This past Saturday evening I took the Lilliputians to a Dan Patlansky show at the Centurion Theatre. In a short summary – they loved it, to say the least. Hannes was playing the drums in the air and Lisa was dancing in her chair while seated. They were intrigued. They were well behaved. They were amazed and excited and we had the best time… but;
To the lady who scoffed behind us on Saturday night when the four of us found our seats, I should probably apologise. We came in at the last minute so that everyone could just have a bathroom break first, as to not disturb you. I paid for those tickets just like you, trying to give my kids a little taste of the best blues guitarist from our own shores. They were extremely well behaved, and trust me, this is because they got a talking to before, saying that this would not be the same as when we had attended an outdoor show or watching something at home. They knew to stay in their seats and that we could only get up between numbers.
I did however not tell them that they were not allowed to be excited and play the drums, while seated. I did not tell them that they were not allowed to cheer or play air guitar. I did not tell them that they could sit on my lap once in a while so we could do a little chair dance together. I actually encouraged this, because there was no row in front of us. Thinking about it now, it may have been me, who was bothering you.
To you, lady, who said to her husband “this is disturbing, let’s move over”, did you not bob your head, or tap your foot? Did you not secretly want that joy of seeing your first ever live blues show?
I luckily did not hear you at the time, as it was the Engineer who did, and thought “challenge accepted” and then continued to encourage everyone to have the time of their lives. I should maybe apologise for when he started playing drums on everyone’s knees.
To you, lady who frowned and shook her head, you should have been happy that it was not a year or two ago, where the possibility of them wanting to stand on the chair would have been 89%. And the likelihood of one of them spilling or spitting up something even more.
I realise, that a lot of shows and theatres have age restrictions. But this one did not. Did you see, lady with the frown, how people asked them afterwards if they loved it? If they had a good time? If they will come again? Did you see their smiles?
To you, lady who scoffed behind us on Saturday night, we had the best time!
And you should be happy then, that you are not currently in our home, where the guitars and drumsticks have come out again. I hope you enjoyed your Sunday complaining about your horrible seats, because we were just telling everyone about the amazing show. Now, don’t get me wrong, I completely understand that there is a time and a place for everything. And trust me, I would have dragged them out of there if I thought that they were disruptive. But they were really just having fun. And yes, I am grateful that they did not spill their soda on anyone. But people scoffing at a live blues show about five-year-olds having the time of their lives… the mind boggles.