Aguilera's Psykoblast a kid-friendly tour

Christina Aguilera's YTV Psykoblast Tour is as kid-friendly as pop shows come. From an early start time -- doors open at 4:30 p.m. and showtime is 5:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Winnipeg Arena -- to special parent rooms and reserved seating, the show caters to young fans.

 Aguilera takes the stage at about 9:30 p.m., following the four opening acts -- Winnipeg's McMaster and James, Irish group mytown, and B.C. boys soulDecision and The Moffatts -- so kids can get home early, YTV director of co-marketing Tim Cormick says.

 "It became clear in Toronto that the kids were pretty tired by the end of it all, so I think we made the right call in starting a little bit earlier. Even so, at 10:30 p.m., it's a full five hours of music."

 YTV, which is producing a 60-minute concert special from last Friday's opening show in Toronto, has film crews on the tour buses to produce three more half-hour behind-the-scenes specials during the seven-city romp wrapping on Vancouver July 19.

 Psykoblast began as a made-for-TV concert show with a small invited audience in Toronto. The first national tour began with the courtship of Aguilera.

 "It took a lot of work, actually. We began negotiating when she won the Grammy, so her stake went up quite a bit," Cormick says.

 Reserved seating for concert-goers, whose average age is 14, is intended to prevent a rush to the doors or concert stage such as the tragedy in Germany in which nine fans died at a Pearl Jam concert last week.

 "These fans are passionate about their music and we wanted to make sure it was as safe as possible," Cormic says. "There hasn't been that craziness getting in the front door. That's important to us."

 Equally important is parental approval. All venues on the tour have special areas for parents to congregate during the show. Winnipeg Enterprises has set up TV sets and coffee at the Blue & Gold Room at Winnipeg Stadium, and guest services staff will be on hand to help kids find their seats at the Arena. Parents are asked to pick up free tickets for Blue & Gold Room at the Arena box office.

 Aguilera and the other bands left Ottawa Monday night by bus. Cormick says their travel time is 20 hours, but with stops, they're not expected to arrive in Winnipeg until tomorrow.