When was the last time you attended a show where a jar of (non-laced) gummy worms was passed through the crowd? How about one where the bassist not only sported brightly-colored pantyhose around his neck, but was a whopping 5 years old? A show where the average height of the audience members was approximately 3'10"?

If you attended the Bunny Clogs CD Release party at the Cedar Cultural Center, the answer is last Saturday. With the release of their album More! More! More! Adam Levy (Honeydogs, Hookers & Blow) has followed in the footsteps of a recent slew of rockers turning their creative efforts to children’s music. My son has been listening to the album over the past few weeks, and I have to admit, it has been growing on me, in a this-is-what-I-play-to-get-the-youngster-out-of-bed sort of way. What I found to be mildly irritating at first listen (gratuitous high-pitched giggling and repetitious, silly lyrics about food) eventually became tolerable, then mildly catchy, then zanily fun.

Bunny Clogs - Photo Barnett

At the live performance, Levy deftly held the attention of the wound up-audience members by punctuating the show with frequent audience-participation questions. "Do any of you out there like lima beans?" garnered a surprisingly positive reaction, to which Levy deadpanned, "Oh. I don't." He clowned around the stage, clad in what appeared to be some kind of crazed ice cream man uniform and seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. He certainly demonstrated his lyric, "Remember, joy is contagious..." from "Song for Powderhorn," a one-off ballad on the album, which Levy was asked to compose for the Music Saves Lives project in Powderhorn Park, a music recording program for low income youth. A percentage of the profits from More! More! More! will be contributed to that project.

Levy's children feature prominently on the album and in the show. Daughters Esther and Ava Bella (aka "Velveeta Girl" and "Squatsy") adorably belted into their 3-ft tall mics, draped in toga-like dress-up garb and sparkly accessories. The girls were not only tolerant, but welcoming to stray toddlers who sporadically wandered onstage.

A highlight of the show was the youngest Levy, Isaac, making his debut as feature bassist on a couple of numbers, including a partial cover of The Who's "Baba O'Riley" ("They're all wasted...on sugar!") Hands-down, the most hilarious moment of the show was when Levy instructed his kids to pass around a jar of gummy worms; to which little Isaac approached his mic and gravely warned the crowd, "They make you feel like you want to throw up." You could tell he was dead serious and had personal experience in the matter.

Eldest son Daniel (aka "Chunky D") sported some kind of horned aluminum-foil headgear and made a cameo stage appearance for his spastic dance accompanying "Three Dogs and a Pancake!" Daniel also created the ridiculously cute cover art for the album.

As an extra bonus, the group did a very respectable cover of one of my favorite pop songs of all time, The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back." The female vocalist (who, in appearance, reminded me of a less esoteric, blonde Bjork), belted it out with a decent approximation of Michael's prepubescent voice.

The show concluded with Levy inviting the entire audience onstage for a big finish with the funky "Shpilkas," a song about having ants in one's pants. I may have been the only parent who elbowed her way onstage, but I dare say I was also the parent having the most fun. The last time I got onstage at the end of a show was in 2001, at a George Clinton & P-Funk All-Stars show in Columbus, OH, and I was wearing a gigantic Afro wig. I would go so far as to say that this was almost as much fun. Every show should end like this.