Such was the case Saturday night as I took Caelyn to The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn to see Habibi, Bleeding Rainbow, The Black Belles and Bleached. The Knitting Factory is perhaps my favorite venue to see a show. Not only is it a smaller space so there is no bad spot to watch a show, it has a great sound system that literally can vibrate the building. Also, they are all ages which is very important when taking a first grader to a rock club.
Caelyn started asking if it was time to go around 10 am. Considering the doors didn't open until 7, I had to tell her no. She didn't take it well and wanted to know why concerts were at night because she was ready to go now. It was the "Are we there yet?" dynamic for most of the day.
Fortunately, it did "finally" get to be time to go. When we arrived at The Knitting Factory, the bartender from the concert space was out front and greeted us. We have gotten to know him from previous shows and he makes a fuss over Caelyn. He is also the one who told me I could have her sit on the stage so I didn't have to hold her up the entire time. Needless to say, we like him a lot.
While waiting online to get in, I witnessed the power of Caelyn's personality once again. We started talking to those around us and they were all interested in what the little girl in the Sonic Youth shirt thought of the bands. She confidently held her own and talked music. Occasionally, she would see members of The Black Belles roaming around and get really excited to see them much to the delight of those on line.
When we got in the concert space, Caelyn moved to stake her place on the stage where she grabbed a seat. She spotted Olivia from The Black Belles near the bar and had to go say hi. After talking to her for a bit, Caelyn returned to her spot on the stage. Shortly after talking to Olivia, one the guys we were talking to while waiting to get in, came over carrying a vinyl copy of The Black Belles album he had bought for Caelyn. She was thrilled.
Caelyn sitting on the stage waiting for the show to start.
First up was Habibi, a local all female band who was a lot of fun to watch. Next was Bleeding Rainbow whose Sonic Youth like wall of noise filled the place. Then came the band, Caelyn was most excited to see, The Black Belles.
Apparently we were not the only ones there to see them as the place had filled up during Bleeding Rainbow's set and there were around a dozen photographers near the stage, four of whom had decided to hang out near us.
The photographers watched the little girl on the stage and smiled as she got excited watching The Black Belles set up their gear. Finally the show started and Caelyn went nuts. She was up and down unable to stay seated. She was yelling and singing and stomping her feet. Almost all the photographers stopped shooting pictures of the band and turned their lenses toward Caelyn who was oblivious to anything other than the band and their music.
Olivia smiling at Caelyn.
When they ended their set, Olivia brought the set list over to Caelyn and gave it to her. Then we were besieged with questions. The photographers wanted to know who Caelyn was and her age. Audience members asked if her mom was in the band. A photographer from CMJ showed me pics she had taken of Caelyn, arms raised with the band in the background. Another photographer from Brooklyn Vegan asked if she could get a shot of Caelyn with the set list for their site.
I told them about Caelyn affinity for a screeching guitar since before she could crawl (true story, The Distillers calmed her when she had colic) and how she would not listen to anything in the car but The Ramones for 2 years without getting upset. All the while, people kept coming up to say hi to her.
As Bleached got ready to take the stage, the DJ played a Ramones song and heads snapped in Caelyn direction. She was bouncing and hitting me to the beat of the song. Finally, Bleached took the stage.
They played a blistering set. The bass player kept walking to the front of the stage and was so close Caelyn could have played his guitar without fully extending her arm. She was all smiles and once again, could barely contain herself. A mosh pit broke out behind us and Caelyn screamed in excitement.
Watching Bleached
When Bleached left the stage Caelyn spotted a guitar pick that the bassist had dropped. She looked at me and I told her she could get it. When they returned for the encore, she got the bass player's attention and gave him the pick. When the encore was over, the bassist walked up to Caelyn, took her hand and placed the pick in it. She was beaming.
After the show eneded, we made our way to where the band merchandise was being sold stopping frequently to talk to people who wanted say hi to Caelyn. Over at the merchandise table, I was handed a Bleached shirt by the person selling their gear. It was a present for Caelyn.
Olivia and Shelby of The Black Belles were there too and Caelyn started talking with them. She took a couple of pictures when Shelby suggested Caelyn wear Olivia's hat for a shot.
Wearing Olivia's Hat
It was then time to go but Caelyn had more fans to meet. While waiting on the coat check, one
of the moshers came up and told me Caelyn going crazy up on the stage was the coolest thing he'd seen all night and asked if he could get her picture. The the women with him had to get their pictures with her also.
On the walk back to the car, Caelyn was basking in the glow of the show and all the attention. She looked up at me and said, "Daddy, maybe I was born with punk. I think maybe I was born to be the Queen of punk."
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