One Direction in Concert: Our Review

UPDATE: 5/25/12: First Tween Malia Obama is also a One Direction fan and attend the show last night in Virginia.
As tweens put it, "Every generation has a boy band. 1D is ours." Another group of five lads from across the Pond lit up the stage at the Patriot Center last night and were met with record-setting decibels (122, which exceeds Verizon Center records as well) by their sold-out crowd of tween fans. The noise was so deafening that one couldn't hear the band until a few minutes into their first song.

One Direction has proved to be a break-out hit, and they put on a show that delighted their Washington-area fans last night. They performed hits from their "Up All Night" album (although many tweens reading this column will state that every song is hit on that record) and did several cover songs as well. Their cover of Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody" was a particular standout amongst the crowd and was notable both for their adept tweaks on the arrangement and their fidelity to the soul of the lyrics.

"Our boys", as they are referred to, kept the stage-set simple with a focus on their trademark, clean-cut ensembles and a band of four other people. They limited their footwork to traditional a-capella style moves, and their fans ate it up. The five-some (Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson) evenly shared center stage and acknowledged and thanked all corners of the venue. Fans threw all manner of gifts on the stage, including a baby doll, ping pong balls, a red Nationals baseball cap (which Niall promptly donned), and an Indian flag (which Niall draped over his shoulders - perhaps confusing it initially with the Irish flag, which has the some colors?).

During the concert, One Direction answered questions sent via Twitter from the crowd. Perhaps most entertaining amongst their responses was Mr. Payne's impersonation of Louis Armstrong using lyrics from "What a Wonderful World".

A new female recording star, Camryn, opened for One Direction, and she had arguably a tough spot to fill, what with a stadium full of tween girls screaming for One Direction. She did an admirable job of pumping up the crowd with songs from her own repertoire including "Set the Night on Fire" and a rousing cover of Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger". As an aside, the music that played before One Direction took stage that got the most spirited response from the crowd were songs from "Grease". The entire Patriots Center it seemed sang "Summer Lovin'" and "Greased Lightening" en masse.

Tweens documented the entire show with in their usual way with smartphone videos, photos, Tweets, Tumblr posts, and Facebook updates posted throughout the evening - almost certainly a Facebook query this morning will turn up several boot-leg videos from the concert. Many in the audience came wearing fan tee-shirts they had customized at home with puffy paint, fringe, and glitter, and day-glo colors were de rigeur.

More information on One Directon's Up All Night Tour can be found here.

If you liked this post, you can subscribe to this blog by clicking here. You can also get up-to-the-minute updates on tween lifestyle by following us on Twitter and on Facebook.

Another Reason For Tweens To Ride Bikes

Friday, May 18th, is the annual Bike to Work Day in Washington (cities around the country have held Bike to Work Days throughout this week) - it should just as easily be called Bike Everywhere Day to include kids. We stumbled upon a recent study that found that kids who are driven everywhere grow up alienated from their environments, whereas kids who grow up walking and biking in their neighborhoods feel safer and have better senses of both direction and belonging.
We want our tween daughters to be able to navigate a city, use public transportation with confidence, and learn how to be safe in a multitude of environments - and a big part of all of those goals is helping them to form a good sense of direction and be map-literate. We found the study to be very interesting and promptly went out and purchased bus passes for the girls. We'll all be biking tomorrow and have spent this month getting used to taking the bus home from school. Does your family use public transportation or bikes to get around? What tips can you share about teaching tweens to be safely independent?

If you liked this post, you can subscribe to this blog by clicking here. You can also get up-to-the-minute updates on tween lifestyle by following us on Twitter and on Facebook.

It's Viktor Krum's Birthday!

It's Stanislav Ianevski's , the actor who play Viktor Krum in the 4th Harry Potter movie ( GoF ), birthday today! Celebrate by answering this Trivia Question: Who did Krum take to the Yule Ball? Answer in the next post!

Finally: Athletic Gear Designed JUST for Tween Girls

Loyal readers know that we're constantly monitoring the market for gear that's designed with tweens in mind, and many of you will remember that we noted the launch of a new line of athletic gear by Ivivva from the founders of Lululemon back in 2009. The line is finally available State-side, and we were thrilled to have our tweens review their latest collection. We have three serious tween athletes in our house: a ballet dancer, a fencer, and an ice skater. Each girl reviewed the line - the tween fencer's review of three pieces from the collection is the first in this series.


Indi's Review of Ivivva:

I fence three days a week and attend a ton of tournaments all over the country. The sport requires you to wear fencing whites, but you have to wear workout gear underneath. You sweat A LOT, and the under layer has to be light and enable you to really MOVE. I field-tested three items from the Ivivva Athletica line - here's what I thought:

The hoodie was super cool! I particularly loved the thumb-holes on the sleeves because it was interesting, and I like that style of “skater girl”. Also, I liked that it was reversible because then I could pull it off and on, and it wouldn’t matter which way it was facing (so I didn’t have to turn it right side out). I also liked the styles of the jacket because one was plain, and one was patterned - which is great because then it could go well with the outfit you choose. I found the pony-tail hole in the back of the hood funny, but kind of odd. I still enjoyed seeing my friends reactions when I turned away from them and they could see my hair coming out of my hood.

The pants proved to be a great staple to my closet. They were plain black with a blue stripe on the top, giving it some pattern. It went well with most things I wore and was great to when I needed a pair of bottoms to pair with my top, I also enjoyed that flexibility they allowed me, a great thing when I need them to work out in. Overall, I liked them!

I really loved this tank! It was fitted (a good thing when you need it to wear under a lot of protective gear) and made me look professional and put together when I went to fencing practice. I also liked the color because it was different shades of blue that had a subtle, though interesting pattern. I also appreciated how it seemed to help me not be drenched in sweat at the end of a practice, but relatively dry - it's well named as the "Keep Ur Cool Tank". I thought it was awesome!!!

Hoodie, $64, Pants, $56, Tank, $22 - all from Ivivva Athletica

Mom's note: As a parent, I'll note that Ivivva is worth the premium price. The items have held up very well in the wash (cool water, tumble dry), the material really "breathes", and the fit flatters our tweens of all body types. We've bought budget athletic gear from Target as well as pricey items from Under Armour in the past, but this is the first line that's really worked for our girls - probably because it was designed with tween girls in mind from the get-go.

If you liked this post, you can subscribe to this blog by clicking here. You can also get up-to-the-minute updates on tween lifestyle by following us on Twitter and on Facebook.

Tweens at the USA Science and Engineering Festival

 
This weekend was the second annual USA Science and Engineering Festival. Last year's event was on the National Mall, and this year's festival graduated to the Washington Convention Center. The Expo was packed with vendors ranging from NASA to NOAA to Girl Scouts to the University of Maryland and more. Families with kids of all ages made their way to the Festival throughout the weekend and were treated to workshops from Bill Nye the Science Guy, Potato Chip Science, and Dr. Molecule.

For a tween girl interested in science, #SciFest was the place to be. There were giant DNA models, a chance to chat with astronauts, goop to muck through, giant bubble hula hoops, and instant snow demonstrations. Demonstration winners earned free t-shirts, NASAtote bags, and other science swag. STEM educators and organizations were well represented across every age group.

The Festival is funded primarily by enterpreneur Larry Bock and enjoys support from a Congressional Host Committee.

If you liked this post, you can subscribe to this blog by clicking here. You can also get up-to-the-minute updates on tween lifestyle by following us on Twitter and on Facebook.