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REVIEW: Justin Roberts hits a home run at the Englert

By Loren Keller

After becoming a first-time uncle a little more than five years ago, I had always imagined one day taking my young nephew to his first big rock concert, maybe sharing my record collection and a little musical knowledge beforehand to help prepare him for it.

But real life happened just the other way around: it was my nephew, Carter, who introduced me to the music of one of his favorites, Justin Roberts. At age 5, he was already a three-time veteran of Justin Roberts performances before we saw him together Sunday afternoon at the Englert Theatre in Iowa City.

During my three decade-plus head start on my sister’s kid, I’ve attended hundreds of rock concerts, but this was the first time I’d seen a fan inspired enough to actually turn somersaults in the aisle. The under-five crowd (which included plenty of one and two-year-olds) had a blast; it’s safe to say most of the young parents and other adults did too.

The performance of Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players was as infectious as its audience was lively. Their songs are catchy, hook-laden and melodic, and to these adult ears recalled the bright, upbeat power pop of Fountains of Wayne, the New Pornographers and Guided By Voices.

In their first performance as a full band in Iowa City, Roberts and his group blazed through 14 songs in a tight 58-minute set, long enough to show off the band’s range and versatility but not long enough to overtax the attention spans of the younger ones in the crowd.

There wasn’t a dull song in the bunch. From the country stomper “Nine Planets” (lyrically adjusted to 8 after “scientists came along and ruined the song,” Roberts said) to the jump-along ska of “Baby Brother” to the thrash rock of “Meltdown!” Roberts and his four bandmates projected a full, rich (and just loud enough) sound into the acoustically ideal Englert Theatre – one of the best places in the Corridor to hear any kind of musical performance.

The band’s presentation was nothing elaborate or gimmicky: a few small clouds projected onto a backscreen, the four band members in sky-blue baseball shirts and one (trumpet player Dan Winer) wearing jumbo-sized sneakers. Further distraction from the music and the band’s raw, physical energy was unnecessary.

Following a set delivered without a set list (Roberts seemed to call each song spontaneously), the band wound up with an encore of “Yellow Bus,” a fast-tempo rocker that features the “frozen monster dance.” The performance drew a standing ovation, but the happiest fans had been on their feet for most of the show already.

Roberts visited the lobby afterward to meet fans and sign CDs as parents and children swarmed the merchandise table. Many picked up a copy of his latest CD, “Pop Fly,” due for official release tomorrow. In our current age of downloadable music and iPods, it was encouraging to see such a young generation of fans (and their parents) actually buying CDs and studying the cover art.

In an interview before his Iowa City show Roberts said he just tries to create music that he would want to listen to as an adult.

“The thing I always wonder every time I make a record is, ‘are kids going to like this?’” he said. “Because I don’t test-market my songs… or try to second-guess what kids are going to like.”

Cleary there’s little need to.