Is 3.5 too young?

corduroy2525 · May 2006

I started this thread over 5 years ago, and my 3 and half year old is now 8 and a half and will be going to her first concert at the Sept. 17th Winnipeg show. I'm so excited that her first show will be Pearl Jam and not some fad (justin bieber, katy perry, myley cyrus etc...). Very excited! My original post is below:

Just wondering what the consensus is. I'm thinking about bringing my 3 and a half year old daughter to St Paul night one. She would obviously be wearing the big ear muffs and i have a crappy ten club # so I will probably be getting seats in the wings so she should be able to see. Is she too young? After reading that other thread about all the puking, I'm not sure if I want to expose her to that stuff (never mind all the pot and booze). I've been to quite a few shows and for the most part been seated around nice people. Any thoughts? Any one else ever bring someone this young?

meme · May 2006

I have a 6 year old son, and I'm not thinking about taking him yet.
It's not so much the puke and pot that bothers me (I've always been lucky at shows so far). The problem for me is that

1. so far I've always had to travel to shows
2. his bedtime is much earlier than the end of the show
3. There is no way in hell I'd ever forgive him if he wanted to leave early

DeLukin · May 2006

Rock concerts are not for young kids. At Camden 1 a guy had a young kid with him and I couldn't help but think of all the things he was being exposed to that he shouldn't be (pot, swearing, drunk idiots, $4 hot dogs, etc). The poor kid looked traumatized.

upina2001 · May 2006

DeLukin wrote:

Rock concerts are not for young kids. At Camden 1 a guy had a young kid with him and I couldn't help but think of all the things he was being exposed to that he shouldn't be (pot, swearing, drunk idiots, $4 hot dogs, etc). The poor kid looked traumatized.

Well, it could be worse. They could be taking him to see Nickelback. At least Dad has a good taste in music.

Pegasus · May 2006

unless you're confident she'll just fall asleep on his seat when he's had enough (which considering his age I would give at 1 hour TOP, attention span is what, 10mn at that age?) or unless you're prepared to leave very early, I wouldn't.

You know your son better than anyone, but if it was me, I probably wouldn't. Beside the 'dangers', he won't appreciate much and it will be more of a burden on your own enjoyement. my 2c.

corduroy2525 · May 2006

meme wrote:

I have a 6 year old son, and I'm not thinking about taking him yet.
It's not so much the puke and pot that bothers me (I've always been lucky at shows so far). The problem for me is that

1. so far I've always had to travel to shows
2. his bedtime is much earlier than the end of the show
3. There is no way in hell I'd ever forgive him if he wanted to leave early

Well, I will be travelling to the show as well, but my wife and daughter are coming along on the trip as we are trying to make a bit of a vacation out of it as well. Her bedtime is much earlier as well, but with the Petty shows, I'm assuming the Pearl Jam will be playing first, so best case scenario, they play until 9 or 9:30 (which isn't that late). I'm kind of thinking that if I were to take her to any show, this would be the one as they will have a shorter set and be on first. If we end up having to leave after Pearl Jam, then so be it. I'm not a huge Petty fan (although, I am looking forward to the encores with hopefully PJ and Petty), and I will be there for night 2 as well with my sister. Anyone else have any thoughts on the matter?

midland46 · May 2006

i took my little brother to see the smashing pumpkins a number of years ago, i believe he was in 4th grade at the time (but was a "fan" of their music). five minutes into the set he had his hands over his head as it was extremely loud, we even went to get him some earplugs and it was still too loud. we ended up listening to the rest of the set outside in the lobby area.

granted that was the pumpkins who played a bit louder than pj, but i was relaying the story to a friend and his comment was "you probably don't want to mess the kid's hearing". unless its an outside venue, i'd be more concerned with how loud it is. if the child isn't ready for that kind of noise, it could be a long night. just my thoughts, good luck.

corduroy2525 · May 2006

midland46 wrote:

i took my little brother to see the smashing pumpkins a number of years ago, i believe he was in 4th grade at the time (but was a "fan" of their music). five minutes into the set he had his hands over his head as it was extremely loud, we even went to get him some earplugs and it was still too loud. we ended up listening to the rest of the set outside in the lobby area.

granted that was the pumpkins who played a bit louder than pj, but i was relaying the story to a friend and his comment was "you probably don't want to mess the kid's hearing". unless its an outside venue, i'd be more concerned with how loud it is. if the child isn't ready for that kind of noise, it could be a long night. just my thoughts, good luck.

Well, the ear muffs would be a must. I know when I was at Toronto 1 & 2, I saw Olivia off to the side wearing them and dancing around having a great time. I have no intention of messing with my daughters hearing.

miskin · May 2006

no dont, she wont enjoy it, it will be long and boring for her

warrior2 · May 2006

We brought our 11 year old son to Camden 1. He was fine, and the people behind us were cool and let him stand on his seat so he could see. A three year old is another thing - you will have no fun, and she will be miserable.

fjaccarino · May 2006

If I could vote 100 times, each and every one would be NO. Leave her home, for her and yourself.

corduroy2525 · May 2006

fjaccarino wrote:

If I could vote 100 times, each and every one would be NO. Leave her home, for her and yourself.

I'd say that so far the general consensus is that it probably wouldn't be a good idea. Thanks everyone who has posted. I needed some people to knock some sense into me.

Ms. Haiku · May 2006

Just thinking of my young nieces - they would be bored so fast. Like someone else posted 10 minutes tops attention span for dark, loud, and far away, then it's time to go. Unless she can bring every little people or lego she owns to the concert, but I don't think security would like that

Bathgate66 · May 2006

3.5 ?

even with earmuffs, you're liable to get her Tympanic membrane blown out- !
Not a good idea !

Thats too young.

I'd hold off on that, wait till at least 10-12 .

Best Of Luck

Poncier · May 2006

3.5?
Why would that thought even enter your head?

sixpixee · May 2006

Poncier wrote:

3.5?
Why would that thought even enter your head?

i agree! that's absolutely insane!

besides the obvious reasons--noise level, crazy drunkards around you--children that age have an extremely short attention span, and you won't enjoy the show if your attention if focused on the child all night.

JaneNY · May 2006

fjaccarino wrote:

If I could vote 100 times, each and every one would be NO. Leave her home, for her and yourself.

I would probably agree with this, and its not qualms about what they'll see - life is life, its reality, not that big a deal. But selfishly, having to mother a 3.5 year old will *seriously* detract from your enjoyment of the show IMO, and she is probably too young to get much into it. Shows go pretty late for such a little kid, and when they miss their sleep, or their food is off schedule, they don't do well. And I'm quite flexible - I've been bringing my daughter since before she was 9. But I basically didn't go to shows at all when my kids were little like that. If you can find someone else to watch her, I'd suggest that.

Niera · May 2006

My son is 3 1/2, turning 4 in July, and I would never bring him to a concert of this magnitude.

He's been to childrens' theatre plays (80 minutes in length the longest) and even with cushy seats and lots of other kids nearby, that was pushing it in terms of attention span. A 2 hour and 45 minute PJ set? Plus opening band? Plus time in between? Plus having to stand almost the whole time--past bedtime? No way, man.

He kept asking to come along (with his 9 month old brother) and I told him he had to be at least 9 (the age of the little girl who got Ed's tambourine in Chicago). He was OK with that.

Your call, but there's my opinion since you asked.

Travelar · May 2006

Definately spend the money and get a sitter. Why waste that good ticket on someone who would obviously not enjoy the show. Not to mention, you'll probably miss a lot of the show while you are parenting.

corduroy2525 · May 2006

Poncier wrote:

3.5?
Why would that thought even enter your head?

Because she loves Pearl Jam. She calls the new album her dance music. You are all correct with the lack of attention, the swearing, drugs etc... and I'm not sure if I was actually really considering doing this, but I thought I would throw it out there and see what you all thought. It's not a question of getting a sitter, my wife will be more than happy to look after her, just thought it might be a cool experience, but I think I am trying to rush things. Hopefully the band is still touring when she is 10ish.

esealb00 · May 2006

If the kid can name two songs and ask you to tame them to the show then they are old enough, if not then you are just amusing yourself at their expence. As for the hearing question GOOD EARPLUGS should do the trick don't worry. If kids are old enough to ask you to take them to a rock concert then they are probably going to be destroying their own hearing when you are not looking. Just try to set good examples and use them yourself (at least when the kids are around)

Is 3.5 too young?

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