Shows/2003-05-06

5 wikians attended: Cornchops Hyperfine Joe Rollerfan Lithium junkie Magicalcrawdad

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Links:

• Photos from the show by Barry Lancaster

Ticket • Setlist

Setlist:

• Orff Intro
• Violin
• John Lee Supertaster
• Au Contraire
• See The Constellation
• Wicked Little Critta
• Dinner Bell
• Destination Moon
• Hypnotist Of Ladies
• Why Does The Sun Shine?
• Birdhouse In Your Soul
• Clap Your Hands
• James K. Polk
• Cyclops Rock
• Man, It's So Loud In Here
• Another First Kiss
• Spin The Dial
• Older
• Drink!
• Doctor Worm
• The Famous Polka
• New York City
• No!

Encore:

• Maybe I Know
• Happy Birthday
• Theme From The Monkees
• Fingertips

Encore:

• Sleepwalkers

They Might Be Giants
— with Amy Miles, The Long Winters opening —
Crocodile Cafe in Seattle, WA
May 6, 2003 at 7:00 PM

Fan Recaps and Comments:

Review by Courtney Myers:
My ears are ringing like the choir invisible. Why, you ask? Well! I just returned from TWO (count them, two) nights of They Might Be Giants in concert! That's right! Two completely different shows in successive nights at a tiny venue where anywhere you stood was a good view!! Ahh, it was great. TMBG was in terrific form, rocking out on Their various instruments (including a FRENZIED solo by Linnell on the accordion, which ROCKED the house) and talking a lot on stage, quipping and joking around and being funny and dryly witty as is Their style. As opposed to the last time I saw him, when he looked unshaven and distracted, Linnell looked great both nights, smiling and bopping around on stage and acting very happy to be performing, knocking the mic back and forth playfully between his hands and gesturing during songs while playing the keyboards very animatedly. (After the 2nd show my brother swiped the cup Linnell had been drinking from all night, and we discovered to our suprise that he'd been gulping coffee the whole time!)

After the show, my brother and I waited around for him to appear and he finally did, strolling by and waving with glasses on (saying "I'm off duty now..." I think he doesn't like to be bugged after a show, and we tried to respect that by just saying "good show" and not harrasing him for an autograph or anything).

The second night Linnell had his tenor saxophone onstage and ripped it up on a few tunes, including a number called "The real Saxophone" that was pretty funny and featured some jazzy solos. Having been quite acclimated to the sound of a tenor saxophone through a long history of dating a player of said instrument, I can say that I was very impressed with Linnell's sound and began to suspect a bit of a jazz background in his musical upbringing. He was wicked sharp!

Both nights, They hooked up the PA system to a radio and flipped through the local stations looking for songs. When They found one, the entire band would try to play it. One of the songs They landed on the first night was a Fleetwood Mac song, which was great... TMBG on stage, belting out "You can go your own way!!" They could actually make a pretty good cover band. :D

Another suprise was Their great rendition of "Theme from the Monkees." John Linnell announced it as "A song from our very first album; kind of our theme song." Oh yeah... "Here we come, walkin' down the street..."

Musical bliss, these two nights were. I've now seen TMBG four times (!!) and I must say these last two shows were by far the best, even with tall guys standing in front of me both times. :P