Shows/1996-09-19
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4 wikians attended: Absolutelybill Eviltikimonkey Garit Kerimaus
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Setlist:
- Spider
- The Guitar
- Pet Name
- New York City
- She's Actual Size
- Twisting
- Older (sung by Flans)
- How Can I Sing Like A Girl?
- Birdhouse In Your Soul (with Mike Viola)
- Exquisite Dead Guy
- Meet James Ensor
- XTC Vs. Adam Ant
- Particle Man (with Frank Black)
- Oddball (with Frank Black)
- Spy
- S-E-X-X-Y
- AKA Driver
- Stayin' Alive
- James K. Polk (sung by Flans)
- Band Intros
- Sleeping In The Flowers
- Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
- Why Does The Sun Shine?
They Might Be Giants
House of Blues in Los Angeles, CA
September 19, 1996 at 9:00 PM
Fan Recaps and Comments:
John Linnell was sick and couldn't sing at this show. The band mostly played songs led by John Flansburgh, and Linnell stuck to playing his instruments. Mike Viola and Frank Black made guest appearances to sing a few songs.
Linnell spoke about the show in an interview a few weeks later:
I had a cold. I was in Japan, and I came down with something. Just as we were getting on the plane my voice starting getting hoarse and then we had this 12 hour plane ride, and I just couldn't talk by the time we got to LA. I was just barely able to croak out some stuff. I really wanted to sing. It's really frustrating to not be able to sing in that situation. It took about 5 days for me to get my voice back. I tried singing a couple of quieter songs, but basically my voice would crack. It was a drag. It was very nice of Frank Black and Mike Viola to help out. They were total sports.
Review by Emble:
- FEATURING: The Lower Half of TMBG: Mr John Flansburgh and Friends!
- TRUMPET Jim O'Conner
- TROMBONE/EUPHONIUM Dan Levine
- GUITAR Eric Schemmerhorn
- BASS Graham Maby
- DRUMS Brian Doherty
- AND SPECIAL MUSICAL GUESTS: Mike Viola - lead vocal on "Birdhouse in your Soul" Frank Black - vocals and ROCK!!!! on "Particle Man," "Spy," and "Oddball"
- Spider
- The Guitar "I've got laryngitis" message from Linnell
- Pet Name
- NYC
- She's Actual Size
- Twistin'
- Older
- "Um . . This next song is about,uh, this next song is a brand new song, it's, it's about uh, freedom of, uh expression, and, uh, feeling brave, in a, in, - in a WORLD THAT SUCKS! [applause] I just thought I'd explain the song, - CLEARLY - before we go any further. Um- This next song, uh, is called
- HOW CAN I SING LIKE A GIRL?"
- Birdhouse In Your Soul w/ Mike Viola
- Exquisite Dead Guy
- Meet James Ensor
- XTC Vs. Adam Ant
- Particle Man featuring Mr. FRANK BLACK!!!!
- Oddball with MORE Frank Black
- Spy with even MORE of him!
- S-E-X-X-Y
- Nyquil Driver/Stayin' Alive
- James K. Polk
- (sounds like it's gonna be NKMP but instead it's) Band Intros
- Sleeping in the Flowers
- Istanbul (Not Constantiniple)
- Why Does The Sun Shine?
- Part of the Factory Showroom tour. Linnell has laryngitis and can't go on: so this is an all-Flans show with musical guests coming in to help with two Linnell vocals (Flans does others) but mostly it's Flans songs back-to-back. Although the tape I have of this is semi-poor quality and is not improved by the verbal performance of whoever was standing next to the bootlegger, it DOES contain the best live Istanbul I've ever heard - which may not be saying much but the horn intro is simply to die for. Another joy is Flans' profanity-rich diatribe against whoever'd stole the WDTSS lyrics from his monitor (the malefactor eventually returned the lyrics, perhaps in response to howled death threats from. . . somewhat more FRIGHTENING . . . sectors of TMBG fandom) not to mention his attribution of the sun's radiance to "the NUCLEAR REACTIONS of Neil Young . . . ESTROGEN! . . . and Wood." I should direct your attention to the fortuitousness of Flans performing "Stayin' Alive" on a night when tee em BEE GEE was reduced to its lower (although I'd say better) half. An essential element in any TMBGer's boot library so call me it's all I have to trade! emble@aol.com
