Gustafer Yellowgold Live!

A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of seeing GustaferYellowgold perform at Jammin Java. At almost 2 years old, this was Orion’s first concert. I wasn't sure if he would be too young to enjoy the show but this doubt soon turned out to be unfunded even though he did seem to be the youngest of the mobile babies (there were one or two infants).  We paid $39 total for 3 tickets and then I spent $20 on a plush Gustafer and a plush Slim the Eel and it was worth every penny.

When we arrived, Orion was asleep in the car so we hung out in the parking.  Doors opened at 10am with the show starting at 10:30am.  I have been to many a show and know they never start on time. We woke him up at 10:30 and went inside.  I had never been to Jammin Java before which has a coffee shop up front with tables and benches taking up about ¼ of the space.  Behind a heavy curtain is a large room with chairs, a stage, a small merch nook, and an area with table and chairs.  Orion wanted to explore and quickly decided that up front climbing on the benches was the place to be.

I noticed the merch area and the plush dolls which I never knew existed.  Even though I was very much in the not going to buy Orion anything because his birthday is coming up, I had to buy him a Gustafer and then Slim looked so cute, so done and done.  Orion was happy to hold his new friends, one for each hand.  It wasn't until the gentleman who sold me the toys got on stage that I realized he was Gustafer, Morgan Taylor.

Orion wanted to explore and ended up climbing the stairs all the way to the top to say hello to Jimi. The show was about to start and I did not want to miss anything. The last two rows were empty and some tables as well, there was also space to sit on the floor in front of the stage.  Patrick took a seat in the back, I attempted to get Orion to sit on the floor with me but he would not be contained.  When the music started it seemed to startle Orion.  He sought comfort in his father’s lap clutching his new friends until he figured out what was going on.  This made quite a cute sight!

I have lost a bit of hearing during my early concert going years and have a hard time hearing a person if they are not facing me.  The volume was not too loud and the sound was really quite good.  I have to say I think he sounded better live that day than when we listen to him on Pandora.  I really like his voice and you could hear the texture it had, good job sound guys!  The music is mellow and he asked who was “ready to soft rock” which I thought was very cute.

One reason I thought Orion would enjoy the show aside from his love of music and dance is that Morgan Taylor is an illustrator and all of the songs have very cute illustrated videos.  Orion loves TV almost as much as he father does and if a TV is on he will usually watch it. We have watched the Mellow Fever DVD a few times (checked out from our local library!) and it has held his interest.

The music is very cute and sweet with a great sense of humor. Mr. Taylor did a great job interacting with the crowd, asking questions, waiting for replies, telling little anecdotes, and even did a live commercial for eel chow (so cute!).  It did not take very long for Orion to warm up and climb down from daddy’s lap.  He started to walk closer to the stage and then I was able to sit on the floor with him in my lap.  Eventually he got out of my lap and stood closer to the stage and danced a bit.  He also wanted to explore the cables on stage and the tall tripod with the projector on top.  Thankfully is was easy to redirect him away from these things and he did not cry about it.  He was the only kid who wanted to explore these items, I was amazed by how good everyone acted!

The show was about 45 minutes (or so) which was about the perfect length as lunch time was fast approaching.  Mr. Taylor raffled off an original handmade GY drawing which yours truly won!  Which Orion immediately creased and I still need to get framed.  Orion seemed very energized after the show and since the place was emptying out, I let him run around. I wanted to get a picture with Mr. Taylor and wanted to wait for the line to be nonexistent.  He was really nice about getting a picture and apologized for butchering my name and Orion’s when he announced the raffle winner. 

It really was a wonderful outing which I highly recommend.  Orion might be too young to remember this outing but I will and we have pictures to prove it! He is playing tomorrow in McLean but we will not make it because we have the great Cloth Diaper Change and I do not want to come off as a Gustafer Groupie (even though I am).  I hope we get to see him again when Orion is a bit older and might remember the experience.  Now I really need to own all 5 of their DVD/CDs which might become my standard birthday gift for a while.     

WTEWYE/BYBM Review

Yes, I was that mom at the mommy & me showing of What to Expect When Your Expecting who was letting her baby crawl all over the theater.  Yes, I do know how dirty the floor of a movie theater is because I worked in a few movie theaters.  Also, I saw the knees of my baby’s jeans and how black and yucky there were which was no comparison to the grossness of his little red booties.  I did feel really dirty after the movie during my drive home and couldn’t wait to give the baby and myself a good scrubbing.

Do I regret letting my baby crawl wild over dirty, sticky, disgusting floors?  Not at all!  Orion did not get sick or eat anything off the dirty floor even though he did try.  He was able to crawl and play and I was able to watch the movie.  Orion is obsessed with steps right now and really wanted to crawl up and down the theater steps.  We have one step in the house which goes into the laundry room.  If he can get to that step, he will go down it then turn around, go up it, and repeat.  It was also nice that we knew a bunch of the moms & babies in the theater so he got to visit with some friends. 

Would I do it again?  Maybe not.  If Orion was an immobile baby who only slept and ate, sure I would be there.  I spent a lot of time chasing after him and at one point everything went a little black and I got a bit dizzy.  I guess my blood pressure had a sudden drop as I do have notoriously low blood pressure.  Orion seemed to have fun and slept for over an hour after the movie.  But he was really cranky and tired the rest of the day.  Not sure if it had anything to do with the movie or if he is going through something.  I got bedtime started an hour early, he was in his crib around 7 but woke up at 2.  He was in our bed until 6:30.  I tried to put him back in his crib at 4:30 but he wasn’t having it and wanted my arm as his pillow.

I do think it was great to be in a movie theater with my baby and not have to worry about him being too loud.  The theater was pretty full and there were a lot of strollers but it wasn’t crowded.  Many baby made noise but it never got out of control.  Orion liked to visit the moms who were sitting in the row in front of us and they did not mind.  I did try to prevent him from hitting them on the head which was mostly successful.  I also did not have to worry about flashing a nipple.  I no longer use a cover when I am nursing because Orion likes to use it as a flag and wave it around which distracts him from eating.  Also, it can get hot holding your baby and wearing a cover. 

How was the movie?  I really enjoyed the movie, I laughed and I almost cried.  They say you are emotional when you’re pregnant but I am way more emotional now than I ever was before baby.  I think they may have added some jello to my insides during my C-section.  This was not an action packed, hard to follow movie.  It did not have subtitles and the plot was pretty easy to follow and a bit predictable.  This is why it was a good movie to watch in the theater while chasing a baby.  I didn’t miss a thing and it was fun.  I loved the scenes with the Dad Pack and Elizabeth Banks was my favorite of the females leads.  I laughed out loud a few times and totally teared up during the (SPOIL ALERT) miscarriage scene and the adoption scene.  I would even watch it again on Netflix and force my husband to watch it with me. 

This is a monthly thing going down on the first Tuesdays of the month brought to you by thebump.com and AMC theaters.  Find a theater near you that participates check Bring Your Baby Matinees.  Tickets are 10$ and I bought my own ticket so don’t start thinking I got fancy and that actually anyone reads this.  Just keep in mind that after the movie there will be a lot of woman wanting to get into the family restroom to change their babies dirty diaper.  Try to find one on the other side of the movie theater mega complex.