Unpopular opinion, especially from someone that writes a family-centric travel blog, but I don’t covet everything “baby”. I won’t ooh and ahh over a stranger’s baby. I’ve never told my kids it was “din-din” time or ask if they want a “baba” of “wawa”. It just isn’t me. So when I heard that Baby Shark Concert was coming to Hawaii, my initial thought was to grimace. I hadn’t even introduced Baby Shark to my daughter when it first got popular (my mom did, however). Needless to say, as Hawaii parents everywhere scrambled to get tickets, I didn’t even bother to look up showtimes.
Then one day while I was at a cheerleading competition for my cousin’s kid, the Baby Shark concert got brought up. My cousin was regaling us with stories about all these people she knew that threw Baby Shark-themed birthday parties. Listening to the phenomenon and discussing how many kids were obsessed with it made me realize that I was doing my kid an injustice by boycotting it. Just call me the Grinch whose heart grew three sizes in one day. I went home that night and bought tickets.
Coming to Hawaii!
Probably the coolest part about the concert was that it almost didn’t happen. Welcome to the downside of living in Hawaii. No two-day Amazon Prime shipping. Nor Chipotle, Olive Garden, or Trader Joes. No shipment of many bulky furniture items that are sold online. Nor a stop on the Hamilton tour. And no Baby Shark concert. (I do realize that no one is going to feel too sorry for me #Hawaiiproblems.)
However, my favorite local magazine (Honolulu Family) teamed up with the creators of Baby Shark to bring the concert here. Well, they were able to bring part of the concert to Oahu in any case. My understanding is that the full Baby Shark concert is actually two hours long. Dubbed the Baby Shark Mini-Show, the Honolulu Concert was only going to run for 1 hour. My tiny, little Grich heart really appreciated the decreased show time when deciding whether or not to bite the bullet and purchase tickets. I figured I could handle 1 hour of just about any concert. And with that, tickets were bought.
Let the show begin!
Since I purchased the tickets at the last minute, we ended up in the nose bleed section of the Blaisdell Concert Hall. It didn’t seem to make a difference to Emily. She downed her blue popcorn, hugged her new Mama Shark stuffed animal (because everything she owns needs to be pink) and waved her light stick. And that was before the Baby Shark Concert even started.
The Baby Shark Mini-Show was broken down into 30 minutes of Max and Ruby, a 15-minute intermission and 30 minutes of Baby Shark and Pinkfong. The Max and Ruby part of the show included big rabbits jumping around the stage with a mouse singing children songs. I thought Emily knew who Max and Ruby were by her participation in the songs. She didn’t, but she still thought they were wonderful. And then (after the intermission) came Pinkfong to introduce the star of the show, Baby Shark.
How was it?
You know what? It actually was really awesome. First Pinkfong taught the audience the hand motions to Baby Shark (which this blogger definitely needed a lesson on). And then THE song started, sing-along style with the cartoon and lyrics behind the dancers onstage. After Baby Shark, the group of singers/dancers continued on with Penguins Attention (my personal favorite) and Jungle Boogie. (There was also a dinosaur song I wasn’t able to find online.) And then because the Pinkfong crew knew their audience, they threw in a super-fast remix version of Baby Shark to round out the show. Emily walked out of there super sad that it was over. And I walked out super thankful that I had sucked up my reservations and bought us tickets.
As for my level of enjoyment, I maaaayyyy have been singing Baby Shark all day at work the next day. Just think of me as the Grinch singing with all the Whos in Whoville.
A tip on what age of children would like the Baby Shark Concert?
Based on the crowd at the concert, Emily may be at the older end of the Baby Shark fanbase spectrum. However, Leo is definitely too young for it. I was shocked to see so many of the under 1 crowd in attendance. It’s not that bringing a baby would be frowned upon at this concert. Quite the opposite. There was so much laughing and (happy) screaming going on throughout the concert, a baby would fit right in. I’m just not sure the baby would be able to make it through the concert.
I took a special interest in watching the groups that had babies. Truthfully, I was feeling a little guilty for leaving Leo at home and was interested in seeing how the kids his age handled the concert. I watched as one by one, those families left, often before the Pinkfong section even began. No matter how cute the songs were, those babies were NOT happy to be stuck in those laps/seats for an extended period of time.
What’s next for Baby Shark?
While Hawaii readers have missed the boat, for all you mainland inhabitants, there is still time. Here is a link to the tour for the Baby Shark show. Go for it! You’ll be happy you did!
If you liked this post, maybe you would like these posts from Hawaii Girl Travels:
Painted Sky: Disney Aulani’s Dream Come True for Princesses in Training
The Pau Hana Room at Disney’s Aulani: A Treasure Chest of Fun
Check out Destinations to see all the other places I’ve talked about.