Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
SINGING DURING a Saturday evening concert by The Little Mermen is Chelsea Zeno, dressed as "Moana." At left is Andrew Grau playing bass guitar. The concert was at the Historic Ironwood Theatre.
By P.J. GLISSON
Ironwood - The Little Mermen - a Disney cover band - put on a high energy musical performance at the Historic Ironwood Theatre Saturday evening, delighting concert goers of all ages.
Junior groupies filled the audience, including little boys in capes and little girls in princess dresses. Glitter and glow shoes were sprinkled among the lot.
"We've come to rock your Disney world," called out Alexis Babini, founder and leader of the nationally touring band.
He wasn't kidding as the band wasted no time in delivering a high-energy show filled with music from more than 80 years of Disney films.
All six band members were dressed in costume as various Disney characters - changing into different costumes for the second act.
The cheerful, lively lot delivered every number with highly expressive faces and nonstop movement, including impressive dance moves. Even Ryan Slatko displayed some fancy footwork while playing the keys.
Favorite tunes abounded such as "If I Could Go the Distance" from the movie "Hercules" and "It's a Small World" from the attraction by the same name at Disney World and Disneyland.
There were also songs from "Frozen" and many other movies, as well as the energetic Aerosmith hit "Walk This Way."
Band members often interacted with the audience, as when Carly Kincannon asked, "Do we have any warriors in the audience tonight?" Cheers indicated a strong "yes," after which music from the movie "Mulan" was played.
The lineup included several heartfelt solos by singers Babini, Kincannon and Chelsea Zeno, and by bass guitarist Andrew Grau, backed up by mean instrumentation by Slatko, who sometimes traded his keyboard for a keytar, and drummer Cody Rahn.
Babini also played guitar and showed his sense of humor by once pretending as though he were about to smash it on the floor. He then stopped to look at the audience, shook his head and mouthed "No. No."
Throughout the performance, the audience responded with cries of approval, and some kids even created a makeshift mini moshpit at stageside.
During intermission, all six members of the band appeared in the theatre lobby to talk with kids and take their picture with them.
Among the starstruck were Holly Noyes, 7, of Bessemer and her cousin, Zoe Schindler, 4, of Iron River, Michigan. Zoe's mom, Krista Schindler, accompanied them.
Among a line of others was Aryia Kane, 6, with her father, Tyler Kane of Ironwood.
The Little Mermen tours nationally, and some members also have other prominent roles.
Rahn is host of the hit Youtube show "Sounds Like a Drum." Zeno was part of Broadway's "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" tour, and Kincannon was on Season 4 of NBC's "The Sing-Off."
