Rockin’ Out with Yo Gabba Gabba!
I am a big fan of the band The Killers. When I listen to their new album, it makes me hyper and feel more alive — like world is mine to take on. They were in New York about a month ago, and I wanted to go so badly. It was on a Tuesday at the Jones Beach Theater, about an hour east of NYC on the Atlantic Ocean.
I met up with a girlfriend of mine this past Thursday, a fellow mom with a toddler. In the course of catching up, she mentioned that DJ Lance Rock and Brobee from Noggin’s Yo Gabba Gabba! were to be at a show at 11:00am that Saturday at Riverside Park and 72nd Street in Manhattan.
Though I had known about it for some time, it would have been difficult and expensive. So my husband and I decided to pass. When that Tuesday arrived, I still felt the excitement in the air even though I didn’t get to go. I sat through a meeting that evening, wondering what song The Killers were playing on that perfect September day. The day afterwards, I quizzed a coworker who had gone (being the young, unattached guy he is, going to the show for him was easy), asking him which songs they opened and closed with and what he liked the best. All in all, I wished I could have been there.
I was immediately excited at the prospect of going. And then she mentioned it was free and I could no longer contain my excitement, causing several heads to turn at the adjacent tables of our restaurant. It was settled: I was going to take my two year-old daughter to see DJ Lance Rock, and she was going to flip.
I could barely sleep Friday night; I was brimming with so much excitement. By the time my alarm went off on Saturday morning, I was already awake. I went in to get my daughter, pulled her out of her crib and told her we were going to a party in the park to see DJ Lance Rock and Brobee. She beamed, and made me do the intro to Yo Gabba Gabba! about ten times. We got dressed and hurried out the door. We ate our egg sandwiches on the subway ride down to the park. I pushed the stroller with such force and zest that I took several pedestrians by storm. I smiled and apologized politely but deep down I didn’t care — I didn’t want my daughter to miss one minute of this show.
We arrived to an empty stage and tons of parents and kids surrounding it, anxiously waiting for the show to start. Luckily, I found some empty spectator benches a few feet back and set up camp. Then music started and suddenly, there he was: DJ Lance Rock live and in person … very tall, very thin and very orange. My daughter looked at him so intensely I think she forgot to smile. She was so focused she could have been summoning The Force, Jedi-style. DJ Lance danced all around the stage and did a number of great songs, and when Brobee joined him it made everything complete. I stood there holding my daughter in my arms, standing up on the top bleacher to make sure she could see everything. My arm burned to be relieved of the weight of her, but nothing could have made me put her down … I would have held her all day so she could catch every moment. Finally, when DJ Lance had to say goodbye, we waved and wished them well and they went on their way.
The joy I felt brought me to tears, and I had to stop myself from balling my eyes out in front of everyone. I was ecstatic… we had done it! I had managed to bring my daughter to this show at the last minute and she had seen DJ Lance Rock in person! She seriously adores this man so much; she barely talks about Elmo anymore. He is the superstar of her world at the moment, and we had seen him live together. I was filled with so much happiness and such a sense of accomplishment that I could offer her this special occasion — it was a true sense of euphoria I can still tap into when recalling this memory.
I don’t know if my girl really understood the difference between seeing DJ Lance Rock and Brobee in the park and seeing them “on Tee-Bee” as she calls it. But I do know that I she talked about seeing Yo Gabba Gabba! in the park for days afterwards. And I know the significance of it, and the joy I felt in giving her this concert experience. Although I had really hoped to see The Killers earlier in September, there was never a doubt in my mind that I would be anywhere but Riverside Park and 72nd Street at 11:00am last Saturday. As soon as I heard about Yo Gabba Gabba!, it was a given.
So, instead of waving a lighter in the air, my daughter and I waved our hands to “Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle Go!” And instead of asking The Killers question “Are we human, or are we dancer?” … I pumped my fist into the air to “Let’s Get The Sillies Out!” The truth is that I had a great time at the Yo Gabba Gabba! show too. I danced and sang and left there horse and happy-tired, just like I used to leave my rock concerts. I was buzzed from the music and had the lyrics in my head all day.
I don’t want to say goodbye to my rock concerts and I don’t think I have to completely. I will still squeeze them in from time to time, but I’ve realized that these shows for my daughter will also be in my life and make me just as happy, just in a completely different way. Perhaps music is music, and appreciating the experience of it is really what it’s all about. If so, rock on!
