Punch Brothers for a 4-year-old?

[Bob Wiegers]

Any opinions on whether I should take my 4-year-old to a Punch Brothers show? it's a nice venue here on the campus of UT-Chattanooga, so no worries there. but I'm wondering if it'll be too "over his head" so to speak. heck, it'll probably be over my head for that matter, but at least it will end before my bedtime.

I should say for what it's worth that my boy does enjoy music and has a mellow enough personality that he can sit still for longer than average

so, any thoughts on how kid-friendly the Punch Brothers latest sets have been?

thanks.

[mrmando]

Well, if you don't want your 4-year-old exposed to any of George Carlin's seven dirty words, you might want to get a babysitter ... last time I saw Punch Bros., they performed "that song" with "that word."

[first string]

Depends on your kid. Will he or she get tired and cranky, and start wailing in the middle of the set? If the answer is no, I say go for it. You don't want to detract from anyone else's enjoyment of the show, but if that isn't a factor, it seems like a good experience. I'm not saying your kid will enjoy it. I didn't enjoy going to the symphony when I was young. But I do now. I really think if I hadn't been forcibly exposed to classical music--and instrumental music of all stripes--when I was growing up, that I'd just be listening to pop music now, and really missing out on all kinds of great things.

As for their set...They know the chamber piece takes a lot of concentration. Probably a lot more so for them, than for the audience. So when I saw them, they broke it up, with half before intermission and half after...With lots of more straight forward, melodic, tonal stuff mixed in. In short, take the kid unless he or she is a screamer.

[Bob Wiegers]

Well, if you don't want your 4-year-old exposed to any of George Carlin's seven dirty words, you might want to get a babysitter ... last time I saw Punch Bros., they performed "that song" with "that word."

oh yeah. last time they were here it was a free outdoor show, so they did the G-rated version.
but honestly, I doubt he would notice.

[Mattg]

I think about when my kids were 4 and, unless Thile was wearing a big red Elmo suit, they would have been pretty bored. It really depends on the kid.

[Jim MacDaniel]

I say go for it, but I would be cautious about taking a child to an indoor venue without having ear protection on hand just in case -- although I suspect the mix at a Punch Bros show wouldn't be gratuitously loud. (Maybe it's just me, but I find indoor venues excessively fatiguing to these old ears -- plus laying out a pic-nic blanket at an outdoor venue is a far more relaxing way to enjoy a concert IMHO.)

I took my boy Aidan to see Lyle Lovette when he was 2-1/2 and he did just fine, although there was about a 20 minute period during k.d.lang's opening set where he had to climb every railing along the sidewalk encircling the top of the venue (the Concord Pavilion). He is now 3-1/2, and we plan to take him with us to see Van Morrison in May at Berkeley's Greek Theater. (I wanted to take him to see Jimmy Buffet this year as well, but that was on a school night -- and while he might fare OK the next morning, I would probably have a hard time getting up for work. :( )

[JEStanek]

Wait for a Dan Zanes and Friends show. Or at the very least be sure the theater has seats... I saw the Punch Brothers at a venue that was just standing... awful.. Concrete floors for 2.5 hours. They were 45 minutes late too.

Jamie

[Johnny Mandolin]

As most everyone here has said it really depends on the child. If he loves music then yes you should take him. Heck, wasn't it because Chris's parents took him to the local bluegrass night at a pizza parlor that he picked up a mandolin, and I believe he was somewhere around that age (granted Puch Brothers is not bluegrass). I saw P.B. for a 2 night indoor show here in Baton Rouge, LA at the beginning of February and they played "that song" and left out "that word", so they may now be shying away from it. The sound level was not overly loud by any means and though they did play all 4 movements in a row there was plenty of banter in between them. The shows were great!

[mrmando]

Concrete floors for 2.5 hours. They were 45 minutes late too.
Wow! The floors were 45 minutes late? What did you stand on before the floors got there?

[JEStanek]

My feet! Silly goose. Looks like I'm still sore about the venue, huh...

Jamie

[mrmando]

I must second the Dan Zanes endorsement.

[jefflester]

Wow! The floors were 45 minutes late? What did you stand on before the floors got there?
Badump-bump.

Is that the sort of thing Dan Zanes would say?

[mzuch]

I recently saw PB at a tiny firetrap in NYC and everyone else in the audience (and on stage) was at least half my age, so your 4 year old should fit in just fine.

[Jim MacDaniel]

Wow! The floors were 45 minutes late? What did you stand on before the floors got there?

Hey -- I was once in a band called Concrete Floors!
(With apologies to MandoDude ;) )

[Perry Babasin]

So we saw them a month or so ago at the Mondavi Center in Davis. Great show with some very accessible music at the beginning and end, with a long fun encore. The center piece is a very long (45 minutes), eclectic, heady composition "Blind Leaving the Blind". I LOVED it all, my wife wasn't as into the "Blind" piece but enjoyed the rest (she is a big Nickel Creek fan).

If your baby is anything like the kids I saw in the audience, he will have a nice nap and jump up during the livelier bluegrassier portions. Joe Craven brought his (I assume) granddaughter and she seemed to enjoy it. You are in Tennessee, so I am assuming he has seen and heard live bluegrass music before. How expensive are the tickets?

Enjoy the Show........... Perry