The whole thing felt very comfortable (for me, anyway), as if we’d done it a hundred times, when in fact the opposite was true–we were playing almost completely unplugged (Justin had a bass amp) and unrehearsed, in front of 3 TV cameras, with almost no audience in sight.

I will confess that kept getting distracted by looking at the monitors. It’s hard enough to remember a bunch of lyrics and guitar chords when I’m also trying to pay attention to which way my eyes are focused. I missed a couple of lines of a couple of songs; most notably I forgot to sing the line “Skunks in my shoes” once during the song of the same title… oops! But it actually created an interesting gap in the song, I may “forget” to sing that line again from time to time.

I finished the set feeling really happy, like I’d done something good. It’s an honor to be a part of such a positive project. The people at the KidZone at Mt. Sinai are doing awesome, amazing, inspiring work with kids and I salute them!

~ Dave

Rockin' the hospital

So it was a real shame when the skies opened up and rained us out!

Waterside’s Community Affairs Director, Yenneca, was super-nice, helping us get parked and making sure we had all the tables and stuff we needed. She even provided a cooler full of ice and bottled water. Then as the skies darkened, she made sure that plastic tarps were available, and just in the nick of time! We were just about ready to sound-check but we found ourselves weatherproofing instead. Some of our stuff did get a little soaked but nothing was ruined. We’ll replace some guitar strings and drum heads and be ready to rock the gazebo at Church Square Park in Hoboken on Wednesday!

While we waited for a break in the precipitation, we captured some video of ourselves jumping in puddles, for use in a video for the song “Jump in a Puddle.” The image quality wasn’t great but maybe it’ll be good enough for YouTube…

Huge props to everyone at Waterside Plaza, they made the experience fun for us despite the rain, and we’re eager to get back there and show ‘em our stuff.

~ Dave

To be honest, we didn’t know what to expect today. Our last few Knit gigs have trended downward, attendence-wise, a phenomenon we attributed to the warmer weather. (Who wants to sit in a bar on a good beach day?) In fact we were scheduled to play a set there in July and we cancelled it, anticipating an empty house.

But then something cool happened: We started getting some good listings, especially in the Holy Grail of kid events, Time Out New York Kids. We’d created an ad for their July issue following the TONY Kids Madison Square Park gig in May, and they re-ran it in August for free! They also listed us prominently in their calendar section, and on their web site, which of course prompted a bunch of other parenting sites in the area to list us as well.

As a result, there was a steady stream of stroller-pushin’ folks when we finally finished sound check and opened the doors! And they were an enthusiastic bunch, too, clapping and singing along and dancing non-stop. We saw a fantastic, spontaneous people-train form during “Don’tcha Wanna Ride,” prompting Kipley to comment that when we ask people to make a train they almost never do, so from now on we’ll let them figure it out for themselves.

It was a huge boost for the band and we can’t WAIT to get back to the Knit next month with our friends ROCKNOCEROS!

~Dave

Our friend DJ Mickey G was there, doin’ his thing as MC. He knows what the kids like! We talked about collaborating with him; Dana has a new song that might be a perfect match for his skills at the turntable. I keep mentioning it in hopes that it’ll actually come true.

I also met another surprise character: Matt Wilson, a.k.a. “Harry” on Cyberchase, one of our favorite PBS kids’ shows. I saw his trademark spiky hair and goofy clothes and shouted like a fanboy “Oh wow, it’s Harry from Cyberchase!” Rather than siccing security on me, Matt flashed a huge grin and said “hi,” introduced himself by his real name, and even asked about my kid.

Then he did something so amazing I can scarcely believe it: When I introduced myself as a Fuzzy Lemon, he said “Oh, you guys are great, I love the Fuzzy Lemons!” He’d actually heard of us and liked our music! I can’t imagine how such a thing is possible but I’m going to act as if it’s true.

Matt and Dave

After Matt and his wife Stephanie performed their “Ultimate Rock and Roll Show” (a real crowd-pleaser) it was our turn. We whipped through a super-fast set up and soundcheck. Deanna had hired Mike K. again and he and his team had us up and running in record time.

I love outdoor shows. The wind and sun feel so good, I think they enhance the music in some mysterious way. But the wind also decided to knock the drum shield over, and the sun was pretty darn hot…

In other words, the gig was a mixed bag, as per usual. We played through a state-of-the-art sound system on a huge stage, but we couldn’t seem to hold the festival crowd. I don’t mean to say the place was empty——we had kids dancing, but Matt and Stephanie seemed to have more. As always, I think the sun was a factor. But there’s definitely an opportunity here for the Lemons to really step up our game and find out how to capture folks’ attention, without giving anything away in terms of the songs we write and perform.

We have two more gigs with This Is It! Productions in September and October; I can’t wait to turn it up another notch!

~ Dave

After a lovely hiatus, the Lemons are back to tackle the second half of the summer. And we came back with a bang, rocking the gorgeous gazebo in Victory Park in the lovely little hamlet of Rumson, NJ. I don’t know the full story of how this gig was booked (I rarely do) but apparently there are several Hoboken ex-pats in Rumson, and someone slipped our name to the town Concert Committee*. Thank you, whoever you are!

Rumson is lovely, and apparently a fairly wealthy area. We passed several driveways that disappeared through manicured lawns without ever catching a glimpse of the houses at the end. I think I could just buy a driveway and make people think I had a fancy house at the other end.

Victory Park overlooks a scenic little harbor, and a light sea breeze washed over us all evening. Every gig should be in such a gorgeous setting! We got ourselves situated pretty quickly, with Dave E. in his familiar spot at the sound board. We were encouraged by the local coordinator (I didn’t get his name, shame on me, he was nice) to play our pre-show music nice and loud, as it would draw a crowd. I think it worked, because before long the park was a sea of blankets and beach chairs!

As is often the case, the band had mixed feelings about the set itself. We always have some technical issue or other, on top of our usual self-criticism about mistakes we make while playing. But looking back now as I write this, I have a really good image of the night in my head. Kids running and playing, grown-ups clapping along to the music, some unexpected familiar faces in the crowd, and really enthusiastic greetings from fans afterwards. That’s the true measure of success, when people come up and tell us how much they and their kids enjoyed the music.

Sure, we get some things wrong. But we’re doing something right!
~Dave

* You can tell that there are Hobokenites on the committee because our neighbor Polka Dot is next on the Victory park schedule.

Fortunately, though the band has changed the songs remained the same, so rehearsing for the show was simply a matter of remembering what I did last year! (Erin Lee’s songs are really catchy and not too difficult to learn.) I like these sets because I get to break out the banjo and mandolin and challenge myself a little. Thanks, Erin Lee… all these years later she’s still pushing me musically!

I loved the Up Past Bedtime Band. They put on a great show, very entertaining, very silly, very musical. Learn more about Erin Lee’s new direction here.