The concerts, held during the afternoon around 1pm are known for two things, the loud thumping EDM music, and babies in tulle skirts holding glow sticks, pumping their little fists to the fast beats.
Picture courtesy : Instagram
A rave for a baby simply doesn’t sound right. Afterall, raves are known to be incredibly loud, thunderous, drug ridden, and usually swarming with drunk people, but this DJ has made it work. Lenny Pearce, an Australian artist has been touring the U.S. in a sold out 30-state-tour, performing an incredibly niche sub-genre for an incredibly niche audience. Toddler techno for you guessed it, toddlers.
The concerts, held during the afternoon around 1pm are known for two things, the loud thumping EDM music, and babies in tulle skirts holding glow sticks, pumping their little fists to the fast beats. The music itself is a clever mix of popular children’s songs and techno beats. Most notable tracks include remixes of theme songs such as those of “Paw Patrol” and “SpongeBob Squarepants”, easily recognizable and yet made exhilarating and enjoyable for toddlers and parents alike. The concerts also feature Pearce’s dance partners, a large balloon spider named Incy Wincy, and turquoise monkey named Kuma.
Pearce’s journey as an artist first started in the Australian boy band Justice Crew, who won “Australia’s Got Talent” in 2010. Despite the win, the band was unable to gain global recognition, resulting in Pearce leaving the group to start DJing in 2016. After a brief stint as a salesperson in an Australian electronic store, the DJ finally hit gold in 2022. The artist created a remix of the famous children’s song “The Wheels On The Bus”, which he then posted to TikTok accompanied by a video of him dancing with his daughter. The sound quickly took off as other parents began to do the same, following which Pearce released a remix of a Wiggles album called “The Wiggles Soundsystem: Rave of Innocence” which placed number 1 in the Australian Dance Albums Chart. In March of this year, Pearce released his official debut album, aptly titled, “Lenny’s Toddler Techno”.
Now, the artist has sold out shows across Australia, Asia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and the U.S.A., with his first American concert taking place recently on June 29th at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, Los Angeles. In an interview with “The New York Post”, Pearce said, “This is an event that parents can take their kids and enjoy as a whole, instead of just taking their kids and then just being bored, waiting until the show finishes.” To Pearce, he is simply being a dad on stage, making a clown of himself for the entertainment of the children.
Despite the adorableness of the concept, many have wondered just how appropriate a rave atmosphere might be for ages ranging in the single digits. The concerts take place in the afternoon but the one-hour show still features pounding music set to about 90 decibels. Combined with the fog machines and the flickering lights, this situation could prove to be overstimulating for a young audience. To battle this problem, music therapists have recommended parents to keep an eye out for their children’s behaviours, encouraging frequent breaks and noise reduction headphones if necessary.
Regarding the concerns of associating babies with raves which generally have darker undertones, Pearce stated, “I know that most people would say, ‘Is this the image we want to teach our kids?’
What image are you imagining? Because if you think about it, they’re just kids with light sticks, right?”
Close monitoring and plenty of hydration seems to be key for both parents and their children in these high-energy concerts. Afterall, even toddlers should party.
This article is authored by Rishima Mosali from Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts, Pune. Intern at Deccan Chronicle
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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