Shows/1994-05-22
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Setlist: (May be incomplete and/or out of order)
They Might Be Giants
— with Brian Dewan opening —
McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, CA
May 22, 1994
Fan Recaps and Comments:
McCabe's guitar store in Santa Monica may prove to be THE place to see They Might Be Giants. It was like having the boys playing in your living room.
In the back of the store is a room lined with guitars on the wall and a tiny stage at one end. There were some seats along the walls, but mostly folks just stood near the stage or sat on the carpet. About 150 in the audience total. Kewl.
You could get coffee and apple juice out front with FREE refills.
Brian Dewan opened the evening and the crowd was with him right from the first strum of his zither. Brain played most of his favorites including, Obedience School, Cigar Store Indian, Wastepaper Basket Fire, Feel the Brain and 99 Cops. By the end of the set the crowd was going wild -- yelling for an encore! Brian seemed a bit surprised and elated by the reception. Later, during the break, he was found wandering the store, happy to talk with folks.
John and John came out promptly with their band (it was pretty tight up on that little stage) and jumped right into Birdhouse. As they finished the first song it was evident that they were going to have a good night as they were all smiling at each other. John and John and the rest of the guys seemed to really get into the venue and were joking it up the whole way.
Flansburgh announced that they would be performing songs in alphabetical order. He wasn't kidding.
Most of their more familiar numbers sprung out early and that seemed to be just fine with everyone. The crowd was groovin, the band was smilin, the whole gig was a blast.
The first indication that they were having a good time was when Flansburgh began to call for some additional songs they hadn't planned on playing that night, like Istanbul (Not Constantinople).
Major hilights of the show included several songs from the forthcoming album including the slinky, sexy "Thank You For Putting Me Back In My Snail Shell," the sax-driven "Spy", and the more traditional Giants-sounding piece "Why Am I Sad."
In addition, the Johns played Frankenstein, Lucky Ball and Chain, Why Does The Sun Shine, Don't Let's Start, The Famous Polka, Twisting, I Palindrome I, Particle Man, Mammal and a very special version of The Statue Got Me High -- played really, really fast to sound like a CD player stuck on Fast Forward!!!
At the beginning of the evening, Flansburgh announced that Mayor Richard Riordan had come biking by and stopped to ask who was playing tonight. : )
I've seen TMBG several times before, including the Summer Stage in Central Park, and I have to say, this was the most fun I have ever seen the band have. And we know how much fun they usually have!
