Pirate Concert in the Library

I attended my first rock concert when I was 13. Ratt headlined, and a new band on the scene called Bon Jovi opened for them. Ulric, my brother, saw his first rock concert when he was 8 years old, when we went to see Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica of the Cliff Burton era. Most of the concerts we attended were in a sports arena. The concerts weren’t much out of the ordinary: there was the usual screaming, flicking of cigarette lighters and waving of fists in the air. People dressed-up in spandex and leather, or dressed-down in artfully shredded jeans and strategically ripped tee-shirts.

A few weeks ago, at the age of 3, Lucia went to her first rock concert. It was at a library, not a sports arena, and there were no cigarette lighters raised high in tribute to the band… but people did dress up. They had skulls and cross-bones on their tee-shirts, hooks in place of hands, and a proliferation of eye-patches. After all, Captain Bogg & Salty were in town.



Captain Bogg & Salty is a pirate rock and roll band from Portland, Oregon making its rounds through the library systems in my part of the country. Initially, Lucia was skeptical. As Captain Angus Bogg and his merry crew of the Pollywogg burst into “We are Singing Pirates,” Lucia wrapped her arms around my shoulders and said she wanted to go home. “Give them a chance,” I told her, and she did. She perked up when Buckle (acoustic guitarist and gunner for the good ship Pollywogg) sang “Scallywag” in his impressive bass voice. By the end of the concert, Lucia was waving her hooked finger in the air along with the rest of the brigands in the audience.

All week, Lucia clamored, “We go to the pirate concert today!” and demanded to hear “Scallywag" one more time. This morning, we attended another Captain Bogg & Salty concert. Bede joined us, as well as some good friends. The 3 ½ year old son of our good friend was a big fan of pirates in general, but the general boisterousness of the show was too much for him,* and he fell asleep in his mother’s arms. [Memo to the band: if this is a trend, there is untold treasure to be had in showing up at the doorsteps of parents with children who refuse to sleep.] Lucia, however, was attentive throughout the entire show, and bravely raised her hand when Captain Bogg asked, “Who’s ever been to a pirate rock and roll concert before?” The most enthusiastic person in our part of the audience, however, was a girl dressed to the hilt in traditional romantic pirate gear who spent much of the concert with her two plastic swords raised in an X.

The band took turns with the lead-vocals, and played a mix of songs off of their two albums, “Bedtime Stories for Pirates,” and “Pegleg Tango.” While the band is filed under “Children’s Music,” they really are an all-ages band. Among all of the songs about avoiding scurvy and sea-monsters, there is nary a tune about brushing teeth or tying shoes. Tonight, Captain Bogg and Salty are playing at an over-21 club. Now are you convinced that they are gruff enough to appear on your music mixes?

Yar!

*I blame the Blue Angels, who are in town this weekend and have been practicing their decibel-defying maneuvers over our heads these past few days. Confound those Blue Angels! Because of them, one of the bridges is closed and traffic is even more congested than usual. Why can’t Seattle host the Chartreuse Seraphim (premiere hot-air balloon group) or the Vermillion Thrones (hang-gliders extraordinaire) for Sea-Fair? I like my noise to have a beat you can dance to...