For the first couple years of his life my son loved The Wiggles. They were his life. He would sing and dance to the songs all day. As parents we loved it. the Wiggles were a group that sang children’s song, but were talented enough to entertain adults as well. My wife and I grew very fond of them, however over the last year my son has lost interest. His interest nowadays lies with a new four man music group, The Imagination Movers.  I always felt like The Wiggles songs had an adult style to them while having lyrics for kids. The Imagination Movers take this a step further. The music of the Imagination Movers has the energy of today’s hottest artists with lyrics that speak to children.

The premise of the Imagination Movers is 4 guys in jump suits (Rich Collins, Scott Durban, Scott (Smitty) Smith and Dave Poche) who think creativly to solve problems. While doing so they have fun singing and dancing to high energy music. Their style is very Rock and Roll with a little bit of rap thrown in. Occasionally you may hear a little bit of country as well. The group got their start in New Orleans airing short segments for their local PBS affiliate. In 2005 Disney took notice and eventually signed a deal with them in 2006. In 2008 they made their debut on the Disney Channel and have been entertaining children all over the country for the last 2 years.

The Imagination Movers are definitely the story of some normal guys who came up with an idea and made it big. All four are married and have 9 kids between them. Rich and his wife have 5 themselves. All members of the group with the exception of Smitty lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina. Smitty at the time was a firefighter  whose station was lost to the storm as well. Despite the adversity in their hometown, the group worked hard and are now enjoying their success along with a lot of children and adults.

Last night we took my son to see The Imagination Movers at the Mesa Center for the Arts Ikeda Theatre in Mesa, AZ. First of all for those living in the Phoenix area, the theatre was gorgeous. We learned of the concert a little late and could only get tickets in the mezzanine section (the first balcony), however there really seemed to be no bad seats. The Movers were joined on stage by their road drummer Kyle Melancon who actually played a  larger part in the show than one would have expected allowing Rich their show drummer to get involved with the audience. The rest of the guys played their instruments as well with Scott and Rich doing most of the vocals, Smitty on guitar and Dave on bass.

The first two-thirds of the concert followed the shows concept and involved solving a problem, in this case Smitty lost his voice. While coming up with new ideas, they sang songs and encouraged  the kids to get up and dance, or shout out to help them sing. Every kid in the theatre seemed to be having a great time as were most of the adults. The group really made an effort to connect with the adults in addition to the children. Their style of music definitely reflects the taste of adults ages 25-40 who grew up in the 80’s and early 90’s, however during their concert they often threw in some funny remarks and nostalgic jokes which served as entertainment for the older members of the crowd. At one point they all got up in the Karate Kid pose and went into some short skit about concentrating using their Mr Miagi voices. Afterwards they told the kids to ask their parents. At that point my attention was caught and I knew to start looking for little things that appeal to us as adults. One of the funnier lines of the show came after Dave’s failed invention did not work. As he was taking it off stage he was apologizing and said he tried his best. Under his breath he muttered “Windows Vista” which got a laugh from the audience.

Once the problem was solved The Movers left the stage in typical rock concert fashion before reappearing to finish the show. The rest of the concert consisted of a Medley of their songs from season 1 of their tv show. In the middle of the medley they for some reason went in to “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World. I’m not sure if this was something they always do for every concert or something special for this one concert. If it was a normal part of the show, I’d be interested to know if they realize that Jimmy Eat World got their start at Mountain View High School which was literally just a few miles away from the Ikeda Theatre.

After finishing up their medely they paid hommage to one other classic song by ending the show with their rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Beleiving.” This got everyone up  singing and clapping along, however I did see some confusion on my son’s face when he didn’t recognize the song. All in all it was a great concert and enjoyable for everyone of all ages. I truly felt like this was my son’s first rock concert. The show felt like a rock concert as it was loud and full of energy. I look forward to the next time they come to town which they promised to do.

If you have kids, check out the Imagination Movers on the Disney Channel as part of Playhouse Disney. Also pick up their first season album and soon you will find yourself singing along too.

References
Imagination Movers. (2009, December 3). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13:58, December 5, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Imagination_Movers&oldid=329560598