Happy Anniversary!

My hubby and I celebrated our 11th anniversary today. We slept in, then went to a Dan Zane's concert - with our son and my brother! I know, doesn't sound like a typical thing to do for an Anniversary - we usually like to slip away for a nice romantic dinner at The Melting Pot but - I REALLY wanted to see Dan Zanes. The only day he was hewre though, just happened to be on our anniversary. I love my husband - he'll do anything to make me happy.

So why a Dan Zanes concert? With our Stardust CD, Dan Zanes and I are kind of in the same target market. Plus, I used to see videos of Dan Zanes when my son was little - I think they were on Noggin - and I thought he was just - well,... cool. Unlike so much junk music that is dummied down and spoon fed to kids on certain kids' stations that just make my stomach turn, Dan Zanes is simply refreshing.

The musicianship was remarkable - he played guitar, (acoustic and electric), mandolin, banjo, and harmonica, - and his band was a wonderful mix mega-talented women and men, who played stand up bass, acoustic guitar, accordian and one of the coolest drum kit combinations where a set of bongos subbed nicely for additional toms (I was pretty far back, so forgive me if I didn't see any extra toms :) Every person in the band was engaging right from the start.

The concert was only an hour - one lively hour- perfect for the munchkin age - and his songs were an interesting mix of original and covers. My favorites are his originals, but the covers he did were Dan Zane-ized, and he pulled them off well and made them fun. He encouraged the audience to get up and have a party from the get go, so the kids and parents were dancing in the aisles. He did a tune from an upcoming album that was wonderful, and had the audience singing along on that and a couple other tunes.

A toddler managed to climb up on the stage and "rush" the band - instead of security hauling off the crazed fan, the band all bent in to the sweet parent position and waved to her saying "Hi!!" - it was simply precious.

At the end of the show, the band walked through the audience playing their instruments singing goodbye... I actually got a little teary.

It was a fun afternoon for all of us - even my 7 year old who is going through the nothing-kiddie-is-cool gave his Mom a twirl on the last song.

That being said, someday I would LOVE to hear Dan Zanes at a House Concert, or in a setting where the kids are down for night and the adults in all of us parents can come out to play. Dan and his band would rock the house!

And by the way, the night is still young, so I'm off to celebrate the remainder of my anniversary! ;)