Shows/2007-10-05

From This Might Be A Wiki


Fan Recaps and Comments:

Arben says: With George Shelby on sax, Bill Dowling on trumpet and Dan "The Machine" Levine on trombone.

Very much like the Avalon show of two nights ago, except I found this venue to be far less enjoyable. The section of the floor I found myself in seemed full of people who talked or texted through the entire program, which is its own flavor of disappointing. The center floor seemed to be having a better time, with the exception of one fan who wanted to hear Bird of the Bee of the Moth so desparately that he was calling for it by the first three notes.

The confetti cannons were fired during the frozen-in-time moment of Older.

Tonight, from the grave, we were joined by Milton Mouse who did not curse at all, even when he wanted the Johns to move their tour bus, which would later stop him from attacking Triangle Man.

The full, with-horns versions of songs like With the Dark are both a treat and somewhat tricky (so, so sorry) for the band - Danny Weinkauf shot a big expression of relief after getting through the middle section of the song. Dan Miller and Flans, to their collective credit, played guitar LIKE NEVER BEFORE!

Maybe I Know was scheduled but ignored for the second encore, according to Iggy's set list.

I also liked that the venue provided a service to audience members who were too far in the back to see the stage clearly - video monitors with an extremely wide shot of the stage, which somehow manage to provide less detail than simply looking at the distant stage.

perspixx says:

This is a show They'd probably like to forget. I'd like to forget it, too. A lot of things went wrong:
  • Linnell had a hard time bringing the Phone Calls From The Dead bit to a close.
  • It took Flansburgh and Weinkauf three attempts to get the 2nd part of Older going, then the slideshow was abandoned again.
  • Dan Miller messed up the opening riff of Damn Good Times twice.
  • Flansburgh had some sort of guitar malfunction during Climbing The Walls, and left the stage to get it repaired.
  • During Particle Man, Linnell forgot the name of Milton Mouse, had to ask Flansburgh mid-song... then forgot it again before the end of the verse.
  • Finally, Flansburgh was too far away from the microphone during Mr. Tambourine Man, then apparently forgot the lyrics. Argh.
There were some good parts. Having the horns on Mr. Me and other songs is still awesome every time. There's eight guys up there and they're all doing something different. It's like this tidal wave of sound washing over us, and it's fantastic. Older was really good with the confetti cannons and a longer pause than normal.
Marty Beller went insane on the drums during the band intros. He went so far as to stand on his stool and attempt to bash the cymbals with his foot. After nearly falling, he seemed to realize that this was an incredibly foolish endeavor, and sat back down. He drummed so hard that the drum tech rushed out as soon as he was finished, and continued working on the set during the next song.
The place was packed. I think the House of Blues may have sold too many tickets, which doesn't surprise me, because they're known to be a shady organization. There were people standing in doorways, packed against the walls, on the stairs. It was like riding a train in India.
I'm seriously disappointed that there was virtually no variety in the set lists this week. I can understand consecutive playings of the songs from the new album and classics like Birdhouse... but Memo to Human Resources? Mammal? Meet James Ensor? They're all good songs, but there's really no need for them to be played four nights in a row.
While we're on the subject... Mr. Tambourine Man. Seriously... they've been doing this for 25 years. They have hundreds of their own songs, we don't need to hear them playing somebody else's crap. Maybe I Know works because most people have never heard of it, and it's a cool story about the lady giving them $20. Other songs work because they're able to make the song their own... but Mr. Tambourine Man is a waste of time.

TAD2020 says:

This was the first show I've even been too, me and my friend were very pleased with the set list and it covered many of our favorite songs. The house was packed, and after Oppenheimer left the stage, a bunch more people showed up, making the place even more packed.
Mid show they brought out Tricerachops with George Shelby on sax, Bill Dowling on trumpet and Dan "The Machine" Levine on trombone.
Linnell disappointed in Milton Mouse's lack of swearing during the Calls from the Dead sketch.
Marty Beller did beat the crap out of his drums during the band intros, breaking two of the the symbol stands and nearly falling off this chair while standing on it trying to stomp on a symbol.
After Cap'm and during the start of New York City, Flansburgh refused to begin the song till the lighting guy turned the iris down on the spot light and left the song going in idle for a minute till he asked that it just be turned off instead. Flansburgh didn't what the "Free Lasik eye surgery that comes with playing at the House of Blues".
During one song (I think it was Take Out The Trash) Flansburgh knelt down on the edge of the stage and let a fan assist him in "playing the guitar like he's never played before".

azechiel says: This was the first show of theirs I'd been to, and I have to say that everything that perspixx complained about, I thought just added to the humor of the show. I thought the setlist was great and had a great time.

When Linnell told Flansburgh to "play that guitar like [he'd] never played it before," he looked confused for a second then reached over the top of the neck, attempting to play fingerstyle for a second or two. Hilarious.

Overall, I thought it was a great show, and I hope to see more of their stuff in the future.

Brocktune:

Four words: It's Not My Birthday. I'd been dying to hear them play that song. I almost wept when it started up. Despite all the problems about this show others have noted, for me it was one of the best. I never get sick of mammal.

Nogwater::

I'm writing this in 2015, so it's been a while since the show. The main thing that I remember is that I was the lucky fan that got to strum Flans' guitar while he held it and played the chords. I don't remember what the song was, but I know I was terrible at it. I started off okay (maybe?), but then I got a bit too into it and tried to strum double fast. Flansburgh pulled the guitar back for a second and gave me a "slow down" gesture. I must have knocked it out of tune because he ended up having to hand it to someone off stage to get repaired while he used a different guitar. I think Flansburgh asked if I'd ever played before and I shook my head no and then Linnell made a comment about me playing like I've never played before with both meanings being quite obvious.: