Shows/2008-04-19a
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Setlist:
Songs are in their Approximate order of performance
- Wake Up Call
- Alphabet Of Nations
- No!
- Bed Bed Bed
- Boss Of Me
- I Am Not Your Broom
- Clap Your Hands
- Apartment Four
- One Dozen Monkeys
- Doctor Worm
- Why Does The Sun Shine?
- Alphabet Lost And Found
- Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
- E Eats Everything
- In The Middle, In The Middle, In The Middle
- Where Do They Make Balloons?
- Four Of Two
- Birdhouse In Your Soul
- Pirate Girls Nine
- Older
- Robot Parade
- Eight Hundred And Thirteen Mile Car Trip
- Particle Man
- Seven
They Might Be Giants
The Egg in Albany, NY
April 19, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Fan Recaps and Comments:
This was my first attendance at a TMBG show since 1990. No joke. I drove my 5 year old son 2-1/2 hours from eastern Connecticut so we could both see our favorite band at the same time. It was thanks to my kids him that I rediscovered the Johns, and I am grateful. The good news about being out of touch for so long is I had over a decade of their best tunes to catch up with.
The show was great. The egg has fantastic acoustics. The sound was brilliantly clear without being too loud. Seats were assigned, but Flans immediately called everyone down to the floor. I and about 20 other fathers put our children on our shoulders and rushed the stage. Flans commented about the impending lawsuits, crying "Who will be the first to press charges? Will it be this one?" (Pointing to my son who was now level with Flans' outstretched finger).
Despite being right after the release of "1,2,3's", the show seemed to be primarily the "No!" album (9 songs, including the pre-recorded "wake up call"). Only 3 songs from "ABC's," but it included the "Boy Band" rendition of "Alphabet Lost and Found," sung by the very energetic, bouncy new-parent named Marty.
The rendition of "Older" was one for the books. The audience was instructed to , on Flans' signal, to make "tumbleweed sounds" (the whistling sounds of a Hollywood ghost town). The signal came at "Time marches on, and time..." The audience made the whistling noise for nearly a minute as it dawned on Flans that he forgot to give us the signal to stop!
About this time, Flans suggested that we parents engage in a chicken fight contest (we still had our kids on our shoulders).
They did 2 encores. In the second encore, there was a change in plans. Flans complained that "He wanted to be in a different kind of band." He wanted to play in a band that could do something spontaneous for a change. He wanted to play a song requested by an audience member who was holding up a placard with the eyeballed "7" drawn perfectly on it. Linnell looked a bit perturbed and Dan Miller clearly didn't know where to go (Marty directed him to the keyboard as Linnell walked to the center mic). They proceeded into "7" to the intense enjoyment of all parents around us ("We want cake, Where's our cake" I and the other dads shouted).
After the song Flans commented that this was the first stage performance of "7." That makes me one of the first to demand my cake!
This was a great moment for my son and I. I have never in my life left any sort of live performance in such a good mood. I've seen THEY twice since then, but I am looking forward to the next chance at a family show. Next time, I'll bring all 3 kids.
--Chi Meson
