Shows/2002-08-23a
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3 wikians attended: Cornchops Lithium junkie Son of Bumpy
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Setlist:
- Victorious Intro
- Clap Your Hands
- Bed Bed Bed
- New York City
- Fingertips
- John Lee Supertaster
- In The Middle
- Mammal
- She's Actual Size
- Doctor Worm
- Meet James Ensor
- Dead
- Miller Time
- Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
- Boss Of Me
- Man, It's So Loud In Here
- James K. Polk
- Older
- The Guitar
- Four Of Two
- Why Does The Sun Shine?
- No!
Encore:
They Might Be Giants
— with Mark Kleiner opening —
Lee's Palace in Toronto, ON
August 23, 2002
Fan Recaps and Comments:
- This was an odd show.
- Odd that it was on a Friday afternoon, with the doors opening at 4:00 and the Giants due at 5:15.
- Odd that it was an "all ages" show because, according to Toronto's draconian anti-smoking law enacted last year, minors are forbidden from entering any establishment where even a single cigarette (lit or unlit) may have passed within living memory.
- Odd because it was NOT a kids' show despite it being advertised as all ages. True, it was heavy on "No!" material but the same No! songs were played in the evening performance. It was very much a typical Giants show. The only nod to the kids was the lack of swearing (no "Dan Miller FUCK YEAH!") and the substitution of the softer "Ensor" and "Mammal" for "Dig My Grave" and "Cyclops Rock". There weren't many children there but I did see one family with 4- and 6-year old girls. After the show, I overheard that some complaints had been received from angry parents who had been expecting something like Raffi.
- I joined the line outside at 3:20. The front doors were open and you could clearly hear Linnell leading the band through a number of takes of "Head Falls Off" as a sound check. Soon after, JL came out the front door and walked quickly past us directly to TMBG's huge bus parked out front. Shortly after, JF did the same. Neither acknowledged the fans in line.
- The opening act was Saskatoon's Mark Kleiner - a pleasant, cheerful guy doing light, dated pop on keyboard and acoustic guitar. He may not become a household word. I wasn't entirely sure that his song about his teddy bear was included for the kids' sake.
- By the time the Giants started (15 minutes after the scheduled 5:15), the club was maybe half full at best. Cricket sounds gave way to a recording of Linnell singing "Why not let go?" which in turn led to triumphal music as the band took the stage. They started with "Clap Your Hands", went to "Bed Bed Bed" punctuated by the confetti cannons, and followed with "New York City".
- Supertaster: great guitar work by Dan Miller
- Middle: great rendition, vocals by JF
- Istanbul: long acoustic guitar intro by Miller
- Actual: broken by dial-a-drum-solo, which got up to #12
- The next to last song was "Sun is a Mass" in which JF identified cars like the Volkswagen Passat as gases and "estrogen, estrogen and more estrogen" as elements. The set ended with "No!".
- The encore was "Violin" and "Birdhouse". The show was cut short there because of the local 7PM curfew on minors having a good time.
- What we saw was a good show and not at all perfunctory but there was the sense that something was missing compared to past shows. Maybe it was the "Dan Miller FUCK YEAH"s. Luckily we had tickets for the second performance which proved to be better.
