Dan Zanes

Last Saturday, I took Alex to see Dan Zanes perform at Royce Hall at UCLA. It was a last minute decision and took us over an hour to get there, but we arrived 20 minutes before showtime. We got to the ticket window and as the attendant was searching for tickets, a lady came up to me and offered us free tickets. Apparently some of here friends had not shown up, and she had an extra adult and child’s ticket. So we got in free with 10 minutes to spare!

The concert was general admission, so you can sit anywhere. Dan Zanes’ concerts are reknown for a family party atmosphere, where everyone is allowed to wander around during the performance. No matter where you sit, at one point you will end up in the “pit” right in front of the stage, where kids are dancing and the parents are off to the side, keeping an eye on the kids while listening to the music.

Dan's music is heavily folk influenced, with an early rock-and-roll feel, with some Jamaican and Mexican bits thrown in. He says he doesn't write kids music, but rather family music for all ages to enjoy. I think that’s true, as Armilyn and I enjoy listening to the music as well. We can’t say that with other kid’s music.

He kinda looks like Steve Martin with Albert Einstein’s hair:

Alex's favorite song is “Jump Up” (the above video) so when I heard Dan start the song, I rushed Alex down to the front. Up until that point, Alex wasn’t exactly sure who we were watching perform, but when the song started, Alex had a look of recognition on his face. We stayed up front for a little while, enough time to see an all-female 12 piece mariachi band that performed a few songs with Dan Zanes. Very cool.

Here's an interview with Dan Zanes:


post by David