RECAP: Black Flag Kids' Show at Reggie's Guest Post by Mr. Singer

Here at ChiIL Mama we know kids and parents rock. Your craving for live music and your concert lovin' life doesn't end, just 'cause you create a life. So, we were super stoked when Black Flag announced an early, all ages show for kids (not teens... little punk kin with parents) before their adult gig at Reggies Rock Club in Chicago a few weeks back! We promoted it for months, then as luck would have it, we were out of town on a travel shoot when the show went down. Happily, we have a guest post by Neil Firstenleit (AKA: Mr. Singer, a well loved Chicago kindie musician and former long haired punk). Here's his sweet recap.

WHAT?!?! A free Black Flag show 

for kids, awesome!

by N. Firstenleit

A few weeks back, at this time, I was psyched up, standing in line at Chicago’s south-side rock club Reggie’s to see Black Flag for my first time. I have been rocking out to Black Flag since I was in grade school thanks to my older brothers and Greg Ginn’s unique style of fast, raw riffage makes him one of my favorite guitarist! Crazy thing is, this was a kids’ show! I went with a couple friends, Lilli 5 years old and her dad Jef, the Sharp Cookies’ Videographer.

The line consisted of mostly tattooed grownups and their youngsters. It was an interesting line to be in. The kid in front of us was entertaining us with a funny face puckering sound he called “fish fats”. These kids were sharing an authentic rock experience with their folks. Adults without children were being turned away until the later show. The doorman let me in with Lilli and Jef. Several families made it to the show, I was expecting it to reach capacity being a free Black Flag show and all, but it ended up being a very comfortable turn out. 

The bar had free hotdogs & pop for the kids before the show. While Lilli had a bite, I checked out the concert Ts. Most of the art was from their album covers by artist Raymond Pettibon. MY WAR has a knife in the hand of a puppeteer, SLIP IT IN has a nun hanging on to a hairy leg and JEALOUS AGAIN has a pistol-toting cheerleader. I got Everything Went Black, a menacing image of hedge clippers in a pair of clenched hands, the most kid friendly one they had. 

The band hit the stage and everyone was ready to rock! They played the sing-a-long classics: Rise Above, Louie Louie, Six Pack (singer said it was about baby formula) and TV Party (the kids added their favorite shows: Sponge Bob, Adventure Time and Uncle Grandpa). Greg leaned over and reminded singer Mike V not to say F*%& and he didn’t.

The volume was definitely kid friendly, which was great for the kids, but it left me wanting to hear them cranked up! The vocalist and the drummer seemed to be holding back, which is cool for the eardrums, but not for the raw power. Greg Ginn’s guitar (and theremin) playing was still pretty awesome to see live at whatever volume! I guess that’s why people pay for the later show. If I had, I would have also seen Robby Krieger of the Doors jamming with Black Flag! Would have been worth the $20 for sure.

After the show the band came out and talked with the kids. When I asked Greg Ginn about the choice to do a kids’ show and he said Reggie’s asked them to do it and they thought, why not? It was his first time playing a kids' show and he wished his 7 & 9 year old children would have been there. Lilli, Jef and I were definitely glad we were there!

Miss 'em at Reggies or just can't get enough?!

Check 'em out LIVE 7/18 at Brauerhouse in Lombard, IL. for $14 (this one's 18+).

KINDIE LAND: Mr. Singer & The Sharp Cookies at Old Town School HALLOWEEN Show Sunday 10/27 11am

INCOMING:  ChiIL Live Shows on our Radar.

Sunday, October 27, 2013  ♦  11:00 AM

Spooky Singalong

Featuring Mr. Singer & The Sharp Cookies with Lindsay Weinberg, and Shanta Nurullah
Kids Concert

4544 N Lincoln Ave · Gary and Laura Maurer Concert Hall · 773.728.6000

• $12 General Public
• $11 Members

BUY Sun 11:00 AM TICKETS

Goblins, ghouls, and ghosts! Oh my! Bring the whole family to this spooky, but not scary, sing-a-long featuring our Wiggleworms faculty. Be sure to wear your Halloween costume!

Check back with ChiIL Mama like we vote in Chi, IL... early and often.   We'll have some of Mr. Singer's new Halloween tunes for you as well as our original live concert footage from their shows of Halloweens past!

Kindie February Fun-Free Tickets To Beat Kitchen Concerts for Kids and More!

Today at Beat Kitchen we shot The Okee Dokee Brothers' excellent bluegrass set and we shot a video interview with the band members Joe and Justin.  They've been friends since they were 3 and told us about their crazy, cool canoe adventure down the Mississippi River that inspired their new, upcoming CD!   Check it out soon, right here at ChiIL Mama.com, along with a host of other great kindie band interviews!    We'll also be reviewing The Okee Dokee Brothers' new release coming in May 2012, and running some sweet CD give aways of their first CDs!


****Here's some of our live video coverage of their show last year at Beat Kitchen to tide you over a few days, till we can get caught up on our editing.   (We have much better gear now....1 year later, but it's fun to see a blast from the past anyway.)

This week we're posting all our great photos from Beat Kitchen's Winter Fest 1/29/12 including ChiIL Mama's Rock Star Photo Booth and candids with our fun dress up clothes and instrument "petting zoo".

This Sunday, Feb. 12-noon:

Mr. Singer & the Sharp Cookies,
****enter here through this Thursday midnight for 4 free tickets from ChiIL Mama. 
Beat Kitchen is located at 2100 W. Belmont.   

These guys are loads of fun.   You can check out ChiIL Mama's past 2 video interviews with the band and loads of live show clips through the side search bar under Mr. Singer including this fun cover of White Stripes' Little Ghost!


Want the latest updates on cool music, theatre and events to do with or without the littles?   Follow ChiIL Mama by e-mail, Twitter and/or RSS feed in the sidebar to the right, become ChiIL Mama's Facebook friend right here.


If you want free downloads and national music news, and original show photos aimed at adults/older kids then like and/or follow our brand new Facebook page for our established entertainment blog, ChiIL Live Shows.

Follow Concerts for Kids, become their Facebook friend at
www.facebook.com/kidsshowschicago.
  
Check out our hot and happening Concerts for Kids! lineup
Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont
shows at noon on Sunday (plus one Saturday, Feb. 18)
$6/person

Save the Dates:
Feb. 12: Mr. Singer & the Sharp Cookies
Saturday, Feb. 18: Joanie Leeds & the Nightlights (Laura Doherty, Andy Wilkins & Michael Riendeau)
Feb 19: Mr. Dave
Feb 26: Jonas Friddle: Apple, Peaches, Lemonade
March 4: Jeanie B! and The Jelly Beans
March 11: Super Stolie & The Rockstars


ChiIL Mama's stoked to be a press sponsor for Beat Kitchen's Concerts for Kids.   ChiIL Out with ChiIL Mama's live show videos and band interviews.   Check in and enter our contests like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.

Mr. Singer & The Sharp Cookies-Free Ticket Tuesday Winner New Videos & Free Download Entry

Me And Julio Down By The School Yard

Rathputin The Rattlethnake

Big congrats to Bridget B. who is our family 4 pack winner for Beat Kitchen this Sunday at noon.   Please confirm at zbluesun@gmail.com.   Also, let us know ASAP if you are no longer able to attend and we will pick another family.    Your name will be on the guest list at the door.   Enjoy!

More to win:

Mr. Singer & the Sharp Cookies 

are our win-a-disc-Wednesday 

feature once again, and are they a tasty treat!  

You'll feel a little naughty, like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, when you say the name of this rockin', folky kid disc,  "Muddy Water Beaver Dam Band".   We love a band with a sense of humor!   Enter here to win your very own copy.

If you haven't discovered Mr. Singer 

& The Sharp Cookies yet, you're in for a delightful

surprise.   We love to feature Chi Town locals, and 

Neil Firstenleit, that's Mr. Singer to YOU, is one of 

the best.

Mr. Singer is a regular fixture at the Lincoln Park 

Zoo story time, and well worth checking 

out, if you still have preschoolers in tow.

This disc is so much fun.   There are catchy 

originals with creative lyrics, and folk classics with 

new twists.   I was just getting into their sweet 

version of "This Little Light of Mine" when they 

snuck in the lyrics,  "Are we gonna trash our 

neighbor's house?  No." and had me cracking up.

They're a fun mix of punk, snark, and folk and 

they're just silly enough, without being 

condescending or annoying, to have the kids and 

grown ups laughing and singing along.

I've heard rumors that (like our friends, 

The Boogers) they cover The Ramones live, and 

do a rockin' version of "Rockaway Beach".   

It's no wonder they won a children's music web 

award for "Best Album for School Aged Children" 

for "Muddy Water Beaver Dam Band".   

Here's what CD Baby has to say:

Chicago’s favorite new kid’s band has just completed work on an epic, original album involving more than one hundred children singers and forty guest musicians.

The Sharp Cookies’ irrepressibly-delightful, "Muddy Water Beaver Dam Band" is a true concept album, filled with unforgettable musical characters like Ella Gorilla, Rathputin the Rattlethnake, the Singing Strummer, Rudy Rockhopper and The Subway Mouse. The delightful denizens of the Sharp Cookies’ sonic universe are given wonderful visual dimensions in an accompanying sixteen-page booklet by Chicago artist and photographer, Kerry Firstenleit.

In their previous lives as Chicago stage and studio pros, the founding members of the Sharp Cookies worked with everyone from Aretha Franklin, the Temptations to Buddy Guy. Now they are bringing their monstrous chops, technical wizardry and musical passion to the main stages of classic children’s venues.

"Muddy Water Beaver Dam Band" is the culmination of inspired horseplay at the soundstages of Horse-drawn Productions and schools throughout Chicagoland. The Sharp Cookies irrepressible front man, Mr. Singer has an infectious knack for drawing unsuspecting folks into his musical web. Scores of kids, parents, educators and musicians have lent their high spirits and sweet voices to the Muddy Water Beaver Dam Band project. The result is a soaring, eclectic, enduring delight.

Check out the Sharp Cookies web site for future shows, 

photos and press, tee's and CDs.   And don't forget to enter to win your own dam download card through midnight tonight.

Here at ChiIL Mama, enter weekly through Tues. midnight, for your chance to win great new music.   Check in every Wednesday to see winners announced on ChiIL Mama's Win A Disc Wednesdays.

Recess Monkey's Latest Soon To Be "FLYING" Off The Shelves

Recess Monkey is one of our favorite kindie bands here at ChiIL Mama.   They rocked Kidzapalooza 2010 and you can check out our interviews, stills, and live video HERE.    They were our ChiIL Mama Win A Disc Wednesday feature band a number of times last year, and we are beyond excited to bring you their brand new release, Flying, due for release on summer solstice, June 21.   Flying is produced by infamous Lollapalooza Co-Producer and annual Kidzapalooza MC, Tor Hyams!


If you didn't win this week, we have 2 more copies of Flying that could be flying off our blog and into your home soon.    ChiIL Mama's review of Flying will be up in the very near future.    Check out their web site HERE and check in with ChiIL Mama early and often for more Flying fun and other great new releases.





IT’S A BIRD, IT’S A PLANE, IT’S …

‘FLYING!’

with

RECESS MONKEY

NEW CD TO BE RELEASED JUNE 21

“These kids’ songs are … awesome!  … There are bands you can’t go wrong with, and this is one of them.” – USA Today

“RECESS MONKEY:  If Seattle is the new bastion of kindie rockers, then the trio of elementary school teachers — Jack Forman, Daron Henry and Drew Holloway  — are the city's breakout stars.” – Time magazine

“RECESS MONKEY, The Final Funktier:  The clever trio kick it space-age style on a boppy set with songs like ‘Ukulalien’ and “Beat-Box-a-Robot’ that future astronauts will find irresistibly fun. ★★★★” – People  magazine

“BEST KIDS’ CDs OF THE DECADE:  This trio of Seattle teachers (who have even garnered Beatles comparisons) has become a force to be reckoned with in children's music.”  –AOL ParentDish

For those who understand how a gravity-defying leap from the couch is mightily enhanced by wearing a bed sheet cape, celebrated independent children’s recording group Recess Monkey offers a superhero-inspired collection of music on their seventh studio CD, FLYING! (Monkey Mama, $14.99, for ages 3 – 8, run time 47 minutes. Release date: June 21, 2011.).  

Superheroes usually populate a world of make-believe, but most of the songs on FLYING! are firmly grounded in the everyday, real-life experiences ofRecess Monkey as teachers, parents, and (former) kids and graced with the knowledge that an ordinary person can, indeed, transform into a superhero. Think Wonder Woman re-imagined as a five-year-old playground dynamo covered in band-aids, Superman as a “Superkid” who bravely tells the truth and stands up for what's right, or a tribute to one of the greatest superheroes of all time: Grandma!

Kids’ music authority Stefan Shepherd (Zooglobble) has declared, ““Dan Zanes may be the godfather; They Might Be Giants, the legitimizer; and Laurie Berkner, Ralph Covert, and Justin Roberts the genre’s superstars.  But Recess Monkey is the heart of kids’ music today.” 

“Kindie” music favorites Chris Ballew/Caspar Babypants, Molly Ledford (Lunch Money), Justin Lansing (The Okee Dokee Brothers), Dean Jones(Dog on Fleas), Johnny Bregar, Tom Baisden (The Not-Its!) and Chris Wiser (Sugar Free Allstars) play superhero on FLYING! The album’sproducer, Tor Hyams, launches flights of keyboard fancy on several tracks, and children’s author/illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka (Lunch Lady, Punk Farm) contributes FLYING’s stunning interior comic strip artwork, showing the world just how Recess Monkey became superheroes.

The three members of Recess Monkey are teachers who met while working at the same Seattle school and shared a genuine enthusiasm for a grad school project that morphed into their 2005 debut release Welcome to Recess Monkey Town. This was followed by another popular (and zoologically correct) hit, Aminal House.  The teachers — Jack Forman, Daron Henry, and Drew Holloway — made history with their next release, Wonderstuff,the first double CD children’s album produced from material generated at a kids’ summer camp workshop. Likewise, 2008’s Tabby Road, 2009’s Field Trip, and 2010’s The Final Funktier each came from real life children’s experiences.  

From a plethora of remarkable Seattle-based “kindie” musicians, Seattle Magazine chose to honor Recess Monkey in 2010 with its “Best Local Kids’ Music” accolade. The band’s 2010 release, The Final Funktier, was highlighted on CBS-TV’s The Early Show and in People magazine. The Final Funktier was on “Best of 2010” lists by Amazon.com  ; Parents Magazine; The Washington Post; Time Out NY Kids;Kidsmusic.About.com  ; Boston Children’s Music; Cool Mom Picks; Daily Candy Kids; MetroKids; MilwaukeeMoms.com ; Minivan Blues; You Know, for Kids; Zooglobble; and more. The album was a KIWI magazine 2010 “holiday pick” and was featured in ParentsConnect’s holiday gift guide.   Each of Recess Monkey’s previous albums has received similar acclaim.

Tour dates for ChiIL Mama's Kindie Fans Nation Wide:

(...'cause everyone loves recess!   If they're not coming to your town, do I hear a chorus of road trip...road trip...road trip emanating from the peanut gallery?)

RECESS MONKEY in Performance

Highlights – Spring/Summer 2011

April 30                       Brooklyn Central Library                                                                Brooklyn, NY

May 1                         92YTribeca                                                                                     New York, NY

May 7                         The Moore Theatre                                                                         Seattle, WA

May 21                       Tulsa Mayfest                                                                                  Tulsa, OK

May 30                       Northwest FolklifeFestival                                                               Seattle, WA

June 18                      Mt. Baker Center – CD RELEASE SHOW!                                     Seattle, WA

April 23                       Off Broadway                                                                                  St. Louis, MO

May 15                       92Y Tribeca                                                                                     New York, NY

July 3                         Top of the Park                                                                                 Ann Arbor, MI

July 16                       World Café Live at The Queen                                                        Wilmington, DE

July 19 - 23                Wolf Trap Theatre in the Woods residencey                                    Vienna, VA

July 24 - 25                Long Island Children’s Museum                                                       Garden City, NY

July 26                       The Colonial Theatre                                                                        Phoenixville, PA

Our next Win A Disc Wednesday feature is another favorite of ours, Muddy Water Beaver Dam Band by Mr. Singer & The Sharp Cookies, to coincide with their upcoming live Beat Kitchen show on Sunday the 22nd at noon.    Enter here to win 4 tickets to the show and/or your own free Muddy Water Beaver Dam Band download.    Mr. Singer gives us a rockin' good set of tunes and a great excuse to say dam in front of the kids without raising eyebrows or owing the swear jar.    They're working on a new release and may be breaking out new material on Sunday, but for now, we're still diggin' this one.