. No beer in sight, but plenty of milk-filled baby bottles. No walkers to trip over, but the aisles were clogged with strollers. And far less scary walking around downtown at three in the afternoon.
Yeah, we went to see Australian children entertainment sensations The Wiggles… And, it’s not the first time either. Jody and I took Tasha to see them a few years back when they played at Centennial Hall. That particular show was a little thin -no props, bad costumes, recorded instruments, expensive seats and a show that lasted all of an hour.
This round, The Wiggles have ramped it up and used some of that cash pile they’ve accumulated to fund an hour and a half long extravaganza for the kids. The stage was topped by a Wiggles logo in bright marquee lights and flanked by a pair of video screens that (mercifully) played Wiggles videos to keep the kids entertained while waiting for the show to begin. Greg (the yellow shirted Wiggle) was sick and remained in Australia, but the rest of the crew was there. The aforementioned Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus and Captain Feathersword, along with a full complement of Wiggly Dancers. And Wiggles Anthony, Jeff, Murray and stand-in Sam. They had props, including the infamous Big Red Car –which the Wiggles used to stage their dramatic, drive onto the stage entrance- and a giant inflatable Murray. The guys went out of their way to prove they were actually playing their instruments at least some of the time. And most importantly of all, they were obviously having fun. They took the time to interact with the kids in the audience, frequently circulating among them (even climbing the stairs up to the third level nosebleeds!) Somehow, I can’t picture a 61 year old Pete Townshend huffing and puffing his way up to section 306 to wave to his fans.
So, did the Wiggles rock like The Who? Well, the majority of the audience would probably say they blew The Who away. Mind you, the majority of the audience was under age five. But Murray (the red shirted guitar-playing Wiggle) offered up a decent rendition of the opening bars of Stairway To Heaven to prove he has the chops. The Wiggles are smart enough to know you have to at least throw the parents a bone.
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