November 7th Recap

If we had bribed Mother Nature for specific weather conditions for this past Saturday's Rock-n-Romp, it wouldn't have been as perfect as what we had.  We again imposed upon the nice folks at the National Ornamental Metal Museum, which has become one of our favorite spots to rock.

First up was Sector Zero.  They woke everyone up with some raucous rocking.

Chick rock band extraordinaire The Hot Pink Paper Clips brought a nice following with them.  They continued our string of having a talented-teen band play a set at Romps.  These girls were clearly talented.  Much better than the crap that I used to play when I was that age...


Next up we had MouseRocket, featuring past board member, Robby Grant, and current board member, Alicja Trout. Our own Kate Crowder even joined in for a song. And it was cool to see Jonathan Kirkscey on the cello.


Isn't Robby Grant a badass?


In addition to the general running around and milk slurping, the kids kept themselves very busy hoola hooping, sit-n-spinning, dancing, and drawing with chalk. However, I think it was quite clear that the kids who convinced their parents to let them slide down the mounds out front had the best time listening to the music.


Our special guests, The Beale Street Flippers, came on for a brief, mind blowing interlude. I know at least a handful of kids who are going to take their gymnastics lessons more seriously now.


Our main problem on Saturday was trying to squeeze in too much awesome-ness. Star and Micey didn't start til almost 5pm and we had some hungry and tired kids who needed to get home. However, those who got to stay were sure glad they did.


Thanks to everyone who came out and made the RnR a blast. We hope to see you all on December 5th downtown on Main Street. More details coming soon!
See the rest of my pics here, and add your pics to our pool here.

November 7th at the Metal Museum

The show is from 2-5pm, not 3-6pm as previously promoted! Daylight savings is ending so we adjusted the time.

The museum is offering a special deal just for RNR families! Purchase a family membership for the price of an individual membership! November 7th only!

Bring a blanket or chair and a healthy snack to share!

Also please help us keep the grounds clean! We will be recycling when possible so look for specially marked bins.

And don't forget to thank our other sponsors, Yuletide Office Supply!

August 29th Recap

On Saturday we had near perfect weather, which was just the beginning of another near perfect Rock-n-Romp.

Friday afternoon we found out that 3 out of 4 of the Hot Pink Paperclips had fallen ill with the flu. Not sure what to do, I called my husband's boss. He had told me about his son's band, the Theoretical Monkeys, a few weeks prior. I decided to see if we might be able to book them last minute. The stars aligned and at 3:15pm, the most darling rockin group of high-school boys you've ever seen hit the stage.



And guess what? They were really talented! And confident! And did I mention darling rockin? I think it is safe to say that everyone was very impressed with the Theoretical Monkeys.

A special shout out to Charlie Trenthem for loaning us his sound equipment! We got a little spoiled at the Shell, so he definitely helped us achieve a much higher level of sound quality.

It didn't take long for the kids to make themselves at home. The Kerrs' playset was bustling, and there was a group of kids-in-the-know who spent a good deal of time in the front yard on the zip line, and even at the kindly neighbor's house on the trampoline. (At one point my five-year-old tracked me down and said he needed "his grown up" to come next door with him.)





Our second band, The Bare Wires, came all the way from San Francisco. They totally had the rock star look (and sound). I was especially impressed with the female drummer. (My husband was excited to buy a vinyl record of theirs and have everyone sign it.) They were a huge hit.



As the music continued, our balloon man showed up and dazzled the kids with his creations. (I was the recipient of a panda corsage.) I don't think the parents liked getting dragged into the balloon line, but it did offer a break from our ever growing beer line! (Don't worry, we'll have two taps at the next show.)





Last up we had the Apostles from Oxford. They were just as rockin' as everyone else. Their high energy performance was a great end to a great show.



You can see the rest of Chip Chockley's pictures here. And please add yours to our Flickr pool.



Thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday! And thanks to our sponsors Yuletide Office Supply and Bilingual Tots!

We hope to see you all at our next show, November 7th, at the Metal Museum!

RnR August 29th!

To get details on the location you will need to join our facebook page or mailchimp list. Direct questions to memphisrocknromp@gmail.com.

Update!

Invites for the August 29th show (with the location) will be going out in the next week. We have some really great music lined up. The Bare Wires are coming all the way from San Francisco! And we have The Apostle T.K. from Oxford, MS. Finally, as a special treat, the Hot Pink Paper Clips, of Delta Girls Rock-n-Roll Camp fame, will start the show.

But wait! There's more! We have three more Rock-n-Romps in the works for you. Get out your calendars and mark these dates/locations (Note the time change for the winter shows.):

Ornamental Metal Museum
374 Metal Museum Drive
November 7th
3-6pm

The old Jay Etkin Gallery Space
409 S. Main Street
December 5th
2-5pm

The Center for Southern Folklore
119 S Main St # 106
January 16
2-5pm

July 11 Recap

I think it would be an understatement to say that the pre-show media blitz paid off. We filled the Shell up with families hailing from Midtown, downtown, Germantown, and even Nashville. In addition to rocking and romping, there was hoola hooping, splashing, juice box gorging, and lots of sweating! What we did not have was a drop of rain, which was just fine with me considering there had been threats of thunderstorms all day.



Robby Grant started the show with his solo version of Vending Machine. His son, Five, came on as promised and helped him out with a few songs. This totally blew the kids away--well, at least my kids who already consider Five to be the bee's knees.



Everyone was having a great time, except for maybe the people trapped in our mile long beer line!



Don't worry, the most awesome Corey Crowder went in search of a second tap. And little Bailey here helped the sun-dazed adults pump the beer as fast as possible.



The music barely started before the invasion of the Ice Cream Man. He had a line rivaling that of the Yeungling! Actually, by the end we had TWO Ice Cream Men profiting off of our large crowd. From what I hear, once was licensed to be in the park, and one was not. Yes, dueling Ice Cream Men!




Next up. was Scandaliz Vandalistz. They were a HUGE hit with the audience, both young and old.



Their shout out to fellow White Station students/alums elicited may whoops from the crowd.



One young songwriter in particular told her mom that she was inspired to start writing about "real stuff" after seeing them play!



The Vandalistz now hold the record for most CDs sold at a Rock-n-Romp.

Our final act was the Kenny Brown Band. They got everyone dancing and grooving.





All in all it was a near perfect show. Thanks so much for everyone who came out! And a special thanks to the Memphis Music Foundation, the Levitt Shell support staff, and the Rock-n-Romp board members who worked their asses off to make the show extra super awesome.

See the rest of Chip's pictures here and please add your own to our Flickr Pool.

Our next show is August 29th. You will need to join our mail list if you want to come! (See the mail chimp over there to the left. <---)

Rain or Shine

Looks like we might get a few sprinkles, but Chip has consulted the radar and says the thunderstorms won't ruin the Rock-n-Romp. So come enjoy the show--rain or shine--at the Shell 4-7pm.