Aidan's Rocking Night(s) with Michael Franti!

I don't know how I forgot to post this last May but recent events have forced me to get off my lazy rear and finally update on some exciting recent events that happened with Aidan.

Last May, Michael Franti headlined the main stage at IFEST Houston and, as Aidan is a huge fan (along with the rest of us) I jumped at the opportunity to bring him to a live show in a family fun environment. The show was absolutely fantastic - probably one of the best I've been to in a long time. Michael had a good mixture of old favorites with a ton of material off of his most recent release "Sound of Sunshine". Everyone was jumping and dancing non-stop the entire show.

After getting getting everyone in the huge turnout to become totally involved in his music and message for an extended set, he closed out the night by inviting all of the children onstage to dance "Say Hey (I Love You)" as he usually does.

Naturally, Aidan jumped onstage and started dancing like a mad fool. And when I say mad fool, I mean all the other kids were basically jumping and clapping, but Aidan was GETTING BUSY. All this after he had danced the entire show (even the slow songs) like he was performing live on Broadway. (I honestly admire the energy of children sometimes).

Everyone at the show took immediate notice and finally Michael Franti couldn't stand to see him dancing to the side by himself anymore...

That's right - he pulled Aidan to center stage and proceeded to do every dance short of the Funky Chicken with him:

Here's a link to the entire video, Aidan goes center stage around the  3:45  mark:



It was a rare, magical moment. I honestly don't think I could have been prouder of him, and for those of you who know Aidan, that is saying an awful lot, as he makes me proud every single day.

Many people at the show wouldn't stop talking about it as we made our way to the exits, many of them stopping us on the way with, "Hey! There's that cool kid from onstage! Man you can dance!" Even cooler - the night I posted the original video to YouTube I was immediately contacted by someone with a much clearer view of him from the left side of the stage:

Here are links to the 2 part video:

Part 1




Part 2



Now, this evening was definitely a night to remember, right? It can't possibly happen again, could it?

Well, shortly after that wonderful Spring evening it was announced that Michael would be joining Carlos Santana on a tour that would come to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in the Woodlands.

Brandy, who missed the last two Franti shows I'd been to, was anxious to finally see him live as NO ONE puts on a better live show than Michael Franti. Naturally, we purchased 3 sets of tickets this time so she could attend and, after the last show, we would get murdered by Aidan if we left him behind.

As he was the opening act it was a much shorter set and, with such a larger audience than I've become accustomed to seeing him perform before, it wasn't as intimate a show as those at IFEST or the House of Blues. Plus, it didn't help that most people there had never heard of Michael Franti, and were only attending to see a legend of rock and roll: Santana.

Still, it was a great show. He managed to spend nearly as much time with us on the grassy hill during his set as he did on stage. I almost began to feel sorry for those who bought stadium seating because Michael seemed to prefer singing from the crowd in the cheap seats.

Unfortunately, it had to end much sooner than we would have preferred so Santana could take the stage, so Michael - true to form - called out to all the children in the crowd to join him onstage. Aidan got to the stage faster than you could say Jack Rabbit Slims but we almost weren't allowed up as the security staff were first demanding a ticket for the seating area, then telling us we had to line up on the OTHER side of the stage (after directing us to the side we were already on). In the end, it worked out. Michael put his bare foot down  and asked them to let ALL the children up.

The video below is much worse then the previous shots as they would not let me down to the stage with him, but you can clearly see Aidan in green on the far right dancing with an 85 year old man :)

After the song wrapped up, Aidan approached Michael to talk to him. If you look closely you will see the two of them share an intimate moment around the 5:27 mark, and then immediately 'relive' their exercise dance from IFEST:




Aidan and Michael reminisce...

... and GET DOWN:

Although the quality is poor, Spearhead did have a camera operator onstage and, though they have yet to release any video of the concert, they did post 153 pictures from the show on Michael's FaceBook page, including this gem :)

UPDATE:


Here's yet another clear version someone uploaded from CMW Pavilion!! Aidan's practically at the center of the frame :)

Aidan's Report to Pearland mayor Tom Reid

Aidan presented the yearly report to the mayor for his cub scout pack 446 today. Out of all the boys in his pack (about 100) he was nominated by multiple den leaders and ultimately selected over other boys much older than him. We are very proud of our future politician :)

Here is a picture of him with mayor Tom Reid:

Below is a direct link to the video. I wasn't in the most optimal position to capture the moment but I couldn't move without disrupting the presentation. The organizers were also recording the moment, from a much more advantageous position, so if I get a hold of a better viewpoint I will upload it as well: