Shows/1998-09-25

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4 wikians attended: BobpalindromeBob Fitch SubliminalJK Travis

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Setlist:

Encore:

They Might Be Giants
— with Michael Shelley opening —
Mississippi Nights in St. Louis, MO
September 25, 1998


Fan Recaps and Comments:

Review by Girkabob:
This was an awesome show. I got there late (about 30 minutes before the doors opened) but managed to cut in line with some friends. A couple times people in cars would stop and ask who was playing, and when we told them, they just kind of said "Oh," and drove off wondering why so many people were seeing a band that they had never heard of.

When the doors finally opened, I was worried about getting up front because there were about 15 people in front of me and I got held up at the door because apparently there was a $2 surcharge for minors. I got really frustrated because people were going in around me, but the nice guy at the door could tell I really wanted to get in so he let me in. I weasled my way to the front (Linnell side) and waited for about an HOUR for Michael Shelley. They were not very popular at all with the crowd. The lead singer was a jerk ("Those They Might Be Giants sure suck, huh?" *boo from crowd* "And now here's a song by John Flansburgh!"), and by the end of the show he threatened to kick some guy behind me's ass and people were throwing coins at him.

After Michael Shelley, we waited about 30 minutes for TMBG, and didn't see them at all until about 5 minutes before they went on, when I saw a bespectacled John Linnell poke his head out of the dressing room door and quickly go back in. Finally the Dans came out and played the STD theme for an introduction, and J&J came shortly thereafter. Linnell looked really tired, but that didn't stop him. The show totally rocked, aside from the fact that a giant security guard with a gold tooth was blocking part of my view. During WDTSS? John Linnell reached his keyboard out into the crowd. I had the advantage of not only being in front, but standing on something that was propping up the barrier so I was about a foot taller than everybody else, and I could reach way in to play the keyboard. S-E-X-X-Y was dedicated to the lighting guy, who, by Flans's request, demonstrated how boring it would be with no lights. They played The Famous Polka twice in a row, (first with Linnell on accordion and then with him on keyboard) because Flans said the first one sucked. All their regular props were present (cannon, heads, Stick) but the Stick failed on them. Flans got it out and everybody cheered, and he started hitting it on the stage to work up a beat while Linnell readied his bari sax. After about 7 hits, it stopped. (*BOOM* *BOOM* *thunk*). J&J looked at each other and examined the Stick mic. It had shorted out or something, and they had to take it offstage. Linnell put up his sax, and they skipped 2 songs. After they left, I was still standing on that prop-thingy, and managed to score Linnell's setlist since I could reach out really far.

They ended at midnight with Flans breaking all his strings during The Guitar. I snuck up to get in line for Flans's autograph while the staff tried to get the rest of us minors out of there. Flans signed my setlist and seemed a little annoyed when I asked if Linnell would be signing anything ("How should I know? I'm the nice John."). After buying a bumper sticker, I quickly ran outside around the back of the building, where I found all my friends by the tour bus. They told me Linnell had already sped off in his car, so I waited for Flans. Everybody thought he was still in signing autographs, so they went over to the Michael Shelley *ahem* van and talked to them. I was wandering around checking out the bus when I saw Flans packing stuff in by himself. He looked up at me and smiled and quickly went back inside. I alerted the crowd that he was out and they came back over. After about 5 minutes, we started wondering whether he would come back out or not, and some people left. At one point, Dan W. came out and signed my setlist and thanked me for coming. I leaned up against the bus reading my setlist, and a cover-thingy off a lugnut fell from the bumper. It was pretty big (almost 2 inches in diameter), so I grabbed it really fast and stuck it in my purse as a souvenir. My friends made me feel guilty for taking it, and at the same time Flans finally came back out of the club. As he was getting on the bus, I sputtered something like "Um...this uh, fell off your bus." and he just said "Oh, hey that's cool. Keep it." and shook my hand. Everybody ran around the bus searching for loose parts, but nobody found any. :) Well, that's my story. It's long, but it was absolutely unbelievable.

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