Bringing up Biscuit: Biscuit's first concert

Jeff and I worked on the night copydesk at the paper for years. The people who worked on the desk are still some of our closest friends. We had a good crew in those days. I don't know of any of my co-workers at that time who would disagree.

Anyway, we had a few traditions for when new people came in. One was to ask what was the person's first concert. That question usually brought one of two responses. Certain answers would bring uproarious laughter at whatever one-hit wonder or really cheesy group the person saw, and the other responses would get a round of congratulations at being so cool so early on.

I'm not sure how Biscuit will rank on the "cool first concert" scale, but his first show was tonight. We got tickets to go see Terrance Simien and The Zydeco Experience at an area theater.

We rescheduled Biscuit's piano lesson from yesterday to today, and Biscuit asked what we were going to do after his lesson.

"Well, we're going to a concert," I said.

"Oh," Biscuit said, sounding kind of disappointed. "Who will be my babysitter?"

"Nobody," I told him. "You're going, too."

"I AM?!" Biscuit asked, sounding very surprised. "Mom, this will be the first time I've seen music on a stage."

And it was, sort of. He's seen music performances before, but they've been outside performances at festivals and other events. Tonight was the first time he's been to an inside venue with a big stage.

There were about 100 people at the show, and Biscuit was by far the youngest. I saw one girl there who was about 13 or 14, but everyone else was grown.

The band came out on the stage, and the first thing Biscuit noticed was that the keyboard player was a little person.

"Mom, one of the music players is a small adult," Biscuit said. "It happens sometimes, Mom?"

Sometimes when we're talking to Biscuit and trying to explain things, we'll answer him honestly and say, "Sometimes it just happens that way." And I guess that's what he was thinking about.

"Yep, sometimes it happens," I told Biscuit. "But you're right. Even though he isn't very tall, he's still an adult." And I have to say, he was quite a keyboard player, too.

It was really fun to see a zydeco band on Mardi Gras. All the musicians are from Louisiana, so I'm sure it was hard for them to be away from their yearly traditions. But everyone in the theater really got into the show tonight. People danced in their seats. They stood up to dance. Some of the couples moved into the aisles to dance. And at one point, a conga line formed and wound itself around the theater and even across the front of the stage.

I worried for a minute that the band might not like it, but they did. They all smiled and made a fuss over the people dancing. The lead singer was throwing Mardi Gras beads into the audience. People raised their hands and hollered, and he threw out handfuls of the necklaces.

Biscuit decided at one point that he would like a necklace. He threw his hands up in the air and waved them around. The lead singer looked out and saw him. Then he pointed at him and threw a necklace straight to him. Biscuit caught two strands, I had two and Jeff had one.

Simien has won two Grammy Awards for his music. And after the group finished the first song, Simien turned around and reached into a duffle bag. And what do you think he brought out? One of his Grammys. Everybody made a huge fuss.

The lead singer played several kinds of accordions. There was a bass player, lead guitarist, keyboard player, drummer, and of course, a guy playing a metal washboard (or rubboard, as they call it).

I have to say that I didn't go into the concert with any expectations, but the whole show was so much fun.

After the show, Simien came out into the lobby to talk to people, take pictures and sign autographs. We bought a CD and let Biscuit take it over for an autograph. Biscuit introduced himself, and he and Simien talked a little about the show. Then he asked Biscuit to spell his name so he could personalize it for him.

We listened to some of the music on the way home, but we were all too tired to throw out any dance moves.

I did take a few pictures with my phone. So the quality isn't very good, but here they are anyway.