Shows/1985-10-19
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Links:
- Documentation from the Hallwalls Archive
- Buffalo News listing, Oct. 13, 1985
- Buffalo News listing, Oct. 18, 1985
Setlist: (incomplete and possibly out of order)
They Might Be Giants
— with The Jickets, Miss Hapi Phace and Ethyl Eichelberger co-headlining —
Hallwalls in Buffalo, NY
October 19, 1985 at 9:00 PM
Fan Recaps and Comments:
Billed as "Andy Warhol's Lower East Side Sampler", the name comes from a partially-produced Hallwalls sampler LP, set to feature The Jickets, Mildred Pierce, Ethyl Eichelberger, Ann Magnuson and They Might Be Giants. The sampler was set to be released in the Fall, but the record project was never completed.[1] Tickets were $2, and the show was performed in the venue's "green room."[2]
In the September 2022 issue of Buffalo Spree, longtime Hallwalls artist Ron Ehmke would give a recollection of the performance:
It's been thirty-seven years since John Flansburgh and John Linnell first performed in Buffalo, playing accordion-driven songs about puppet heads, rabid children, and the awful fate of someone named "Chess Piece Face" before a small but enthusiastic audience in an early incarnation of Hallwalls. Back in 1985, they were an unsigned duo from Manhattan's Lower East Side, their debut album still a year away — but they had a secret weapon. That was Dial-A-Song, a phone number fans around the country could call to hear a brand new song every single day (at least for a few years) by a mysterious entity called They Might Be Giants. On the strength of several remarkably consistent early albums and regular touring by an expanded edition of the band, "the Johns" were already huge on the college radio-fueled circuit, but a long association with MTV (back when it was MTV) brought them mainstream attention. They've never stopped cranking out ridiculously catchy ditties with what appears to be the greatest of ease. As their original fans aged and became parents, the group pioneered a new subgenre of Hipster Children's Music, which enlarged their audience in ways that 1985 audience could never have imagined.
Replying to a Facebook post, former Hallwalls film curator Steve Gallagher recalled:
I remember [visual artist] Paul Sharits hated They Might Be Giants. He stood up in the middle of their set and yelled "What the fuck is this?" I think he expected hardcore rock 'n' roll—not whimsical pop rock.
From the September/October Hallwalls calendar, pg. 1, 1985:
ANDY WARHOL'S "LOWER EAST SIDE SAMPLER" featuring The Jickets, They Might Be Giants, Ethyl Eichelberger.
Three new acts from NYC's Lower East Side kickoff their "American Spirit Tour" with this exclusive Buffalo engagement. Watch for the forthcoming Warhol "Sampler" LP, to be released this fall.
From the September/October Hallwalls calendar, pg. 2, 1985:
ANDY WARHOL'S "LOWER EAST SIDE SAMPLER" is the title of the forthcoming LP partially produced by Hallwalls and featuring The Jickets, Mildred Pierce, They Might Be Giants, Ethyl Eichelberger and Ann Magnuson.
The Jickets (Petee-Filips, Larry Lame, Chett Grant and Kipp Delburt) organized the "American Spirit Tour" in reaction to the unprecedented popularity of lead singler Chett Grant, star of motion pictures, television and radio. They invited their friends John Flansburgh and John Linnell of They Might Be Giants to join them (with their sound man Bill Krauss). The Giants, of course, are no strangers to many of you who have checked out their 24-hour "Dial-a-Song" service. Together with Ethyl Eichelberger, The Jickets and They Might Be Giants are the "American Spirit" of new music on tour!
Preview of the show from the Buffalo News, Sept. 29, 1985:
They Might Be Giants, a group consisting of singers John Flansburgh and John Linnell and soundman Bill Krauss, are a humorous pop group that does songs like “Youth Culture Killed My Dog” and “I’ve Got Two Songs in Me and I Just Wrote the Third” to an elaborate prerecorded background. They are the kind of group that can start off in a Country-Western mode and suddenly shift into a polka or don gigantic hands as props for offbeat dances. Their Dial-A-Song line in New York City is currently their most famous contribution to the genre of performance art. You can get a song from They Might Be Giants by dialing (718) 387-6962 any time day or night.
Preview of the show from the Buffalo News, Oct. 14, 1985:
ANDY WARHOL'S "Lower East Side Sampler" cavorts into Hallwalls, 700 Main St., at 9 p.m. Saturday with performances by the Jickets, They Might Be Giants and Ethyl Eichelberger. These artists, along with Mildred Pierce and Ann Magnuson, appear on a forthcoming LP partially produced by Hallwalls.
