Are You Dave?

Wow! We just played an amazing show at the Knitting Factory to a huge crowd! What a thrill!

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

Three gigs in three days; it’s going to be a busy June!

Once again we were pleased to invade Brooklyn for a show at the fabulous Knit. These are always fun (for me, anyway), it’s such a cool venue with great equipment. We didn’t get much of a crowd, unfortunately, but the folks who came out were seen dancing and having a blast.

We decided to axe our July Knit show, it seems that no one really wants to sit in a hot bar on a hot summer day, but we’ll be back there in a couple of months, with some new stuff!
~ Dave

Another crazy trip out to Brooklyn and back. With the addition of a drum shield (we borrowed the one we used to use at HEFC) I think our on-stage sound is getting even better. We got through sound check pretty quickly, and I think we put on a great show: good audience interaction, no technical glitches. Unfortunately the crowd was kinda small. Oh well. We’ll be back there in May!

A typical week in the life of the Fuzzy Lemons can include anywhere from 75 to 200 e-mails. Buried in among the discussions of set lists, copyright issues, technology, marketing and general hoo-ha are actual announcements of gigs that we’ve booked.

In an effort to keep my schedule (and my head) straight, I’m trying to cull all of my events from the e-mail torrent and get them all listed in one location. And wow, turns out it’s quite a list:

• April 11 11:00 a.m. TFL @ The Knitting Factory, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
• April 11 TFL @ Room 84 in Hoboken
• April 30 - May 2 Kindiefest (a cool conference I plan to attend, though I haven’t yet registered!)
• May 21 PENDING TFL @ Jersey City Family Fitness Fair (they haven’t returned our e-mail so we’re not holding our breath)
• May 22 11:00 a.m. TFL @ the Knitting factory
• May 22 HOPES Spring Fling, 7:00 at the Rue building
• May 23 PENDING Southpaw (A cool Bklyn alt-country bar)
• June 5 11:00 a.m. TFL @ the Knitting factory
• June 20 TFL @ Father’s Day festival in Nutley, NJ, time/stage TBA
• June 21 TFL at Make Music NY at Richard Tucker Square, NYC 4:00 p.m. (this is a cool city-wide music festival and we’re thrilled to be rocking this park on the Upper West Side!)
• June 22 TFL @ Shipyard Park, Hoboken 7:00
• June 24 Gordys at Sinatra Park, Hoboken
• June 26 & 27 TFL @ The Bronx Zoo!
• July 10 11:00 TFL @ The Knitting Factory
• July 27 Music Together at Shipyard Park
• August 8 TFL @ Rumson Recreation Ctr 7-8 p.m.
• August 9 TFL @ Waterside Plaza NYC 7:00 p.m. (pre-show for a movie night overlooking the East River, should be fun!)
• August 14 TFL @ Kids Kingdom, Elizabeth NJ (thanks to our friends at This Is It! Productions)
• August 22 PENDING Morristown
• September 11 and/or 12 TFL @ Union County MusicFest, Clark NJ (Psyched to do this festival again!)
• September 26 TFL @ Hoboken Art & Music Fest
• October 9 TFL @ Clearview Cinema Hoboken (rain date Oct 10)
• Oct 17 Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle

Whew! That’s a BUNCH of road trips around NJ, a crop of outdoor shows right here in Hoboken (a favorite), a mind-blowing conference with the biggest names in the business, and jaunts to Brooklyn, the Bronx and NYC. And we haven’t even booked our Knit gigs for the 2nd half of the year yet. I’m exhausted just thinking about it, and eager and excited to rock so many places. The week of June 20-27 promises to be extra crazy… and extra fun! See you there!

~ Dave

Once again, a wild and woolly fun-fest in Williamsburg! Our crowd wasn’t quite as big (because of the different time slot, maybe? Or the pouring rain? Or the Deedle Deedle Dees show at the Knit earlier the same day?) but I think our sound was spot-on. I’m really getting used to my in-ear monitors; the challenge is in listening to myself and the band and focusing on tightening the sound, while still keeping the feel loose and interacting with the audience. I think I did a good job of it this week: At one point I even knelt at the edge of the stage and helped a toddler strum a chord on my guitar—in the middle of a song! That was fun and I want to do more of that sort of thing.

Another sizzling set at the Knitting Factory! We had a wonderful crowd, lots of happy dancin’ folks. There was even a birthday party, adding a little extra fun to the festivities. Our monthly-ish shows have been having the desired effects–our crowd is growing, and our shows are getting better as we gain experience.

No time to dwell on it, though! We had to pack up and rush back to Hoboken for a 4:00 gig!

Our triumphant return to the Knit! After the fun we had with Fuzzy Fridays in December, we worked with Ellen Jacobs to try to get some regular stuff going over in Brooklyn. For this show, we switched from Friday afternoon to Saturday morning at 11. It meant I had to postpone my Music Together classes, which didn’t thrill my boss, but I can make it up to them in March.

But I think the morning slot worked, we had a pretty big crowd! Much larger than we’d had on Friday afternoons, for some reason. So, while I can’t skip too many classes, we’re going to try to book more of those, maybe on Sunday mornings or Saturday afternoons, trying to find the “sweet spot.” If Knitting Factory runs family shows on a regular basis, as they’ve threatened to do, then they’ll start to build up a regular Brooklyn audience in no time. Can’t wait!

Back in October when we played at the Barnes and Noble, we made the acquaintance of a very nice woman named Ellen Jacobs, who (as it turns out) books bands at the Knitting Factory out in Brooklyn. She’s interested in getting family-oriented entertainment and events going on a regular basis, so she was thrilled to host a series of Fuzzy Fridays out there.

And once Kipley and Brandon made the trek out to view the room and all of its marvelous technology (digital mixing board! 64 channels! lights and cameras!) the Lemons were eager to play. So we worked out a deal, ticket sales, the whole nine yards, and booked three Fridays in December.

So once again we were on an out-of-town adventure. Brooklyn, home of Dan Zanes, is a ripe environment for The Fuzzy Lemons. There are many Hoboken-like neighborhoods, full of young hip families. Williamsburg is not quite one of those neighborhoods, but it’s close to many of them. We did our best to plaster the area with flyers, and I tried to hype the show with my friend Pete in Park Slope so that he’d spread the word to his Music Together families.

We never did get a huge crowd, but other than than we have no complaints! Ellen has been a sweetheart and is eager to have us back, and the crew at the Knit was super, very friendly and professional. We looked at the three gigs as an opportunity to get on the road and try out our new in-ear monitors. As an added bonus, we were interviewed by a local filmmaker who is making a documentary abut children’s music! More news on that as it develops.

~ Dave