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BABY SHARK LIVE, the marquee outside had read.
Its hard to tell which.
Parents, too, are dumbstruck.
Both meet at the intersection of apprehension and hope, though on opposite sides of the street.
Beatles, roof of Apple Records.
The air is electric.
The video has been viewed nearly 4 billion times.
It is catchy, as catchy as T.I.
A two-minute video made into an 80-minute extravaganza, a crew of 50, a tour of 100 cities.
Most dates, like this one, are sold out.
and the answer is no, they do not.
We want the shark!
(Now if I give you the funk, you gon take it?)
So we wait and wait.
Many parents stare at their phones, either filming the stage or their childs awe.
On and on Hogi and Pinkfong search.
They go to the jungle.
They go to the sea.
For the children in the audience, the moment is ecstatic, but only mildly so.
The show any show at this level, at this hour is already an 11.
How much higher can they soar?
As a matter of self-preservation, everyone under 5 has gone catatonic with wonder about ten minutes in.
The song ends and the house lights abruptly come on.
I take a lap around the perimeter.
Ive been playing Yu-Gi-Oh with my 7-year old for three years.
He doesnt know the rules.
I dont know the rules.
All I know is I always lose and he howls that Im not summoning my characters correctly.
My 8-year-old son loves Imagine Dragons, specifically a song called Believer.
And let me tell you, Baby Shark is Brian Eno compared to Dan Reynolds.
Za Allman, 22, is there with his daughter Zuri, 1.
They live nearby, in Flatbush.
I listen to this all day, says Za, but she loves it.
This is both ZaandZuris first concert.
Ive never actually been to one before, he says.
Shes our first daughter, says Laasia (pronouncedla-Asia), giddily.
Wed do anything for her.
Out in the lobby, Lydia, the bartender, is doing brisk business in popcorn and pretzels.
We moved a lot of vodka too, she admits.
Waiting in line are Blanca and Adam Stempl, who had traveled from Soho.
Theyre there with Paloma, 2.
How many times had they listened to Baby Shark?
Five hundred, says Adam.
Blanca pulls a face.
Maybe thats because you go to work every day.
Fivemillion, she says.
By the second act, were past a lot of regular bedtimes.
The thin membrane that separates tired toddler trance from absolute meltdown begins to rupture.
By the finale, exhaustion and ecstasy had been bone-fused.
An 80-minute show for a 2-year-old is like a 24-hour rave for an adult.
After the lights went up, there was a scrum near the stroller check.
In the lobby, families lingered, still adjusting to the relative calm.
Clearly they had been through something.
He drove down from New Haven to sell light-up wands and swords for $10 a pop.
Thats half as much as they sell em for inside, he tells me.
Ive sold 21 so far, Cohn says.Its been a good night, he says, A good night.
And the thing is, hes absolutely right.
