Shows/1997-04-16
No wikians attended this show.
You must be logged in to mark yourself for being at this show.
Links:
Setlist: (incomplete and possibly out of order)
- New York City
- Spider
- Spy
- I Am Not Your Broom
- No One Knows My Plan
- We're The Replacements
- The Guitar
- Till My Head Falls Off
Encore 1:
Encore 2:
They Might Be Giants
— with The Gravel Pit opening —
328 Performance Hall in Nashville, TN
April 16, 1997
Fan Recaps and Comments:
"We can't be silent 'cus They Might Be Giants" by Chris Miller
The Babbler, Apr. 23, 1997:
I have seen TMBG now a total of four times live, and I would have to say that their April 16 show at 328 Performance Hall was among the best. They had a lot of energy throughout the show and just seemed to be having a good time with it. Graham Maby, the new bassist, fit in extremely well and had a great rapport with the two Johns. They covered the majority of their albums by playing a wide variety of songs. Also notable was their new lighting system which just added to the flair.
The opening band was the Gravel Pit which had a very solid rock/indie sound. Although I couldn't get past the fact that the lead singer looked exactly like Drew Carey and the lead guitar was a dead ringer (in looks and in action) for Kramer. They were pretty good as far as opening bands go. The crowd didn't show any signs of restlessness during their performance, which is an amazing feat at most concerts.
The audience was prepped and ready to go, when TMBG came out and performed a fairly traditional version of "New York City," John Flansburgh was swinging his microphone stand all over the place and putting on a display of adrenaline for the first few songs.
A special treat came a few minutes later when they played "Spider," a quirky song from their Apollo 18 album. The next shock of the evening came during the song "Spy" which ends with a free-form conducted section which led into a few verses of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" and the Internet-only song "I Am Not Your Broom" (check it out at www.tmbg.com). In concert TMBG have a few "regular" features that are always present such as this impromptu section of "Spy." Another one is trying to coerce a conga line during "No One Knows My Plan" which normally ends with about three people doing the conga. To my amazement, a quite lengthy line started and wound its way around the hall. I would have joined in but I thought that it might constitute dancing and get me expelled so close to the end. (Actually I didn't want to lose my great spot right up front.)
Some other notable songs of the evening were "We're The Replacements," "The Guitar," and "Till My Head Falls Off."
During the first encore they cut out the lights and came out with the "disembodied heads." Consisting of ventriloquist dummy heads on poles, they were a fitting backdrop for the song "Exquisite Dead Guy." Finishing off the evening with the perennial classic, "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," Flansburgh had broken all but one string on his Gibson guitar. I certainly can't think of a better way to wrap up my last few weeks at Lipscomb than with a ringing in my ears reminding me of a great concert.
