Monsters are invading later this week — the cute and cuddly kind that throw dance parties with preschoolers.
It would sound creepy unless you knew that it’s for the “Yo Gabba Gabba!” live show coming to Merrill Auditorium this Friday, with one performance at 11 a.m. and another at 5 p.m.
Joining the friendly batch of monsters in Portland, best known from the popular Nick Jr. TV show “Yo Gabba Gabba!”, will be energetic DJ Lance, beatboxing-tutor Biz Markie, and indie popsters Mates of State, who will also play at SPACE Gallery the same night.
While the popular Nick Jr. show’s main audience is small children and their parents, the show has also found a following with teenagers and young adults. ABC News reported this trend back in mid-2008, noting how teens and adults like it because of its “randomness,” its retro style, the large cast of hip bands and musicians who play, and that it’s fun to watch while smoking marijuana. In fact, the show got so popular that the main cast performed at the Coachella festival as special guests among contemporary pop legends such as Jay-Z, Devo, and Pavement.
“It was amazing,” Scott Schultz, co-creator of “Yo Gabba Gabba,” said in an interview with The Free Press early last week. “There were three little kids in the audience and thousands of teens and adults dancing and singing to our songs, getting in touch with their inner child.”
“Yo Gabba Gabba!” began airing on Nick Jr. in August 2007, mixing live-action segments, cartoon shorts, and musical bits. Right from the start, the show was presented in a pop culture friendly format with regular appearances from Mark Mothersbaugh and Biz Markie and guest appearances from Elijah Wood, Tony Hawk, and Sean Kingston. The show also touted musical appearances from The Shins, Hot Hot Heat, and Jimmy Eat World.
While co-creators Schultz and Christian Jacobs (lead singer of The Aquabats) were primarily musicians and never had experience as TV executives before, they both considered themselves to be children’s show connoisseurs. Their appreciation ranges from the considerably tame “Sesame Street” and the somewhat uncomfortable “H.R. Pufnstuf” to Japanese oddities like “Kure Kure Takora” and “Kaiju Booska.”
“Kure Kure Takora”
When Schultz and Jacobs, who have been creative collaborators on past projects, both became fathers, everything changed.
“It’s kind of magical when you have your first kid,” Schultz said. “You want to immerse yourself in their world and experience what they do.”
Schultz said he wanted to find a way to incorporate his own interests and hobbies into his child’s life, so the creation of “Yo Gabba Gabba” was the next logical step. While some children’s shows put an emphasis on teaching numbers and words, “Yo Gabba Gabba” focuses on teaching life lessons. In fact, many of these life lessons originate from Schultz’s household.
“We’re writing down the things that happen with our kids every day,” Schultz said. “When one of our kids started biting people, we wrote ‘Don’t Bite Your Friends.'”
“Don’t Bite Your Friends” from “Yo Gabba Gabba!”
While the live show will be borrowing some elements from the TV show, like “Dancey Dance,” “Biz’s Beat of the Day” and “Super Music Friends Show,” Schultz said that it will be “it’s own extravaganza.”
“It will be very music oriented,” Schultz said. “We want to put on your kid’s first rock show.”