Minnesota musician dads remember their kids’ first concert

I also remember it being very late at night, way past my bedtime, waiting for the chance to catch Miles as he was walking by. We were waiting at a barricade, and he finally came by, his clothes were soaked in sweat, and he had a towel draped over him. Everyone was going crazy, yelling his name, asking for pictures and whatnot. He acknowledged me, not for long, but enough so I knew, and he kept it moving.

Thinking back, it definitely felt special. I met Miles. And that would become the norm for me, thanks to my Pops working at the Dakota. I would go on to meet many of my heroes. My dad made sure I had access to everyone he had access to.

I will never forget taking Jing Jing to see Cloud Cult at First Avenue. She was probably around 6 or 7 and she had to perch on my shoulders the whole time to see anything. She hoped the show would never end. It was a wonderful night, and the best part was seeing her piano teacher onstage, Sarah Jane Perbix.

I think the year was 2009. The Bad Plus was performing at a summer festival somewhere in the United States and both of my children, Ella, age 8, and Otis, 4 at the time, were with us on tour. After our set, we realized that none other than the Flaming Lips were playing on the big stage in another area of the festival and we hurried to see them.

The show began with Flaming Lips typical psychedelic mania, and my children watched with impossible glee as the band deployed giant Teletubbies, human hamster balls and confetti bombs that rivaled the Times Square World War II surrender celebrations for the entire show. My little kiddos’ brains immediately fell out emptying out years of tireless jazz and instrumental music programming by their hopeful father.

My son Hugo Robert and I have gone to many concerts and venues since he was born — from Sinéad O’Connor when he was 4 to his personal favorite, Foo Fighters at First Avenue in 2002. But the first big show was at Edgefest in Somerset, Wis., in 1999. It was his 11th birthday, and he really wanted to see the Offspring, so off to Somerset we went and a great afternoon of music and a birthday celebration!