U2 at the Rosebowl

"Mom? I know my first concert was dad's band playing, right? But this one tonight kind of counts as my first concert too because I wasn't old enough to remember then."

"Correct."

"Have you ever sat in one of those special box things up at the top of the stadium?"

"Yes."

"Was it really good?"

"It was nice, but I was so far away from the action up there, it almost felt like I was watching it on TV. The music is only part of a concert. The rest is being a part of a group of people who are sharing an experience."

"Oh, yeah. I totally get that. That's really important. But do they have couches and snacks up there?"

History Lessons

"Mom? You know that awesome song "The Final Countdown" by the band Europe?"

"No. Is it new?"

"No, I think it's really old. Dad showed it to me on Youtube. Watch."

"This is definitely not my thing, Bob. I wasn't much into hair bands in the 80s. If you are, there are a lot of light-metal hair songs better than this."

"Like what?"

"How about this?"

"Who's that?"

"Billy Idol."

"Is he dead now?"

"No."

"Are you sure? He seems like someone who would maybe have a drug problem."

"And yet, he lives."

"He looks like he's wearing a ripped up vest version of the Michael Jackson "Thriller" jacket. Look at his lip! Look at him punching the air! This is way better than the countdown song. It blows the countdown song out of the... out of the..."

"Water?"

"No. The ocean. The whole ocean."

Detour

"How many times have you listened to this song this morning, Mama?"

"Maybe three times?"

"Who is it?"

"Chris Cornell."

"How old is he?"

"I think he's my age."

"He's thirty?"

"You're my favorite."

"Just kidding - he's 51?"

"Around there."

"Okay, but do you know anyone who's ever had something amputated?"

"What? What just happened?"

"It's called a subject change, Mom."

Musicians

"Hey, Bob. So I went to this harp recital on Sunday. It was in this really big house in Beverly Hills and they had a big harp and a huge piano."

"That sounds cool, Felix. Was it, like, a grand piano? Or like, a baby grand piano?"

"I'm not sure."

"My dad's friend Steve has a baby grand piano in his house because he's a pee-an-ist."

"A what?"

"A pee-an-ist."

"You know what that word sounds like, right?"

"Yeah."

"That's so awesome."

"I know."

Lyrics

"Mom? What are the words in this song?"

"'I see a red door and I want to paint it black...'"

"Why paint it black?"

"Those are the words the Rolling Stones wrote."

"I wouldn't paint it black. I would paint it blue. Blue's my favorite color, you know."

Career Survey

 
"Felix, what are you doing when you grow up again?"

"I'm working at the zoo. What about you, Bob?"

"I switched from fireman and now I'm going to be selling bugs. And I'll have my band. What about you, Desmond?"

"Artist and I'll be in Bob's band."

"Cool."

"Cool."

"Cool."

Seven Is Soon

Bob has started planning his 7th birthday party. We always start with date, time, venue, and theme.  This year, his birthday falls on a Sunday so we will be having the party on his actual birthday. The time will be the classic: noon. Bob has chosen to have his party at Jump n' Jammin' a kids entertainment center that is long on fun and heavy on apostrophes.  Past themes have included balloons, Elmo, Star Wars (x2), and Zombies & Ninjas.

Today Bob chose the theme for this year's party, his favorite band: Black Sabbath.

I am now busy shopping for black balloons and black streamers and bats, I guess.

Oh, Dad

 
"Dad, there are a lot of records in this box."

"The record label sent them. These are new records they made from an old band I was in."

"What was it called?"

"Pink and Brown."

"That's a weird name."

"I was Brown and my friend John was Pink."

"Dad? Why are you naked in this picture?'

"Well, it's sort of a long story."

"What is it? What's the story?"

"Hey, Bob! Bedtime!"

Just No

"Mom is that rock and roll on the radio?"

"Yes, it is."

"What band is it?"

"The band is called The Who."

"What?"

"The Who."

"Who?"

"I'm not going to do this."

Rocking So Hard

photo

"Bob, we need to talk about your birthday."

"I know! It's only two months away!"

"Do you want a theme this year?"

"Like last year it was ninjas and zombies?"

"Right."

"Yeah. This year the theme is going to be Black Sabbath."

"So a rock and roll theme?"

"No. Just Black Sabbath."

His Press Kit

"Mom, I had to use the camera on your phone again."

"Had to?"

"Yeah, I was taking pictures for the album cover for my band when I'm in high school - remember Dynamite Menace? It's mostly pictures of me doing some of my karate moves."

"You're really planning in advance."

"It's not that far away, Mom."

Rocking So Hard

"My band is going to be rock and roll like Black Sabbath but with some dance music and disco and a little jazz. Felix and Ringo and Cleo and Brandon can be the drummers. Micah can play the bass and Muan can do keyboards. Me and Desmond and Clementine and GeonHee can do guitars and I'm going to sing and do dancing and Sabine and Ferruccio might do dancing too. We'll be called 'Dynamite Menace.'"

"Our first songs are going to be called:
Dynamite Menace
I Say: No Victory
Magic of the Grave (I'll tell you the story later, Mom.)
Poker
Wolf War
Robot Suit
We might do a country song too but I'm not sure yet. That's a maybe."

Rock Off and On

"Was that song rock and roll, Mom?'

"Yeah."

"It didn't sound like rock and roll."

"It was a ballad but it was still rock and roll, I guess."

"Now who is this band, Mom?"

"This is Guns N Roses."

"I don't have to ask about this Roses band, Mom. They're definitely rock n roll. I'm six and I know this."

Sound Check

"Ssh, Mom. We can't do talking now. It's called sound check so that I can check the sound of Dad's band... 'Hey Guys! It's checked!'"

Bob Rosenberg's Playlist 09.12

Bob has inherited Jeff's old iPod Shuffle. He picked the following songs to listen to for this month:

Wanna Be Starting Something - Michael Jackson
Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO
Blitzkrieg Bop - Ramones
Charlie Brown - Coldplay
Thriller - Michael Jackson
Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5
Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano

Merry Christmas and Happy September to you.

How To Be a Roadie by Bob Rosenberg

When I was little and I went to my dad's music shows, I was just a baby size person still so I couldn't help anyone. I just did sleeping mostly and hung around and did baby things. That's different now.

If you are old like me, you can be a roadie. Roadie is a name for music show rock band helper guy. That is you. Now when you're grown up and six-years old, when you go to a music show you get to say things like, "I'm with the band." Maybe you will get a wrist band or an ink stamp on your hand. When you go to a show and your mom asks if you want to get an ice cream at the ice cream truck that's parked by the show you will have to say, "No, Mom. I have to help dad first." This is because you are a roadie and your job is to move band things around like guitars and suitcases that have lots of stickers on them.

When you are being a roadie you can see the band play really up close like from the front or maybe the side of the stage. The stage is the big part that your mom wants you to not fall off of.

When the band is all done you can move stuff back off the stage and the sound guy will maybe call you "Bro" or something like that. Then you should go to each one of the band musicians and tell them that they sounded great because that's the polite thing to do plus they even did sound great. They might high five you or something. That will be cool because you are a roadie, a super cool roadie.

His Song

 photo

"Mom, can you please turn on the radio to see if my song is on?"

"Which song are you looking for?"

"You know, the one that goes, 'Da da da da da I've got to move my jacket...'"

"I think you mean, 'Da da da da da I've got the moves like Jagger...'"

"Like what? Mom, that doesn't even make sense."

***

I'm linked up here at Miss Elaine-ous today too because I get around. Ask anyone.

He's Only Five

"Hey, Mom? Remember when I used to love The Beatles?"

"You don't love them anymore?"

"Now I like really loud rock and roll."

"You can turn up the volume on The Beatles and make it louder."

"No, now I like the rock and roll that sounds loud like a drill, like a super, big drill."