The Kids Are Alright
Last month we had the good fortune to see Eric Herman live in concert at a fall festival in Spokane Valley, Washington. His show was awesome. All the kids loved it, especially my son, who has been listening to two of Eric's CDs almost non-stop for the past two months. We talked with Eric for awhile after the show, about kids and music... Met his wife and two little kids. Great guy, awesome family.
What was not so awesome about the concert was the location of the "children's stage"... The Valleyfest organizers showed how little they cared about kids' activities by, first, not even having a stage for the performers. It was actually just a table with about a dozen folding chairs placed on a soggy lawn. Have you ever tried to sit on a metal folding chair as it sinks into the muddy grass? Eric almost took a tumble when he jumped up onto one of those chairs during his spirited rendition of "Hot Sand."
To add insult to almost-injury, this area was in between two large stages, each one scheduled with some sort of generic countrified bar-rock band at the same time as Eric's show. Fortunately, he brought his own sound system and cranked it up. The last thing that bugged me about the festival situation is that the show wasn't advertised or promoted at all. A very small sign near the kids' stage read "Children's Concert, 11:45".
We didn't let any of that prevent us from enjoying Eric's music, but I couldn't help but think about how children really get the shaft from these community festivals. Organizers should know that families are the ones who love to come out to the park on a beautiful day and enjoy some fun activities and food. Yet who gets the big stage? A middle-aged bunch of blues-rockers playing to an empty grass field.
Oh sure, you see kids' games and inflatable bouncers at these things, but they're usually spread all over the place. Why not put them all in one location? Make it centrally located, safe and comfortable for the children and their tired parents. And then advertise your festival as a "Family Fest" or "Kids' Fest" because, really, isn't that who you want coming out to spend time and money at your event?
Permalink posted by Phil at 12:47 AM
4 Comments:
Now isn't that just shocking and dissapointing. I'm glad the kiddies had fun thought and what a buzz to have met Eric in person.
So I was playing at this festival a few weeks ago and got to meet this cool blogger dad named Phil and his two kids. Great guy, awesome family. :o)
Ah gosh, yeah, the setting was a little disappointing (okay, a lot!). Festivals like that aren't really my first and favorite choice among venues anyway, but I had played that one last year and was on one of the main stages. I had a great crowd and it was a good experience in all, so I was happy to come back. But this year, they decided to add a third stage, just for the kids' acts, and well, uh, yeah... It was actually much worse for my second set. The sound guy at the stage behind me had turned up their stage, probably after my first set competed with them. I joked that it was a special show with Eric Herman and his R&B backup band (which would be kind of cool, in its own venue). But you know, once the music was going, it was fine. Last year I played four days of an Oktoberfest, not far enough away from the non-stop polka bands. That was a rough four days!
I can appreciate the difficulty of trying to coordinate events like that, but yeah, they're not always laid out the best. The lady who was my contact there understood the problem and said she'll try to work out something better for next year, so we'll see.
Anyway, so great to meet you, Phil! I hope we can hook up again soon. And that picture turned out good. Heck, if only I was smiling I think I'd probably use that for a promo shot. Can you Photoshop a smile in?? :o)
Very best,
Eric
Sounds like Eric and everyone made the best of the situation. Nice comment he made on your blog :) Hopefully next year's event will be set up better.
Glad the kids have fun in the midst of all imperfect things. Eric seems a very cool entertainer too..The organizers must be childless themselves!
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