This past week, the Yo Gabba Gabba team played Toronto’s Elgin Theatre to great acclaim and review. This, according to my little Pea, who danced, clapped and stared through the entire show like the amazing little girl she is.
What follows is a step-by-step account of the afternoon. I hope you enjoy.
1:20: I grab my tickets from the Will Call window at the Elgin. Anticipation is in the air, with YGG paraphernalia on every second child I see. I regret not bringing a sign like my wife suggested.
1:30: I meet up with Pea and my wife. Pea has just woken up from her nap, thankfully.
1:40: We try to feed Pea some pizza so she won’t be hungry. This is a precautionary step, in case hunger were to be a contributing factor to her potential restlessness.
2:00: We make our way into the Elgin for the exclusive Meet and Greet with Sir DJ Lance Rock himself (NB – DJ Lance has not really been knighted by the Queen, to my knowledge… he is just a hero in our house).
2:05: We decide to change Pea’s diaper, so she is fresh for the show (and DJ Lance).
2:20: My wife goes pee. Yes, TMI.
2:25: We head over to see DJ Lance. We nearly miss him, as we are the second to last people to see him. Pea is weary of the guy in the orange spandex one-piece suit. Truth be told, I am Ok with that since any other reaction would have been more concerning. She seems to recognize him, but like all strangers she meets, she clings to me for dear life. My wife and I, on the other hand, are star-struck. I am thankful my wife has already gone pee, for fear she might soil herself and DJ Lance at the same time. I barely muster anything of value to say to DJ Lance. In hindsight, the only words I say are “This is Pea” when asked Pea’s name. We snap a photo, and gawk.
2:45: We head to our seats in the theatre. There are kids of all ages, but mainly 5 and under from what I can tell. I am shocked at the amount of souvenir sales, and the price of the trinkets for sale.
2:55: Pea and I head to the front of the theatre to check out the stage. It’s simple, but there are lots of lights and a huge TV screen.
3:00: We are accosted by a souvenir saleswoman.
3:05: The lights dim. Squeals commence.
3:06: DJ Lance’s familiar shoes grace the TV screen. He walks from left to right and then appears on stage. Squeals abound. Pea sits in stunned silence.
3:08: The large TV screens break open and the larger than life characters appear on stage. On the outside, my wife and I cool as cucumbers. On the inside, we’re freaking out. In my head, I am screaming “THIS IS AWESOME!” over and over again. Pea is clearly unsure of what she is seeing. Each of the characters is introduced in the same way they are on the show and the crowd is singing along (as are the parents). Brobee, the giant green monster, gets the biggest cheer.
3:12: DJ Lance and the gang run off a few musical numbers. The songs are familiar, from the show (not from, say, current Top 40 radio, which would be entirely inappropriate).
3:23: A souvenir saleswoman walks up and down the aisles, mid-show, trying to sell goods. I am extremely offended. I quickly regain focus on the show and thank God Pea didn’t notice the flashy goods for sale.
3:30: The Aquabats grace the stage for their one and only musical number entitled “Pool Party.” Pea is still staring at the stage, and every so often she claps. So far, so good. It is much better than the alternative – the characters freak her out and she tries to hide under the seat. I lament how loud the music is, and instantly feel old.
3:39: More souvenir sales. The YGG crew sings another song.
3:45: Act 1’s closing number. Brobee is given a bunch of balloons and flies up in the air. The kids collectively gasp. I try to refrain from jumping up in the air and screaming “THIS IS [expletive deleted] AMAZING!”
3:50: Act 1 ends with ushers running up and down the aisles, releasing balloons for the kids. Our usher has a balloon release malfunction, and the balloons are concentrated on the floor in the aisle instead of in the air.
4:00: During intermission, I rush to get Pea a balloon. I marvel at how clever the release of the balloons was. Every kid in the audience has a balloon and is quietly playing. What a great technique to distract, greatly appreciated by all parents.
4:05: More souvenir sales. I try not to deliberately trip the saleswoman.
4:15: Show resumes with the characters walking in through the audience. Pea is in awe. More musical numbers from the show. DJ Lance continues to mystify me. When we met him at the Meet n’ Greet, he wasn’t as young as I expected him to be. On stage, he dances around like he’s 17 years old.
4:20: A special guests hits the stage to do the Dancy-Dance routine. Some guy names Mookie leads everyone through the Peanut Butter Shimmy, or something like that. A faint cheer goes up from a few people in our corner when said Mookie is introduced. My wife and I stare at each other blankly, wondering if this is yet another sign we are losing touch with the mainstream. Thankfully, Pea didn’t know who he was either.
4:30: It’s time for Biz’s Beat of the Day. Biz, in this case, being the one and only Biz Markie of “Just a Friend” fame. He easily gets the loudest cheer of the day, and for good reason. He spends at least 15 minutes on stage interacting with kids, getting them to try beat-boxing with him on stage. He was the awesomest.
4:40: Souvenir sales during Biz Markie’s Beat-boxing disp
lay. I stop short of throwing something at her and consider writing a strongly worded letter.
lay. I stop short of throwing something at her and consider writing a strongly worded letter.
4:50: Show raps up with Brobee leading “Party in my Tummy” and then the typical YGG end-of-show sign-off. Pea sits in stunned silence, as she has for most of the show. I find myself contemplating how quickly Pea’s first concert seems to have past.
5:00: We head for home with one awestruck little girl in tow. Every time I asked her if she liked Yo Gabba Gabba, she’d vigorously shake her head yes and smile.
7:50: Pea crashes.
9:10: Daddy crashes, leaving Mom to clean the house and take out the garbage. Classy.
All in all, a wonderful event. All of the best songs were sung and Pea seemed to have an amazing time. She was a little restless before the show started, but as soon as the house lights went down she was attentive and focused – the sign of an interested toddler.
As for me, my first children’s concert as a Dad was a great success as well. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, and whether I would be entertained or bored. I was definitely the former.
I guess this is proof that while I’m not the energetic fella I used to be, I’m definitely still young at heart.
If you’re into ratings, I give this show 2 and a half Brobee horns out of 3. The 1/2 point deduction coming as a result of the blatant salesmanship.
Me and my child simply had a blast. It was just amazing seeing her with utmost attention and excitement… I just can’t help but stare at her and realized that my baby has been growing so fast!
I just wish I could get some free tickets the next time :>
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I won a pair of tickets to see this show and my 3yr old son was ecstatic to find out he was going. It was a fabulous show (although I have to agree with Shawn – those people trying to sell things were quite annoying and kept blocking our view of the concert)
Just as I predicted my son started to cry once they started singing the goodbye song as he didn’t want it to end. He loved the balloons and streamers that shot out, and kept asking if we could come back and see the show again.
I got suckered into buying him a (cheap) multi coloured changing light flashlight that cost me 10 bucks, the parking cost me 20 (thank goodness the tickets were free!) but it was worth it to watch his face during the show!
Thanks again!
Our first child introduced us to the world of kid concerts….you know the one that you pay way to much for, fear they will fall asleep or start to cry in the middle of or better yet, get a “throw up” bug the morning of the big show and cause you all to miss the outing completely….well, none of the above happened.
“The Wiggles” will forever be the best concert my husband and I have attended. We spend the 2 hours marveling at our 4 year old who knew every word to every song, who stood on her chair dancing for the entire show and who smiled from ear to ear for days when asked about it. We had so much fun watching her, the enjoyment was contagious!!!
For the record, the same sales people were at our show also!!!!!
I just wanted to thank you for the contest you ran giving away tickets to the show last week. I won a pair and sent my dd with our babysitter. They had a great time. No problems picking up the tickets. They said the show was fantastic! The day was long and tiring but well worth it and they were happy they found a place close by to eat lunch as well. Thanks again