A Family Visit to Steel Stacks
By Kelly DiCesare from Lehigh Valley Marketplace Magazine
And then suddenly a hush came over the crowd.
He sauntered up to the stage. Dave Fry. Two chords into his show, I realized people were there for him because he’s pretty awesome. There was no introduction. He just launched into a song, and obvious crowd favorite, “I Like Peanut Butter.” They went wild – well, as wild as a room full of prepubescent pixies and their parents can get.
Dave Fry is not your “typical looking” kid’s performer. There are no striped suspenders or whirly-bird hat; there is no over-amped-sing-songy-hyper voice or gimmicks. Dave Fry looks like the dude who stood behind you in line at a convenience store, but he can charm a crowd. He is rather Pete-Seeger-esque, and to me, that is such a breath of fresh air. He sits on his stool with his guitar and sings fun songs about jelly in a dish or snails. Period. No 3-D light shows, no glitter falling from the sky, no t-shirt cannons being shot into the crowd. The only thing Dave Fry shoots out is the occasional barb to parents threatening, that if they don’t start participating, he will play the same chord for the next hour and a half. I like that kind of old-school entertainment, and I like my kids to see it as well!
I mentally rejoined the crowd in the middle of a song about a swim in the ocean that went horrible wrong, only to look over and see my 11-year-old laughing out loud and my 7-year-old dancing in the aisle. That made the morning! But, in the midst of that warm-and-fuzzy moment, my eyes shifted, and I became somewhat disoriented. What is going on here? A happening about as rare as a field of unicorns… dads were dancing! I told you Dave Fry could charm a crowd.
So here’s another trivia question for you: where do you go to teach your kids all about steel history (which you don’t get around to doing), see a children’s show (that turned out to be one of the best you’ve seen in your 11 years of mothering) and see an unbelievably expensive car (and spend most of the time screaming at the top of your lungs DO NOT TOUCH THATTTT!).
Oh, and where do you find yourself buying your first piece of concert swag ever. I didn’t do it when I saw Dave Matthews; didn’t do it when I saw GNR; didn’t do it when I saw the Rolling Stones. But, stand in line for Dave Fry stuff – yep. Did it here.
Answer: SteelStacks, Bethlehem