Shows/2004-10-01

15 wikians attended: Brianwlevine Buboniclou Burnsmellfactory Craighecht Dkstar1 Drworm75 Frodolives Kayakcup Megatron MikeHollywood Mjb75 Rockmarooned Slightlyoffaxis TDK Woodsie22

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Links:

• Village Voice ad
• Photos from the show by Alyssa Scheinson

• Setlist

Setlist:

• New York City
• Thunderbird
• Memo To Human Resources
• Older
• Damn Good Times
• Particle Mo
• Drink!
• Alphabet Of Nations
• Museum Of Idiots
• Doctor Worm
• The Famous Polka
• Stalk Of Wheat
• Boss Of Me
• Twisting
• Bastard Wants To Hit Me
• John Lee Supertaster
• Experimental Film
• No One Knows My Plan
• Birdhouse In Your Soul
• Fingertips

Encores:

• Violin
• Jazz Waltz In C
• James K. Polk
• She's An Angel
• Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

They Might Be Giants
— with Demetri Martin opening —
Irving Plaza in New York, NY
October 1, 2004

Fan Recaps and Comments:

Reynoldbot Writes:

This is a review of the downloadable audio offered on the site. When I am considering shows to download, I consider three things: Venue/show's personal relationship (I went to the show, I live near the venue, it's my favorite venue etc.), set list (good songs, rare occurrences etc.), and recording quality (clipping, distortion, live feel, fullness etc.). Dan Miller, in his recap, usually mentions the quality of the recording briefly. Those are what this review focuses on.

This is a bit complicated. Half of me loves the audio quality of this show and half of me doesn't. It's got a good mix and has a full, clear sound. There is no clipping or distortion. The band to audience mix is very good, giving it a real live show quality to it. But, I think the horns sound flat and tinny. The horns add a lot to the songs, but the tinny lifelessness of the audio quality of the horns takes a lot of it away.

Also, and this is not the fault of TMBG or the recording company or the recording itself, one of the audience mics just happens to be right next to the loudest, most obnoxious creepy show guy in the whole crowd. He shouts song names at the the top of his lungs in between songs, laughs too loud at jokes, and you can hear his stupid comments even during the loud parts of songs. He must be near the back of the crowd, because the John's never acknowledge his ridiculous screaming. At the climactic end of "Angel," you can hear him screaming "Thank you They Might Be Giants! Thank you for that song! That was AWESOME!!!" His loud screaming can be heard clearly throughout the show and it becomes really distracting.

If you can manage to ignore the loud guy, this show is quite fun to listen to. There is a good selection of songs and the band seems to really be enjoying themselves on stage. The added horns add some pep to the songs as well. The intro to Istanbul is truly bitching.

So, this show is pretty fun, but the loud guy ruins a lot of it. It might be worth it to buy the show just to hear what I am talking about. Whatever, I enjoy listening to it anyway.

P.S. I am hoping some of you out there reading this will take it upon themselves to post reviews of the show downloads they have, since I don't have the money to buy and review all of them. wink wink wink wink wink.

Dan Miller wrote:

Horns, Horns Horns - need we say more. Pender and Levine bring their star power to enliven the tunes. Great and rare version of "Museum of Idiots" and "No one Knows my Plan". The two-horn intro to Istanbul is reason enough to grab this one.

I'm glad that this is the last note I have to write for a bit. They're beginning to sound like bad ad copy from the 60's. It's been a blast people and we will see you all on the other side. My personal thanks to all the Band and Crew for making the summer of 2004 one to remember.