Bunchland

Michelle and husband Dave want to give their sons unique experiences

We’re all about sharing our passions with our kids. For Michelle and Dave, that passion is music. Their boys Kale, 7, and Desmond, 3, are well on their way to becoming serious little rockers. When Michelle found out that Brandon Flowers was coming to town, she and Dave figured it would make for a great first concert for Kale.

How did Kale get interested in Brandon Flowers?

We’re always on top of the new music and I grew up around the early punk scene in Toronto, so music’s always been a big thing for me and a big thing for Dave. We downloaded Flamingo and started playing it in the car (We’ve always got music going in the car) and Kale just loved it. When I found out he was coming, it just seemed like a great first concert to take him too.

What is it about Brandon Flowers that Kale really responded to?

Kale’s kind of a really thoughtful, intense and very methodical, hard-thinking little guy and I guess the Flamingo album is pretty spiritual. He just really enjoyed the songs and the music and the melodies. It really spoke to him.

What else are you listening to?

Two Door Cinema Club, that’s another one of his favourites. Tokyo Police Club. Kale loves Pink Floyd too. Early Adam and the Ants. That’s probably a good snapshot of what we’re listening to now. He tells us now, when we get into the car. The kids tell us what they want to hear. We expose them to anything and everything from classical to reggae to dance hall to rock and now, as little people, they’re starting to develop their own preferences.

Are you relieved they’re not picking “kid-music”?

Desi still likes Yo Gabba Gabba and the Wiggles and dances to them in the living room, but we want to give them an overall snapshot. And I don’t have that stuff playing in my car because it grates on my nerves. Whatever you’re into, you want to share that with your kids. And they end up having their own palette. It’s important to us to give them a good overview. It’s like food: You want to give them some peas and some carrots and some chicken and some pasta and they end up liking what they like.

How did you decide it would be a good show for him?

Brandon Flowers is a Mormon, so we knew it would be a good show for Kale — there wasn’t going to be any swearing or anything like that. And we knew musically, it would be really well done. We took him to Joel Plaskett in March for his second show. We all love Joel Plaskett. And Dave really likes Sloan, so if they do a show near us, as long as it’s all-ages, we’ll go.

How did you prepare Kale for his first concert?

We brought heavy-duty ear plugs since his ears are still developing. We took it really easy during the day and just kinda chilled out. Kale took a nap, which he doesn’t normally do. We told him, “If we’re going to do this, you need to co-operate with us.” And we made sure to explain how the show worked, that he would be up late and we played around during the opening set. We put him up on Dave’s shoulders so he could see. And seeing him make the connection between the music he listens to in the car and the performer in front of him is such an incredible thing. I watched his little eyes go as wide as saucers. It’s just a great experience to share with your kids.

But you found that some people don’t really consider all-ages to be all ages?

Some people were really good. We didn’t bring him to the show to get feedback (about our parenting); We brought him because he wanted to see the show. My sister told me to be prepared for people who would give us trouble and that hadn’t even crossed my mind. Some people were really cool; others less so. We just ignored it and had a good time. Some stranger told us he was too young and that Kale should be home in bed; another woman said,”He’s not even going to remember this. Why would you bring him to this?” Plus lots of dirty looks. I went to the Bay City Rollers when I was 8 and I still remember it.

What did Kale think?

He’s still talking about it months after. He’s only seven but you can see that it was one of those soul-changing experiences that will stick with him.

For Desi, we were thinking about Joel Plaskett, but we didn’t want to go and then have to leave if he’s tired. We knew Kale could handle it. And when we went, Joel Plaskett took a picture with Kale and signed a record for him — a record that Kale slept with under his pillow. After keeping Kale out late at the Joel Plaskett show, I expected to get an angry note from his teacher the next day saying he was tired in class. Yup, Kale was tired the next day, but kids have to live a bit right? When else is Joel Plaskett gonna play Meaford again?

Michelle Ward is the owner and founder of Addaboy Clothing

Top photo by pcambraf via Flickr, all others via Michelle Ward