You know it's a good party when they clear away the tables so there's more room to dance.
That's my baby, deep into a freeze dance at Empresso Coffeehouse on the Miracle Mile, where every Tuesday around 5:30, The Afternaps have a show.
The Stockton-based kids band plays songs you want to sway and sing along with - "Baby Beluga," "The Cat Came Back," "Down by the Bay." Only folkier. Bluesier. Definitely hipper. But still really warm and friendly.
(There's a mandolin. And a ukulele. Did I mention the kazoo?)
I happen to think that kids music for grownups (a genre that is well-represented locally) can be pretty fantastic stuff. It's not the same thing as grown-up music for kids; I have a heard some lullaby arrangements of Cure songs, and I'm just not crazy about them. Nor is it grownup music that kids might also happen to like - for months, I sang Alice to sleep with "Thunder Road." That's cool. But I wouldn't call it kids music.
Bands like The Afternaps are playing for kids. But they aren't trying to get your kid's attention with a lot of flash - just an essential respect for fun and wonder. And that's super appealing.
Give them a listen. Then put on your dancing shoes.
(Video by YouTube user bambinajade).
