Kidstock 2013 has come and gone and all that's left are the memories...and sand in our shoes.
North Hempstead Beach Park has been the location for the event, held annually since 2011. The emcee for all three shows has been Roscoe Orman, otherwise known as Gordon from Sesame Street.
Due to a GPS snafu, we arrived for the last hour of the first event. But in 2012, we saw the whole shebang. The weather was warm, the water was inviting, and both kids were entranced.
The weather report was not as inviting this year. Thunderstorms were in the forecast and many families stayed away. Fortunately, the bands played through intermittent sprinkles and all was mostly well.
One of the sponsors was the Port Washington-based music school, Bach to Rock. And wouldn't you know it? One of the women I went to high school with (30 years ago) was working the info table for them. It was the first of two "small world" coincidences for the day.
The first of the three acts were returning performers, the Bari Koral Family Band. We've seen them before (here and Kindiefest) and they're a solid troup. In fact, that holds true for all three units at the festival this year.
We didn't realize that three acts in four hours meant three 35-minute sets. It turns out that the event started 15 minutes late. As a sponsor, Bach to Rock was not going to cut any of their contracted time between sets. So the three acts had to shave five minutes off each of their performances. My wife later pointed out, "And the instructor repeated material because she saw new kids at the third demonstration." I was more annoyed that the rain would re-start and they wouldn't wrap up with their plugs and throw the show back to Roscoe (and the band, which was usually standing by for their introduction, uncomfortably). A small bone of contention, to be sure. They were picking up part of the tab for the event and weather did not cooperate to bring in a larger house and more prospective customers.
In any case, Ben was happy to watch the show, which included a new tune of two from the band's second CD.
More to follow...
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