1994, December 20 - Memphis - They Might Be Frank

Memphis, December 20, 1994
They Might Be Frank

It might have seemed inevitable that Frank and TMBG would end up playing together on stage while he was doing his solo show opening for us. He occasionally sat in for "Spy," but we never really mixed it up as much as I thought we might when this touring package came up. Through an odd set of circumstances They Might Be Frank was finally realized, however, in Memphis just before Christmas. The TMBG tour was to end on the 18th. Linnell booked a flight to spend the holidays overseas, but then this radio festival got confirmed without our knowledge for the 20th. Frank bailed us out by coming back from rehearsal in Rhode Island for his next European tour to do a special set with Brian, Tony, and me. We were billed as They Might Be Frank, and performed a bunch of his current songs, "Los Angeles," "Headache," and "Czar" along with a new, very cool song he wrote called "Jumping Bean," and some Giants regulars "Spy" (which Frank conducted the improvisational portion of) "Dig My Grave," "The Sun," "Istanbul" and a Bo-Diddleyized version of "Particle Man" with Frank singing and playing the clarinet line on the guitar. We also covered "Duke of Earl," which to my surprise (but not Frank's) had the audience chanting along almost right away.

After the show we drove to Graceland and looked at the Christmas decorations and did some late night souvenir shopping.

Hope you had a great New Years. See you in the conga line in February or March.