Adorable

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it on here, but I have a fairly passionate hate for children's music. I don't really understand the point. Now, if you're listening to Disco Duck or something along those lines, fine. It's the Wiggles and such that I don't get. Kids are just people, right? So shouldn't they just listen to music? Of course some lyrics may not be child-friendly, but for the most part, I think kids should just listen to whatever music they like. I also dig seeing kids at shows, provided, of course, they are well behaved and do not talk throughout the set.

Last night, Erika and I went to Aimee Mann's Christmas concert. It was at this place called The Birchmere, which I find to be an insanely weird venue. It's like a dinner club - you sit at tables, and you have a waiter, and you can eat dinner during the show. This might be appropriate for some shows, but for most, I find it depressing. The energy level of the audience is so much lower than a normal venue, there's no dancing, and it's just very awkward feeling. But we did see Ben Lee come out of the dressing room, menu in hand, and order his dinner. Still. Overall weird.

Anyway. We got there last night, and sat at a table with a family. Two parents and one little girl, I would guess around age 10. This kid was adorable. She made polite conversation with me and Erika, specifically asking if we thought Aimee would play her favorite song. ("You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.") She discussed with her parents what type of guitar she wanted for Christmas. She quietly listened to the show, singing along when she knew the words, and covering her ears when the banter got too risque for her. (Some of the banter was definitely rated R... erm, the Hanukkah Fairy especially!) After Aimee sang the Grinch, the girl put her head down on the table and fell asleep. (It was pretty late for a school night.)

As for the show? Well, to be honest, we were both a bit disappointed. Aimee had some sort of cold, and her voice kept cracking on songs. She didn't sing as much as last year. And Ben only sang two songs on his own, plus the ending Christmas song. (Want to see a clip of that?) No matter. We are going again tonight. Here's hoping for a better show!