Kindie Concert Recap: Brady Rymer and Elizabeth Mitchell at Celebrate Brooklyn

Posted by Jeff on August 9, 2010 at 9:59 am

The 2010 Celebrate Brooklyn concert series ended with an impressive, all-ages bang yesterday as two biggies of the modern kid’s music world joined forces in delighting the modest crowd gathered at the Brooklyn Bandshell in Prospect Park.

It was a family affair as Elizabeth Mitchell and You Are My Flower took the stage; with husband Daniel Littleton on acoustic guitar, and daughter Story lending a hand on vocals, ukulele, and harmonica. A 3-piece string section and The Soundwave Sisters, a collective of young ladies providing essential and soulful backing vocals, rounded out the band. Mitchell performed three tunes from the forthcoming “Sunny Day”; “Ooki Na Nuri No Ki No Shita De (Under the Big Chestnut Tree)”, “John the Rabbit”, and “Mystery Train” (which, on the album, features Levon Helm and when performed live, I couldn’t help singing along in my Levon Helm/”The Last Waltz” voice). One of the highlights of the set was “Little Bird” from “You Are My Little Bird”. For this number, Mitchell called on Suzi Shelton and Brady Rymer, her “secret bird ornithologists” (the redundancy of that statement was not lost on her husband, who gave her a very humorous, gentle ribbing about it), to lend voices to the chorus.

This was the first time OWTK has seen Elizabeth Mitchell live and I was surprised by just how up-tempo, and dare I saw (soft) rockin’ the set was. Because of the slowcore nature of her albums, I half expected an impromptu naptime to break out in the sun in Brooklyn, but it didn’t. Instead, there was dancing in the aisles and smiles on the faces of the kids and adults. I think everyone knew they were witnessing something special on stage, a feeling I reckon many Liz Mitchell audiences have discovered through the years. I said this in a Facebook update, but it bears repeating: it’s kinda impossible to be in a sour mood when Elizabeth Mitchell is on stage playing music for you.

In between acts, Manny from the new Electric Company sat down on stage to read a pair of Ezra Jack Keats books. This concert event was a partnership with the Keats Foundation, so the reading of some of his work made perfect sense. “A Letter to Amy” and “Pet Show” were the selections and the fella did a great job projecting his voice and giving life to the Keats’ stories. While he read, the Scholastic storybook DVD of the books played in the background.

Brady Rymer at the 2010 Celebrate Brooklyn Family Concert

Then Brady Rymer and his Little Band That Could took the stage. Rymer is one of our faves, playing a brand of honest, good-natured rock-n-roll that any Springsteen or Mellencamp fan will not only appreciate, but love. It didn’t take long for Rymer to have the crowd on it’s feet, shakin’ it, jumping up, and holding their little one’s close during the sentimental and, frankly, gorgeous “One True You” – still one of the greatest all-ages songs ever. Rymer debuted “Ice Cream Girl”, a new tune dedicated to his wife Bridget and her former job as Good Humor truck driver. Very solid tune; makes me excited for the follow up to the Grammy nominated “Here Comes Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could”.

Check out a full set of my photos from the 2010 Celebrate Brooklyn family concert here.