Let me start with the back story. The boys and I are Kids Place Live super fans. If you have Sirius XM, you have to check them out on channel 116. I promise you'll be glad you did, especially the Absolutely Mindy Show weekdays from 3-6. Anyway, a couple of years ago Mindy started playing the Randy Kaplan song "No Nuthin" and the first time we heard it we were hooked. From that day on we officially became F.O.R.K.s, Fans Of Randy Kaplan. (Randy will be in-studio on Kids Place Live this Wednesday.)
There's no shortage of rave reviews of his music, yet whenever I told someone that I was taking P to a Randy Kaplan show the response was always, "Who's Randy Kaplan?" The best analogy I can come up is that Randy Kaplan is the Arrested Development of children's music--brilliant, laugh-out-loud funny, and way ahead of his time. If you don't know who he is, remedy that now.
Several months ago I saw that Randy Kaplan was playing a live show at the Symphony Space in New York and I bought tickets right away. On Friday I threw caution to the wind and decided to contact Randy through his website to see if I could interview him after the show. Much to my surprise he responded right away and said yes. I tried to be cool and decided not to tell P until we were at the show, but I spilled the beans as soon as I picked him up from school on Friday. Cool is overrated.
So today we were treated to an hour-long live performance that kicked off with P's favorite Randy Kaplan Song, "My Little Laugh." Randy took the stage with his acoustic guitar and harmonica and managed the impossible--he held the attention of a room full of kids ranging from infants to 10-year-olds and entertained the parents at the same time. Most of the set list was made up of songs from "The Kids are All Id," but the show also included some old favorites like "Ladybug Without Spots," "Mosquito Song," and "You Can't Always Get What You Want."
I could go on and on about the performance, but here's how you know Randy Kaplan is an amazing entertainer. I didn't hear one kid cry for the entire hour, and several scans of the room showed lots of smiles, laughter, and plenty of dancing. Even though we know the words to his songs by heart (no small accomplishment because there are lots words!), Randy's stage presence and story-telling skills made it sound all brand new. My only complaint is that I wanted more (sadly "Roaches" and "Shampoo Me" didn't make the cut for today's show), but considering the attention span of the primary audience, I certainly understand the rationale for keeping the show to an hour. P and I would've sat there and listened all day if we could.
Check out Randy's YouTube Channel to see some live performances for yourself (his version of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" is out of this world). Better yet, subscribe to his newsletter so you can find out when he's coming to your neck of the woods.
After the show we stopped by the merch table to buy some CDs and a "Shampoo Me" t-shirt, which were sold to us by Randy's mom. After getting our CD signed and posing for a picture, Randy invited us to the stage to chat while he broke down his equipment. He told us all about how he was inspired by a live Harry Chapin show at his elementary school (his mom used her PTA status to get him backstage even though kids weren't allowed--how cool is she!). I took the opportunity to ask Randy for advice for my budding musician, and he told P the very same thing Harry Chapin told him when he was 10: keep practicing!
It was truly a magical afternoon and Randy, we can't thank you enough for taking the time to hang out for a bit. Who knows? Maybe P will be opening for you some day!
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