My husband and I are avid concert goers. We love going to concerts so much that we try to hit at least six per year. Since Idaho Falls does not bring in a lot of concert opportunities, we often drive to Salt Lake City or Boise. Our favorite venues are the small ones in Salt Lake, where there is standing room only like The Depot and the Complex that only hold a few hundred people AND have an upstairs bar for those 21 years and older. They work better for families because “the drunks” or the people who like to drink are separated from the other group by an entire floor level. It also works better for those who don’t like crowds and can leisurely sit and enjoy the music without pushing and mashing. I enjoy a good drink, but I also am the person who wants to be as close to the band as possible, so I want to be pushed to the very front of the crowd.
My husband and I have been discussing whether or not we should bring our kids to concerts for a good year now. We’ve seen other children and have seen how other parents have protected their kids. When Carly Rae Jepsen showed up in the lineup at The Depot, I thought that would be the perfect first concert for my boys, Malachi (age 12) and Elijah (age 7). There was no likelihood of mash pits, nudity, and swearing like at other shows we’d attended in the past, so I felt like it was a safe environment for them. Both my boys love her music as much as I do.
We were first concerned about damaging their ears with loud music. While the Depot and the Complex are small venues, their sound is impressive and LOUD. We invested in noise-canceling headphones for our littlest since we wanted to protect his ears and wasn’t sure that standard earplugs would stay in his smaller ears. He wasn’t jazzed about wearing them, but with the bass, I knew that they were necessary. Our oldest has already been wearing his own earbuds for a few years now, so I thought he was good enough not to need them.
Next, we were concerned about their height in the crowd- being knocked over or accidentally hit. I recently attended a Flogging Molly concert with a friend and was shocked that a fun, lively, Irish band with band members over the age of 50 could create such a mass, hardcore mash pit where small children were being smashed and pushed violently around in an angry fishbowl. I guess we were all being flogged as prospectors. It’s important to remember that concert venues, like the Vivint Home Center and the USNA Amphitheater, have actual seating that would not have the same effect as these standing room only venues and would offer safer situations for children. We have seen other parents in past concerts run to the very front of the stage-gate and put their children right upfront and barricade around them- the mother and father to protect them. That would also help them be able to see over the crowd of mostly adults since they are vertically challenged. We made plans to be in line for the concert early so we could get to the front of the stage first, which worked out well.
Waiting for a concert to begin is long anticipation for everyone but even worse for children because time seems longer for them. They did get tired of standing and tired of waiting for the concert to begin, but once it did occur, they were so excited and so captivated that they forgot (like the rest of us) how tired our legs and feet were.
We had also paid more to allow the boys to actually meet Carly Rae, as I thought it would be such a unique opportunity for them to realize that celebrities are down to earth and just like the rest of us. Plus, they got a signed poster that they now proudly display in their bedrooms that they will probably always be proud of.
So, if you are interested in teaching your children the love of music by experiencing the community of a concert of 250 people singing the same lyrics that also brings tears to your eyes, there is nothing better than that feeling of a concert, especially for kids. Music and concerts have always been an important part of my life, and I have always wanted my own children to have that same love and compassion for artists and how hard they work. I felt our boys were ready for that experience, but not every child is.
There are some special considerations before deciding whether or not they are prepared for a concert:
- Do you need to protect their ears?
- Do you need to protect them from mosh pits? Is this a band that is likely to have one? Malachi and I will be going to a NF concert next week, which is more likely to have that type of atmosphere, so we are going to aware and ready to step away if we have to.
- How can they enjoy the experience if they are pretty short? Will they be able to see anything?
- Can they stand on their feet for a few hours without getting tired? How can you keep them entertained for a while? (We like to play Heads Up on our phones.)
If you are interested in the small venue concert, I would highly recommend it for a musical connoisseur. Those two venues have such an intimate audience experience, unlike any of the larger venues. My kids have been to two concerts now and are already asking for their next.
