When our dudes' attention spans blossomed to the point of being able to stomach a full tv show, we were very ecstatic to introduce Yo Gabba Gabba. Engaging story lines, amazing animation, and radical musical guests.. CHECK. Being able to show my kids how good Rocket From the Crypt and Dr. Dog are through a lens that they can really appreciate was truly magical. Fast forward a year or two, and those sweet dudes have grown to want more action packed adventure on their TV tasting palette. Enter, The Aquabats Super Show: a program with enough excitement, a dash of campy 60's Batman, and some over the top awesome tunes, created by the MC Bat Commander, AKA Christian Jacobs, AKA the Co-Creator of Yo Gabba Gabba. It seems like it's a natural evolutionary step to go from Yo Gabba to the Aquabats Super Show. We were thrilled when the dudes jumped right aboard and became mega Aquabat fans. We've followed the show around on the now-defunct Hub channel, and have since downloaded every single episode via iTunes. The best part of all, is that our kids are now listening to the same music that my wife and I were glued to when we first met. Pretty dang rad. And now, both of our older dudes have MULTIPLE real deal rock shows under their belts. If you have an opportunity to take your little one to an Aquabats show, I couldn't recommend it more. Our kids especially dug the live show after listening to the cds in the car a bit and becoming familiar with a handful of songs. Some of our obvious faves are: "Super Rad", "Shark Fighter", "My Skateboard" and "Hey Homies". The Aquabats are very appreciative of the wide age range within their audience and take extra care that everyone is having the best time, especially the young ones. Get out and get to a show! Bring your kids!
Post- Irvine antique swap meet, but Pre- afternoon Angels game, we hit up the Irvine Farmer's Market for some Snowcones. It's true, snowcones can cure just about anything for my little dudes. Here we are enjoying some icy goodness at the Great Park.
And if you were asking, yes, the Great Park in Irvine is pretty great. Sunday is Farmer's Market day (which also includes an assortment of food trucks), and every FIRST Sunday there's the Antique Swap Meet as well. This past Saturday we made our way over for the first event in the Summer Concert Series.
We were lucky to catch the Aggrolites play their jam made famous from Yo Gabba, "BANANA".
The shows at the Great Park are FREE, you just gotta pack 10 bucks for parking. We brought our own food, but they have a couple of food trucks available as well. The shows take place on a big grass field, so if you bring some chairs and a blanket, you're good to go!
On our way out we passed by the Art Gallery they have, and I noticed they've got a cool lookin' ZINE LIBRARY exhibit! Coop has promised he'll make the trip with me to check it out next time. I'll probably owe him a snowcone.
PS. Up top Charley has got on an awesome summer shirt (tank top) from OF ONE SEA. Carolyn has her summer uniform tee, which = the Hello apparel grey tank top. And in the bottom pics, Coop is wearing a THRASHER Magazine shirt, courtesy of my lovely friends at Thrasher. Cuz I know you wanna know...
do you remember Lookout Records? Lookout was the home to a handful of bands that made me really love music. Screeching Weasel, Green Day, The Hi-Fives, Groovie Ghoulies, The Queers, Mr T Experience... The Groovie Ghoulies were and ARE one of my favorite bands. the good news for me and my little dudes and YOURS is that KEPI GHOULIE has just released a new record called KEPI FOR KIDS. Here's a song from the record called "Days that end in Y"!
The record is coming out on a new imprint called FUN FUN RECORDS. Mike Park, who also played in Skankin' Pickle and runs Asian Man Records, is responsible for the label, and he's putting out a handful of rad, kid friendly records. I'm excited to see what he does! Currently his roster included Kepi Ghoulie, Dan Potthast (of MU330), Play Date (featuring Greg Attonito of the Bouncing Souls), Happy Wags (with Jesse Wagner of the Aggrolites), and Mike Park himself! Mike Park will also be out as the super music friend on the YO GABBA GABBA LIVE! show til the end of March! here's a list of the dates! 03.01.13-Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre 03.02.13-Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre 03.03.13-Portland, OR @ Theater of the Clouds at Rose Garden 03.04.13-Sacramento, CA @ Sacramento Memorial Auditorium 03.05.13-San Jose, CA @ San Jose Civic 03.07.13-Fresno, CA @ William Saroyan Theatre 03.08.13-Santa Barbara, CA @ The Arlington Theatre 03.09.13-San Diego, CA @ San Diego Civic Theatre 03.10.13-Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theatre 03.11.13-El Paso, TX @ The Plaza Theatre 03.13.13-Midland, TX @ Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center 03.14.13-Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center 03.15.13-Dallas, TX @ Music Hall at Fair Park 03.16.13-San Antonio, TX @ Majestic Theatre 03.17.13-Austin, TX @ Bass Concert Hall 03.18.13-New Orleans, LA @ Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts 03.20.13-Orlando, FL @ Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre 03.21.13-Sarasota, FL @ Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall 03.22.13-St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amphitheatre 03.23.13-Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Broward Center for the Performing Arts 03.24.13-Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Broward Center for the Performing Arts SO MUCH GOOD STUFF.
growing up in Southern California has had a few long lasting effects on me. I can't stay away from the beach, I could eat mexican food for just about every meal, aaaaaaand I'm a huge fan of just about everything John Reis, AKA Swami, AKA Speedo, etc. does. And what could be cooler but to share my love for one of his bands with my little dudes. Yep. Rocket from the Crypt is back with a new tune after about 7 years of quiet. They're one of a handful of awesome bands that are found on the new Yo Gabba Gabba: Music is Awesome, Vol 4 cd.
Rocket from the Crypt lends a new one (written by Adam Deibert of Yo Gabba, formerly of the Aquabats) called "He's A Chef". The video includes a rad cameo by Thomas Lennon (Reno 911, Wet Hot American Summer, the State). I'm a fan of it all. Also on the record are some killer tunes from Peter Bjorn & John, Belle & Sebastian, Mariachi El Bronx, Biz Markie, and a whole grip more. I've found these Yo Gabba cds have been huge in opening my little dudes up to other music. The Aquabats contributed a song called "Pool Party" to the Volume 2 cd, and now all the rest of the Aquabats cds are on rotation in the car on the way to school. Who knows, maybe tomorrow Rocket from the Crypt, tomorrow Drive Like Jehu? Check out the cd from Amazon right over heeeeeeeere. And while you're clickin on stuff, check out the video for "He's A Chef" below!!
