Shows/1999-09-19

6 wikians attended: Hockalees Mistercpf Raven Twitchingmonkey Wally Brando Wompedy

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Setlist

Setlist:

• Drinkin'
• Spider
• James K. Polk
• She Thinks She's Edith Head
• Mr. Klaw
• The Guitar
• Ana Ng
• Your Racist Friend
• We're The Replacements
• Letterbox
• Cyclops Rock
• Older
• Spy
• Mr. Tambourine Man
• Instrumental
• Counterfeit Faker
• Man, It's So Loud In Here
• Finished With Lies
• Don't Let's Start
• Born In A Graveyard
• Shoehorn With Teeth
• She's An Angel
• Twisting
• Birdhouse In Your Soul
• Why Does The Sun Shine?
• New York City

Encore #1:

• Particle Man
• The Famous Polka
• Doctor Worm

Encore #2:

• Maybe I Know
• Miller Time
• Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

They Might Be Giants
— with You Were Spiraling opening —
Gypsy Tea Room in Dallas, TX
September 19, 1999

Fan Recaps and Comments:

Review by Justin Smith:

THE ARRIVAL

The Dallas show was in a club type place called The Gypsy Tea Room in a part of town known as Deep Ellum. I had never been to Deep Ellum before and, because I gave my self extra time not to get lost, got there about 60 to 90 minutes before the doors opened. I was rather stressed out after the drive (my nice friend gave me directions right through the ghetto to get there) but luckily managed to find the club with no problem. There was a small bunch of people by the front door (Elm St. side) talking about TMBG and stuff, so I just sort of stood there and listened in. They seemed like a nice bunch. Anyway, it had been about 30 minutes when these four guys in white shirts came up and asked us where Deep Sushi is. I don't know if I was just overwhelmed or what, but it took me a few seconds to realize that I was mere FEET away from MR. JOHN FLANSBURGH! Apparently the surprisingly short Mr. Flansy was craving some pre-show sushi so he headed back down the street with his entourage. It was all very overwhelming for this TMBG concert virgin, so unfortunately my lungs were too busy grasping for air to shout "I LOVE YOU JOHN!" Probably for the best actually. But anyway, some more time passes (I lost track by this point) and I heard some people saying "You rocked in Austin!" so I looked up and walking by was Graham Maby and Dan Hickey, and a few steps behind them was MR. JOHN LINNELL! After the first Near-John experience I luckily wasn't about to pass out this time. Anyway, the line got longer and longer and finally the doors opened and, after getting a big black "X" on both of my hands to indicate, "Give this man no alcohol!", everyone shuffled inside.

GETTING A SPOT

Luckily since I got there insanely early, I ended up about 5 feet from the stage, with excellent view of everything. There was a big speaker aiming our way too, I should have brought a pocket tape recorder with me for the perfect bootleg! Oh well. If someone else did have the foresight to bootleg this, e-mail me and I will pay you dearly for it.  :)

YOU WERE SPIRALING

I was very excited about hearing YWS (the opening band), because I have been completely in love with their Hello CD for some years now. They did not let down! Their performance was amazing, and they have an awesome stage presence. Tom does some *amazing* things with the keyboards and has a very interesting voice. They did a few covers, a few songs from their Hello disc (much much better live), and a few things I had never heard before. One interesting part was when Doherty used a Game Boy to play his guitar. I'm not sure exactly what effect he was going for, but it turned out unique. To quote someone in the audience, YWS's lead singer Tom Brislin looks like "John Linnell with better hair", or something like that. Anyways, here is what they played: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow - I'll Be Right Along - Excellent Body - You Belong to the (???) (I can't read my notes) - This is the...? (I'm not sure about this one either) (But I can assure you, these both rocked. Unfortuneately I was too busy having a good time to write very legibly.) Just a Place - Crisis at 92 - Credits - Squirm - Your New Boy - Take On Me

THEY MIGHT BE... (GASP!)... GIANTS!

After what seemed like an eternity following YWS, THEY finally took the stage. I really don't know how to explain it, other than it was completely beyond my wildest expectations. There were a few times when they stopped to talk because Flansy broke his guitar strings during We're The Replacements and Cyclops Rock. John Linnell also got distracted by an audience member holding up a piece of paper and had to stop during It's So Loud In Here ("A song that has never been released and we never perform...in fact, we never even practice it! But since you don't know that, you'll think it is supposed to sound this way.") A few other interesting notes, Linnell did all of the vocals on Older (even the "TIME!") because Flansy was fixing his strings or something. There was so much fantastic about it that I could type for hours but I'll shut up now and get to what they played: [see setlist above.]

So there you have it. A fantastic show to be sure. All four of the YWS guys were hanging around at the shirt stand afterwards and were very friendly to talk to. (They even signed my CD!) All things considered, I don't think I could have imagined a better TMBG concert. (but then again, I'm sure that is what everyone says about their first one!)