Arizona Diamondbacks Offer Fans Wiggle Room

In years past, the Arizona Diamondbacks have offered a series of post-game concerts, bringing in musical groups to perform during a home stand. For the most part, these concerts have been focused on country music (maybe not, though it seems this way).

I have to admit, I am not a country music fan. When my radio starts playing country, I take the car to the dealership to have it repaired. So having acts such as Trace Adkins and Jo Messina were pretty much lost on me.

I had never heard of either of these performers. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Adkins was the performer for the "Hey Batter Batter" song they play at the ballpark.

While I appreciate the Diamondbacks attempting to expand my musical knowledge, I longed for something different. Couldn’t they get ZZ Top, Dire Straits, or maybe MC Hammer? There can’t be so many state fairs that these guys don’t have an open date during baseball season.

For the 2010 season, the Diamondbacks had been quiet about whether they would even offer a concert series this year. With attendance lower than expected and the state of the economy, I wondered if this might be a music-free year at Chase Field.

Just as I came to grips with no concerts, the Diamondbacks surprised me with an announcement that the concert series was returning. The first concert to be announced was for July 25th, following the game against the San Francisco Giants.

The fans would be treated to a free concert by… The Wiggles! "The what?" I asked. The Wiggles!

Ok, I had no idea who The Wiggles even were. I secretly wondered if this was another one of those country acts that described what a cowboy’s belly did in the saddle when riding a horse.

I immediately went to the internet to find out who or what The Wiggles even were.

For those who may not know, The Wiggles are a children’s group formed in Australia in 1991. According to Wikipedia, they are known by children as international superstars.

The Wiggles are made up of four guys wearing what look like Crayola Crayon shirts in purple, yellow, light blue, and red. And before anyone gets too excited, I looked and no, it is not Sedona Red.

Since my youngest child is now 13, my house seems to have missed The Wiggles' invasion that is supposedly conquering the planet.

Besides the four singers, there is a whole set of characters, including Captain Feathersword, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus, and Wags the Dog. There is also something called "The Wiggly Dancers" that dance around while these four guys sing.

I could not find anywhere in the press release that said whether any of these characters would be traveling to Chase Field.

I am guessing that in a pinch, they might be able to use D. Baxter the Bobcat in place of Dorothy the Dinosaur. And as near as I can tell, the Rally Backs could definitely be renamed "The Wiggly Dancers" at least for one game. Assuming, of course, that "The Wiggly Dancers" can’t throw a T-shirt.

So there you have it. The Diamondbacks have found a way to make me actually miss country music. I never thought that would be possible.