Bringing kids to concerts

[Stilgar]

I had never done this before, but my wife convinced me that as a birthday present to me, we'd all go to the Close Up Magazine Festival and watch some bands. Our son is 2 1/2 years old and our daughter is 6 weeks old.

We decided to watch only a few bands, so that it wouldn't be too hard on them. We decided on Evergray, Krux and Katatonia day 1, and Amon Amarath, Bolt Thrower and Opeth on day 2.

We got them a pair of earmuffs (is that the right word?) each and headed out. It went surprisingly well. My son was a bit worried at first, feeling the bass and all that, but once he got used to that, he was fine and even enjoyed some of it (he actually likes some of the metal I play on the stereo at home and asks me to start the CD/DVD over when it stops). Poor guy fell asleep while Bolt Thrower was playing Cenotaph though and missed Opeth all together.

Our daughter was fine until sometime in the first half of the Opeth gig when we had to go downstairs where she could take off her earmuffs and didn't feel the bass so much. She was fine there though with her mom, so I could pop up a few times and watch, or just listen from downstairs. I got to see most of the concert myself, but my poor wife had to settle for listening to most of it instead.

All in all though, it went better than expected and the crew was very helpful and understanding. However, at one point, a drunk lady came up to us and told us that we shouldn't bring them, because it's not a familiy concert and there is no way that a kid so young (my son) could like metal.

I know that most people here don't have kids of their own yet, but I'm wondering if anyone else has tried this? If yes, what was your experience?

 

[Ermz]

I think our faithful mod, Mr Samsara may have done this with his kids. Hmm.. actually it was either him or MetalmanCPA, or both.. who knows.

I think in all of the cases I've heard of though, none of the kids were quite as young as yours, Stilgar!

 

[OpethNZ]

i say good on ya, be a great story for them to tell when they grow up!, also you clearly have their safety at the forefront with the precautions you took, im all for it, if i had kids id absolutely bring em along to rock with me :up:

 

[opeth8]

Sounds pretty daring. I've talked about bringing my 9 yr old to an Opeth show, but I'm sure it would scare the shit out of her. Maybe when she's 12 or 13 ???

She listens to Opeth when we're driving around. She likes Rock, but Opeth remains a bit much for her. It's funny, she compares Mike's voice to a cartoon character (Mojo Jojo). She finds the growl funny.

Now back to the main subject. Good Luck Stilgar ! Hope it goes well.

 

[Larsson]

Seems like you are raising your kids well. But I think it was stretching it a little bit to bring a six weeks old child. Couldnt you have left her to her grand parents or something?

What did you think about the show? Personally I thought everything on the main stage was good except Evergrey, Deathstars and Blindside, which i didnt even watch, still heard it from outside though. I think you choose the best bands to see and I actually enjoyed Amon Amarth the most.

 

[BastardSonOfGod]

Hej man I was there too... I meet the bands and I talk with Martin... You was in the second floor right?... Opeth was damn good the most funny part was when Martin played a fast Bass solo and then Mike played a Slow blues solo I was always in the first line... at least for Amon Amarth, Bolt fucking Thrower!!!! and Opeth (Damn the voice of Mike was really good, awesome)

 

[Stilgar]

Seems like you are raising your kids well. But I think it was stretching it a little bit to bring a six weeks old child. Couldnt you have left her to her grand parents or something?

Well... My parents live in northern Sweden, which is an 16-18 hour drive from here (or a very expensive flight). And my wife's grandparents live in the US, which is even worse. And it being the easter weekend, everybody has other plans. We just decided to bring her with us and if she didn't like it we'd have left. The childrens safety is number 1 for us.

What did you think about the show? Personally I thought everything on the main stage was good except Evergrey, Deathstars and Blindside, which i didnt even watch, still heard it from outside though. I think you choose the best bands to see and I actually enjoyed Amon Amarth the most.

Yeah. We chose the bands we thought would be the best performances.

Evergray was OK, Krux was better than expected and I probably would have enjoyed them even more if I had seen them play when I was heavily into Candlemass. Katatonia rocked! Yay! It would have been fun if they had played something from their really early albums, though. But I never expected them to, since I read that he can't really growl anymore without consequences.

My son really enjoyed Amon Amarath (I liked them too. Never heard them before, so now I'll try to find some albums). I thought that was pretty cool. Bolt Thrower really rocked, but the volume for one of the guitars was a bit low, so you couldn't hear all the little details I love clearly. Opeth were of course great as always, but the audience seemed a little bit tired at that point. Not at all as much go as the last time I saw them (the audience, that is. Opeth were rockin'). I guess playing at 1 am after two days does that to people. Heh.

All in all, I was very satisfied with the whole thing.

 

[Stilgar]

Hej man I was there too... I meet the bands and I talk with Martin... You was in the second floor right?... Opeth was damn good the most funny part was when Martin played a fast Bass solo and then Mike played a Slow blues solo I was always in the first line... at least for Amon Amarth, Bolt fucking Thrower!!!! and Opeth (Damn the voice of Mike was really good, awesome)

Yeah. Mostly on the second floor. More space for the son to run around if he needed it. For Evergray and Amon Amarath we were downstairs though.

Cool that you got to meet the band. I would have liked to as well if possible. We actually met a guy originally from Chile and his girlfriend. Relly nice people. He was gonna interview the guys from Opeth and he suggested that he'd ask Mikael to meet us, since we share the same birthday and we brought the whole family. However, there were some problems before the gig, so he had to go backstage after the gig instead, so we would have to wait. But since our daughter was getting a bit tired of the whole thing, we decided to head back home as soon as possible. It would have been really cool though.

 

[BastardSonOfGod]

The Chilean guy that you meet was Alvaro I think... he was with me almost all the time, at least the second day he was the vocalist/bass player of Undercroft!... really cool band.

For Amon Amarth you was downstairs with your son? wow... the concert was really hard... at least in the first lines... Now your sons have something really cool to tell to their friends in the future

 

[Vegetaman]

I was 16 for my first concert, but I'd have liked to go to ones when I was younger...

 

[Stilgar]

The Chilean guy that you meet was Alvaro I think... he was with me almost all the time, at least the second day he was the vocalist/bass player of Undercroft!... really cool band.

That is correct. His name was Alvaro. I didn't know he played in a band. He never told us. Cool. I'd better check it out.

For Amon Amarth you was downstairs with your son? wow... the concert was really hard... at least in the first lines... Now your sons have something really cool to tell to their friends in the future

It wasn't too loud in the back (especially with earmuffs/earplugs). I hope they remember it well enough to tell their friends.

 

[Tamadrummer73]

I dont really see a problem with that, I mean, you were with them the whole time and everything. its actually very cool, and your kids are definately growing up listening to the right music.

I did see, at a Misfits concert (I dont know why I was even there..), where the lead singer threw his son into the crowd to go crowd surfing...only the kid looked to be about 6 or so. I dont feel that that was right, or good parenting at all. someone could have dropped him and he be hurt, or many other things. not to mention the mosh pit that wasnt too many feet away.

 

[Larsson]

What do you look like BastardSonOfGod?

I was at the front row when Amon Amarth and Bolt thrower played. Had to go to the toilet between Bolt thrower and Opeth so i ended up on the thid row or something.

Well... My parents live in northern Sweden, which is an 16-18 hour drive from here (or a very expensive flight). And my wife's grandparents live in the US, which is even worse. And it being the easter weekend, everybody has other plans. We just decided to bring her with us and if she didn't like it we'd have left. The childrens safety is number 1 for us.

Ok.

 

[BastardSonOfGod]

Oh this is me with the bass player of Bolt Thrower... I look quite funny but is a good picture she told me "Easy tiger" hahahaha... When I looked my face in the picture I realized why she told me that hahahaha

 

[Powers]

I've been to the Leeds festival twice and I see a few people every year who take their kids. In honesty, i think it's a wonderful idea it, allows kids to have the experience from a very early age and in one sense I wish my parents had done it. However, it's totally dependent upon age, at between 0 and a year and a half old it's probably ok because they can't move very fast but hey proabaly won't appreciate it. between 4 and 9 it's most likely a pretty bad idea, because they can run, they do silly things and you can't have your eye on the the whole time. Once they're old enough to appreciate the experience, which is proabably around 10 (at the earliest), then it's proabbaly ok.

But look on it this way, your at a festival (which you've paid a lot of money to go and see), this is your holiday guys and it's a massive chance to see a tonne of your favourite bands in a very short space of time. Be selfish, leave the kids at home with grandma and you'll have a lot more fun. Take them when they're older and have more respect for of being in the middle of know where surrounded by thousands of people you've never met.

Stilgar, it was a lovely idea and I hope it went well. However I wouldn't have done, I think the kids are too young to appreciate it and your trading in your own enjoyment. Respect to you sir.

 

[Mr. Bland]

At the Wiltern, I saw a person with a little girl (4-6 years old) on his shoulders. She was headbanging and it looked so cute.

And I went to 2 concerts and I was 12 (now 13) so... I think it is cool that there are more and more youngsters coming now.

 

[Sean Casey]

it just seems like they'd be a distraction...

 

[BastardSonOfGod]

Damn no!!!! that's a great experience, it must be awesome to share something like that with your sons!!!!

 

[Stilgar]

I dont really see a problem with that, I mean, you were with them the whole time and everything. its actually very cool, and your kids are definately growing up listening to the right music.

I'm trying to raise them to have open minds. My son seems to like much of the music I'm listening to, which I think is nice. He does like some stuff they show on the music channels that I don't like too, but that's fine.

I did see, at a Misfits concert (I dont know why I was even there..), where the lead singer threw his son into the crowd to go crowd surfing...only the kid looked to be about 6 or so. I dont feel that that was right, or good parenting at all. someone could have dropped him and he be hurt, or many other things. not to mention the mosh pit that wasnt too many feet away.

Ow! That sounds like something I wouldn't do. I hope everything went all right.

 

[Stilgar]

Damn no!!!! that's a great experience, it must be awesome to share something like that with your sons!!!!

Yeah. It was really cool seeing how he enjoyed Amon Amarth, bouncing on my shoulders, headbanging slightly, pointing to the stage, smiling and talking (even though I couldn't hear a thing he said ). A great experience. Sure, I couldn't stand at the front row, but that's fine. I've done that a lot. Others can do that now.