Shows/2007-09-15

From This Might Be A Wiki


Fan Recaps and Comments:

Kdern:

This was a great show... they played a few great oldies and the best from their new album.
Photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kdern/sets/72157602131485621/detail/
Highlights for me:
- Maybe I'll Know, as first encore song. It was just John and John, with accordion accompaniment. They sang harmony throughout... really beautiful. Reminded me of the Everly Brothers. So nice to hear them turn down the volume once in a while and just sing.
- Snail Shell - haven't heard that one played in years.
- Ana Ng - fantastic (I was hoping for a similar song as well, Experimental Film, but they didn't play it).
- Two of my favorites back to back: Contrecoup and It's Not My Birthday.
The music sounded great but John and John did not seem to be having fun tonight... they seemed to be just going through the motions. The audience was pretty low-key as well... usually I'm surrounded by people singing along as I am, but tonight it was more like an audience just watching a show from where I was in the balcony. We went down to the floor for a while, but it was hard to get close to the stage.
The Phone Calls from the Dead bit was pretty lame... sorry Johns. =)
After the show, we were first in line at the bus. John Linnell showed up out of nowhere, said hi to me, and went on the bus to get his bag (a nice black shoulder man bag) and walked off. We were later told he went back into the Pageant to hang out since the bus driver wouldn't be back for a couple hours. Flans went in the bus to change, and came out in saying "OK, let's do this quickly...". He didn't seem to be in a good mood for some reason. Of course he stayed and took pictures, signed autographs and shook hands with everyone in line. I asked him about when the songbook is going to come out and he laughed and said "Ha! Never!".
All in all it was another great show. Can't wait to see them again.
Photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kdern/sets/72157602131485621/detail/
Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB_evmwu9E8

Kevin Dern

Shellbelle:

I had tons of fun. Got down to the front row on the right side, down between the keyboard and bass - right in front of that accordion (sorta - there was an older guy taking notes in front of me, he seemed like a real veteran). :) I agree very much with the previous poster, that the Johns seemed a little grim - but the show was still great! They made my night when they played Ana Ng, and Damn Good Times was a great closer for their second encore. Also, It's Not My Birthday was a sweet choice for my birthday!
Also, I got a setlist! My friends kept yelling that it was my birthday, and one of the stagehands kindly peeled Dan Weinkauf's setlist off the back of his amp as the security guys were telling us to clear out. I'll post it up here shortly. Shame I didn't know that at least one John does autographs afterwards - the only other show I'd been to was at Lincoln Park Zoo, and so was kind of unorthodox. But walking back to the car with a setlist stayed the feeling of disappointment I usually get when a show's over. I had a great time!

Enterthewumpus:

Good stuff. I was a little dissapointed when Flans came out for autographs afterwords and was so... hurry-riffic... The show was great though.

Samuel:

This concert marks the second time I've seen TMBG live (the first being the free Mardi Gras show from earlier this year). Opening act Oppenheimer performed a great, though short, set and really won over the crowd. TMBG did a great job as well, naturally.
There's not much else I can add that the other fan recaps haven't already covered. The sound levels were perfect, the set list had some great choices (it was nice to hear the full version of "With The Dark" and "Maybe I Know" live), and Flans seemed a bit hurried at the autograph line (I was able to get a picture with him and get him to sign my Omnichord). However, one of the more interesting things to happen during the show actually happened within the crowd of fans in front of the stage. During "Why Does The Sun Shine?," Flans went on to do his usual "the sun is made up of a failed presidency..." bit. The moment he finished this, a larger gentleman wearing a yellow NO! shirt standing slightly in front of me suddenly looked very displeased. He proceeded to give a double thumbs down to the band, smoke a cigarette, and yell something incomprehensible towards the stage in some attempt to change the Johns' political opinions. I found it kind of funny that this came as a surprise to the guy that Flans said all of this, considering that John and John are New Englanders who contributed to the Moveon.org soundtrack and had themes of corrupt political power in "With The Dark." The now presumed ex-fan ended up leaving the crowd before the show was over, which gave my girlfriend and I some space to move even closer to the stage.

Grahamswife:

I remember the guy Samuel is referring to. I actually thought he was pretty funny. Like stated above, why would he expect the Johns to be a fan of W?
This show had to be at least my 15th time seeing them. There were 2 times in the past I saw them 2x in a weekend. I still remember hearing them for the first time in high school in 1989. (or was it middle school in 88? LOL. Being the show was the day after my birthday, I was so happy to hear "It's not my Birthday".
I enjoyed standing and dancing right in front of the stage... while my husband and friends proceeded to have drinks with one of the guys from Oppenheimer.