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You wonder what comparisons The Hold Steady are more sick of now – the Bruce Springsteen ones or the "best bar band in America" ones. With their fifth album Heaven is Forever, both tags have lost as much weight as guitarist Tad Kubler’s pant size Sure, The Hold Steady are a great band and even a better “bar” one, but that label is now tired, as Heaven is Whenever holds more depth than the “Chip Ahoys” and “Constructive Summers" of album's past.
As the Phish fanbase continues to skew older more of the group’s followers have become parents. Just because you’ve got kids doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stop seeing Phish shows. One of our first commenters, Alan Miller, shares his survival guide for Phish-loving new parents…
Last summer, I brought my toddler to SPAC for his first Phish show. I had visited PT to ask for some advice, and wound up with 150 people telling me that bringing my son to a show was a terrible idea and you can imagine all of the insulting comments made on top of that. Yet, there were one or two people who offered some reasonable advice. So, in case there are any new parents reading HT, here’s my survival guide for Phishing with kids keeping in mind that this is based on my own personal experience with a 1 1/2 year old. This summer we’ll be bringing him and his little brother to CMAC.
[#6 on our B List – 10 Kiddie Phish Videos]
1. Change Your Expectations
When my wife and I decided to bring our son to the show, we went in with the assumption that we may see two songs, we may see one set, and, if we were really lucky, we’d make it for the whole show. If you bring your kids to a show, you have to put their needs first. My philosophy was one hour of Phish was better than nothing at all. We also didn’t worry about the highest quality sound or visual experience. We wanted to experience a show with our son.
2. Scout Out The Venue
We went to SPAC the day before the show (not into the venue, but checked out the park) to find out where we would park, eat dinnner and let our boy run out his energy before the show. Now, I fully believe SPAC is the PERFECT place for kids to see a show, for a million reasons–however, if your kid is like mine, head to a park a few hours before the show and let him/her run around like crazy. You don’t want restless legs during the show.
READ ON for more of Alan’s Guide to Phishing With Kids…
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