Austin Kiddie Limits 2016

So, normally I'd review each of the Kiddie Limits bands separately as though they were any other band, but since the ACL folks don't even include these bands on the official poster anymore, I'm demoting them to second class status as well.

Last year, I actually went into the Kiddie Limits area for the first time, so that I could watch the kick ass Residual Kid.  I thought it was weird that they were playing the kiddie stage, when their music is great stuff that adults would love, but whatever, I guess because the band is made up of teenagers it made sense to someone.

Inside the Kiddie Limits zone, there were chairs, and kids getting their faces painted, and people trying to sell me overpriced lemonade so that I could support some cause, and a bunch of other booths that were doing things I couldn't pay attention to.  Because I was trying to hide the fact that I was pouring vodka into the charity lemonade I bought.  Which is the perfect thing to teach the kids.  DADDY NEEDS HIS MEDICINE!  Although none of them were my kids, so its probably cool.

This year's kiddie lineup involved several new additions, and one group that is there every year for reasons that escape me.

Nakia and the Barton Hills Choir.  Friday at 12:30.
Hey now.  This Nakia guy is kinda damn tight.  I can't help but think of telephone handsets when I hear his name, but his most popular song just got me all head bobbing and eyebrow raising 'round here.

Strong, soulful voice, and hey, was on The Voice! His bio says that he appeared on the Voice in 2011, and although he is originally from Virginia Beach, he now calls Austin home.  He's got two EP length albums and then one that looks like a true LP.  Most recent one is 2013's Drown in the Crimson Tide, which makes me reflexively dislike the dude, because Alabama hurt Colt McCoy's shoulder that one time and then Garrett Gilbert was crappy.  But the music on it is good stuff, so I'll work with him despite the title.
I wonder if he has a kid at Barton Hills, which would make this collaboration make some sense.  I've already provided reviews of Barton Hills Choir, which is an elementary school choir with the coolest director around, doing cool pop songs and interesting arrangements at the elementary school level.  This will probably be a pretty fun collaboration.

Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band.  Friday at 2:30, Saturday at 4:30.
Perfect kid music.  Fun, bouncy, silly, and mostly not even in English.  Its like dealing with children when they are overtired - no one is making any sense and they are bouncing off the walls.  So many albums, starting (on Spotify at least) with 2011's Oh Lucky Day, then on to 2012's A Potluck, 2013's fantastico!, 2013's Lishy Lou and Lucky Too!, 2014's Aqui, Alla, 2015's Adelante, and then 2016's The Greatest Hits.  Pretty prolific output right there!  None of their songs has more than 10k streams, but it all sounds like fun stuff as far as I am concerned.  The current most popular is "Cuantos Tacos," but I feel like serving up the surftastic "Pinata Attack."

Did they just say something about Totinos!  Those pizzas are nasty, but oh so very good. You can't actually think that you are getting anything resembling real food when the whole pizza is $1, but I have good memories of killing those things in college.  Anyway, this song is fun as crap.  WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK!"

Jazzy Ash & the Leaping Lizards.  Friday at 4:30, Sunday at 2:30.
Another with very few listens on Spotify, none in the top ten cracks 2k.  But with a band name like that, they should be booming.  When looking for a video, I found this one, which is an entire show:

Banjo-playing lion Furry.  Check.  Tutu-wearing tummy scratcher.  Check.  Hip glasses guy with a sax.  Check.  A venue that is about 6 feet wide.  Check.  The sound quality of that video is butt, but I'll tell you, her tunes that are available on Spotify sound pretty good.  "Heebie Jeebies," her most popular with 1,338 streams, showcases her great voice and a pretty solid jazz band.  Kinda dig it.

Kupira Marimba.  Saturday at 12:30.
Honestly, I can't fade this music.  Who wants to be happy?  Who wants to have their body involuntarily wiggle?  Who would probably divulge state secrets if forced to listen to this music for a full hour?  Everyone!  Hooray for traditional marimba!

I bet this band started with some high people at the Eeyore's Birthday party marimba circle, who decided to jam together in their 78704 back bungalow, and they've never looked back.  You cannot find their music on Spotify, but a few tracks are available to taste on YouTube, including this "demo reel" you just watched.  Either I can't tell the difference, or every video is that same song.  I saw the McCallum marching band play "Hey Baby" on the field the other night, which I played back in the early 90's, and every band for all time has likely played back to the times of Jesus.  Maybe this song is like that for marimba bands.  Either way, I bet a few happy kids are going to JAM this music on Saturday.

School of Rock.  Saturday at 2:30, Sunday at 12:30.
Again, I love the fact that they book some of these kids to come and play at the 'Fest.  Here is a link to last year's review, no need to re-do it, but I'm a fan of letting the cream of their student crop take a real stage at the Fest.

The Helmets.  Sunday at 4.
So, this band is made up of very small children, but one of them is the son of the bassist for Metallica, Robert Trujillo.

Freaking rad for those kids.  "We're more of a heavy metal kinda band?"  Big surprise they like Metallica.  So do I, kid.  That tune is pretty excellent, even if the sound on that video is absolute garbage.  These dudes aren't available on Spotify, so I can't listen to a full compliment of music, but they do have other videos to check out.  "7 Nation Army"

If it wasn't for the fact that these dudes play at the same time as Nathaniel Rateliff, I might go by to check them out.  Too bad.  One more, from their performance at BottleRock in Napa.

Freaking rad.  I wish I was 1/10 that cool when I was 10.

The Q Brothers.  Sunday at 4:30.
Honestly, this was the reason I was psyched this year that the Kiddie Limits people had been left off of the poster.  Never again having to listen to these doofuses mangle rap and history into garbage would make me very happy.  So, I'm not doing it to myself again, I'm just linking you to last year's review.  These guys must be hooking up with the booking agent for C3 or something.