In 2011, just after David turned 5, Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People was a popular song on the radio. Every now and then we would take a break from kid’s music and listen to the radio. We didn’t know anything about Foster The People, but thought Pumped Up Kicks had a fun beat and David liked to dance to it. So, for Christmas that year, Santa brought David the Torches CD. It only took hearing Torches one time through and we were all hooked on it. Torches quickly replaced They Might Be Giants, Justin Roberts and The Verve Pipe as the music of choice. It was nice to finally listen to more adult music.

During this time I had a 30 minute drive to and from David’s pre-school. With Torches being the only music we listened to on those commutes, it didn’t take long before David had all the songs memorized. And that was just in the car. At home David would watch Foster The People videos on You Tube. He would use his toy instruments, a table, and even the dog crate to create a makeshift band set up and then copy the performance he saw on the You Tube videos. When he wasn’t inside watching and performing, he was outside standing on his “stage”, any raised area he could find, and giving a concert there. He was obsessed with Foster The People.

We thought David was getting quite good with his covers, so we started recording him. Around this time we also found out Foster The People had a concert coming up in the DFW area and entertained the idea of taking David. I was a little hesitant because he’d only been to kid or family concerts and my memories of concerts were of smoke-filled and crowded venues, so we put off buying tickets thinking he wasn’t ready.

Several weeks pass and David is still obsessed with Foster The People. This prompted CJ to do some digging and find out who represented the band. He sent several emails to Foster The People’s management, telling them the story of David’s covers and how great would it be if David could meet the band when they were in town. We finally got a reply asking for a You Tube link to a video of David doing one of his covers. “Call It What You Want” was the best representation and was David’s first You Tube video.

We got word that the band saw the video, liked it, and wanted to meet David. Apparently they liked that David covered a lesser-known song rather than the popular “Pumped Up Kicks”. So, in June of 2012,  at age 5 1/2, David was about to go to his first non-kid concert: Foster The People, Kimbra, and The Kooks.

Foster The People offered to meet David during their sound check before the show and then again after the show. I had to be out of town for a work obligation, so CJ and David were the lucky one’s to go. David soaked it all in, studying everything. CJ said the tour manager and the band were nothing but hospitable and wonderful. David was comfortable interacting with the band. These You Tube Videos captured some key interactions:

David came home that night with a signed guitar and poster, and life-long memories.

These backstage pictures were taken after the show around 1:00am, which explains why David looks so tired.

Later that year for Halloween, David wanted to dress as Mark Foster. No one really got it, but it was fun putting it together! Foster The People continues to be a favorite band and we will be forever grateful for their generosity

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