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On June 11, I played hooky from work, and made my 3-year-old daughter skip school.  Why?  For a rite of passage, you might say.

I took my daughter to her first rock concert.

I first discovered the Barenaked Ladies, the quirky Canadian band known for its sense of humor and fun, when I was a freshman in college and my friend's Canadian roommate put their first album on.  After laughing through the lyrics to "If I Had a Million Dollars," I asked, "What the &*%^# is this?!"  But I was hooked.

As a parent always on the lookout for both kiddie music that doesn't suck [sorry, but I'm not playing anything by giant purple dinosaurs or Australians in dayglo unitards] and adult music that won't sound inappropriate when parroted by my keen-eared daughter [when she started repeating lyrics, I had to shelve her best friend's mom's hiphop/R&B mix CDs, lest she start singing about "bringing sexy back" and "my humps"], I've counted myself lucky to be a parent during a nascent movement of adult artists crossing over to do kiddie music, both as side projects, like They Might Be Giants and Lisa Loeb, and permanently, like "kindie rock" king Dan Zanes and Bakersfield's own Mr.Oscat [who blogs about modern kids' music here on RaisingBakersfield.com].

And now, BNL have put their quirky sense of humor and ease with multiple musical genres to amazing use on their first children's album, Snacktime.  I stuck it in my car stereo when it first came out in early May, and, due to popular demand from the backseat, it's barely come out since.  So, when I found out that the band's free tour of bookstores across the nation in support of the album included a stop in LA, I had to take my babygirl.

We had a great time, and The Pumpkin was amazing, even with all the waiting and crowds and the volume.  She was right up in front with other kids in little chairs, singing along (she knows all the words to the songs on Snacktime).  She was a little confused when they played a few of their adult classics (including "If I Had a Million Dollars," for which they called up from the audience their friend Al Yankovic--yes, that Al Yankovic--to play accordion), but fine.  The way I know she really wanted to be there--even though she sat in that little chair for an hour-and-a-half waiting for the show to start, "reading" her picture book of the lyrics and singing along to the CD on the speakers, she didn't want to leave to go to the potty in case she missed the start.

There were a lot of people at that show, with and without kids.  The line for getting your CDs and books autographed wrapped around 2 floors of the bookstore.  But we got The Pumpkin's CD and book signed (though she was too shy to tell them she loved them and knew all the words), and she still talks about how we saw the band sing in person.

By the way, maybe it's how she hears it, or it just makes more sense in her 3-year-old head, but she can't said "Barenaked Ladies."  Always, every day, from the backseat, it's, "I want the Bear Kid Ladies, please."  Heh.

I've uploaded videos of the whole set, song by song, so please enjoy the Bear Kid Ladies, as my daughter would want you, and your children, to.

Oh, and if you want to get your hands on a copy of the CD yourself, I just so happened to have them autograph another copy for our very own RaisingBakersfield.com contest:

Email your name, phone number and zip code to contests@raisingbakersfield.com, with the keyword "Snacktime" in the subject line, by July 31, for your chance to win.