Austin Kiddie Limits (ACL Fest) 2009: Day 3 Review

On to Day 3 of the Austin City Limits Festival 2009, or at least the Austin Kiddie Limits stage. (If you missed it, read my thoughts and watch YouTube from Days 1 and 2 here and here. So remember all that rain from Saturday? Remember the nice green grass the city had installed with C3's money with great fanfare? It wasn't, like, Glastonbury mud, but it was deep enough in some places that, as Gwyneth noted to me, it felt like it could suck the shoes right off. Anyway, after meandering through the media area and (ever-so-briefly) the Artists' Lounge (cleaner than the media area, and with ice cream), we (Miss Mary Mack and I) headed to see Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears from backstage. Saw Bill and his family up there. Jammed to the last few songs of the set. Made our way through the mud to the AKL stage. There we saw Ralph's World play their second set of the festival. Ralph Covert has a pretty tight band at this point, and he's got his live act down pat... Ralph's World - "The Rhyming Circus" Ralph's World - "Dumptruck" Ralph's World - "Sunny Day Rainy Day Anytime Band" (particularly apropos for the weekend, always a good set closer) After Ralph, Romeo and the guys from BBoy City came on and did their stuff, which is pretty incredible and has been each year. Might have been Miss Mary Mack's favorite part of the festival... (Check out this last one. Oh my.) At this point, it was either fight the mud and crowds to catch the second half of the B-52s' set or stick around at AKL. And while I'd've been willing, asking Miss Mary Mack to do that before a long series of transportation options that would park us back home 5 hours later was too much. Of course, at least we got to see another Secret Agent 23 Skidoo set... Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - "Boogieman" Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - "The Whalephant" (new, unreleased track) And then we skidaddled across the mud, onto the shuttle bus, into the car, and after many more transportation changes, made it back home. I'm not finished yet with my AKL/ACL thoughts -- more to come...

Video: "Gotta Be Good" / "Dance Around" - Ralph's World

The fine folks at Disney have decided that if they can't beat 'em, join 'em, which means, yay, YouTube! They've started to post individual videos from their artists on YouTube, and today I'm going to feature them, just because I feel like it. This one is from Ralph's World's latest album with Disney, The Rhyming Circus, a driving number featuring his band wearing t-shirts spelling out "RALPH." It was either this or a video featuring Ralph Covert in a Sgt. Pepper's-like outfit. I'm guessing Covert didn't have final wardrobe say on these. But I really like this song. Ralph's World - "Gotta Be Good"

Live Video: Ralph's World

RalphsWorld_Stink.jpgAn oddity of the KindieFest 2009 showcase was that the headliner, Ralph's World, actually played their set smack-dab in the middle of the showcase (as opposed to the final set). Mr. Ralph's World himself, Ralph Covert, had already played a couple shows earlier in the day, but you wouldn't have known it from the long, energetic set he turned in. More so than probably any other performer, Covert attempted to engage the folks in attendance, from regaling them with a story about dealing with Disney (a story that might not have been of interest to an audience made up primarily of 4-year-olds but was of great interest to the industry-heavy crowd in attendance) to several times encouraging the audience to sing or dance along. RalphsWorldAnytimeBand.jpgWhat I'll remember most about the set, I think, is Covert inviting all the musicians in attendance up on stage with him for "Sunny Day Rainy Day Anytime Band." It's a song that the 4-year-olds typically hop up on stage for, but most of the adult musicians there up on stage air-guitar-ed (and air-bass-ed, and air-drummed) with their inner 4-year-old, so it really didn't make much of a difference. It's a song that I've never been that enamored of on record, but totally rocked on stage. Ralph's World - "The Rhyming Circus" Another song (an oldie but goodie) and picture after the jump.

Happy Holiday Greetings from Ralph's World

Everybody's getting in their Happy Holiday greetings except for me (very soon, I hope), but in the meanwhile, here's one from Ralph Covert, better known to some (though not all) for Ralph's World. Here he is singing (part of?) "That's What I Want for Christmas" from the musical Hansel and Gretel he co-wrote with G. Riley Mills. It's short, but still fun. Ralph Covert - "That's What I Want for Christmas"

Ralph's World In Arizona, Presented By...

OK, not me. Next time, I hope. I can't help present every show. (Time for the unsubtle reminder that the Terrible Twos show, presented by, yes, Zooglobble, is next Wednesday, August 20th at 6 PM. Details here.) But I am happy that Ralph Covert is heading down to Tucson with his band. That's right, on Saturday, November 8th, Tucson's Rialto Theatre will host Ralph's World in concert, doors at 10:30, show at 11:00, tickets $16 each. The show is being presented by Mrs. Tiggy Winkles, a Tucson toy store which carries a nice selection of kids music. Plus, they also have link for the bathroom. And, apropos of nothing other than I saw the embedded video, which I'd somehow not seen before, for Ralph's wonderful "We Are Ants," here's a video. Ralph's World - "We Are Ants"