O Indie Gods

Verily I have sinned before you, this very evening, and lo, I am ashamed. Where I could have taken my children to see Smoosh, instead I took them to see Girl Authority.

I have reasons, o, I do:

- I did not know it was possible to see Smoosh until yesterday, when I had already acquired tickets for Girl Authority.

- Smoosh was opening for the Eels, a band about which I know nothing, and I am not comfortable taking my children to see bands about which I know nothing (lame, of course, for we could have left after Smoosh).

- My children wanted to see Girl Authority (though if there had been no Girl Authority, I am quite certain they would have been thrilled to see Smoosh, yet that is of no account, for there was Girl Authority, and their preferences are evident).

Then again, no excuse is of account. The facts are as they are, and I have sinned.

[So how was Girl Authority? I'm beyond not quite sure on this one, all the way to no idea what the hell to think. There's a fine line between cute and horrifying. The three girls who accompanied me all said "good," when I asked how they liked it. The nine girls on stage seemed to be having a great time, and two of them were genuinely talented. Their dance moves were sometimes energetic, sometimes too sexy. The canned dialogue was totally annoying. The girls in the audience (maybe six boys in the entire theater, and not too many men either) all looked very solemn, and barely responded to the exhortations to dance. Nothing like being with kids at a Dan Zanes concert, or at a Wilco concert, for that matter. There was a distinct lack of freedom, but I think that did not bother anyone under the age of 14. Like I said, they all said "good," and they meant it. As for the question of appropriate music, I'm all over the map on that one. I have no problem when my kids sing Pink's "Get The Party Started," so I shouldn't have a problem with Girl Authority singing it, and I like it on the album, but somehow when they're doing their choreographed moves up there on the stage, well, there's just something icky about it. And the boy songs and the shopping songs? Yuck. On the other hand, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"? "Dancing Queen"? "I Love Rock and Roll"? Lots of fun. And, I mean, they are far from the first choreographed bunch of pre-teens on stage--New Kids on the Block anyone? Britney, Christina, and Justin at Disneyland? As I said to N, another mom, as we left, "Maybe someday we'll be able to say we saw them when...but maybe not."]