Shows/2016-04-06

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13 wikians attended: Ames CJSF Doktorworm Eitingon Minerwerks MisterMe Oliveirach Parimer Ripner RogueLeader SenSurroun TDK Vwfreak42

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Setlist:

Set 1:

Set 2:

Encore 1:

Encore 2:

They Might Be Giants
Beacham Theater in Orlando, FL
April 6, 2016 at 8:00 PM


Fan Recaps and Comments:

MisterMe:

This was my second show and my mom's first show. I converted her into a TMBG fan many years ago and she was not disappointed. She especially liked "The Mesopotamians" and finally getting to hear "Birdhouse" at the very end.
An excellent rendition of Dan's "Miller Time" intro opened the show on a high note that rarely waned. Thanks to the crowd's consistent enthusiasm, the Johns seemed to be in good spirits the whole night. The setlist, as you can see, was a wonderful sampler of a variety of albums throughout their career. Not surprisingly, Flood was well-represented, but I was delighted to hear material from John Henry and rarities like "It's Not My Birthday" and "Authenticity Trip", alongside the recent Dial-a-Song stuff that I enjoyed throughout 2015. Also, my face was unexpectedly rocked off by the one-two punch of the rockin' version of "Robot Parade" and "Twisting" to open the second set. Many of us in the crowd were visibly dumbstruck when they started playing the pre-Mink Car rendition of "Man, It's So Loud In Here". Flans, Dan, and Danny all came back out after the show to hand out freebies. I got the 8-bit rock bumper sticker and the college-style font "THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS" window cling, which now resides on my car. Marty also stayed for a good long time signing stuff.
In the back of the dimly-lit club, there was a big, bright Bernie Sanders sign and table where his supporters were registering people to vote. It looked quite busy whenever I passed by. Though the Johns never mentioned him (or any kind of politics at all, save "Your Racist Friend"), it was very telling about which side of the political fence they were on.
Prime banter tonight...here are some of the things I remember:
  • Flans was concerned about the number of tickets sold for this concert when it was initially announced. He said only 5 had sold after a few weeks, and they thought they might be "done in this town". However, upon seeing the packed house, he thanked those original 5 people for bringing "all your friends". Ha, I was probably one of the ones he was referring to!
  • The light show was pretty spectacular all evening, thanks in part to three disco balls in the middle of the ceiling. Early on, Flans remarked that if we opened our eyes really wide, we would all get free Lasik surgery.
  • Ah, Flans. He pointed out several times that Phone Power turned 1 month old tonight, especially after "It's Not My Birthday". But really it wouldn't be until April 8--sorry dude. He also mentioned it was their sound guy's birthday (I think?); they all played a short rendition of what sounded like the Beatles' "Birthday" tune.
  • Flans exhorted everyone to follow Marty on Twitter, where he had just reached 2,000 followers. He claimed Marty would have lots of sports news to share, and that he plays "real football, not fantasty football!" Flans had recently retweeted his wife's photo of their cats - "That's all Twitter is good for!" In the social media vein, they joked that Snapchat is successful because kids know older people don't understand how to use it. Linnell: "I took a photo but now it's gone!"
  • They commented on "all those TMBG tribute bands" (uh, how many can there be?!) who were just younger versions of the Johns...but without any of the grumpiness. Linnell: "God damn those guys. We'll see how they are in ten years!"
  • One of the Johns mentioned having great respect for country music, which led to Linnell bringing up Merle Haggard, who had just died that day. This prompted a brief discussion of how old you had to be before it was OK to die in the music business. This was clearly an uncomfortable topic and they moved on quickly.
  • Joking about the pizza place around the corner where it's $3.50 per slice, Flans said, "Those are New York values! Ha, why pay less?" This was especially funny for me because I've eaten there many times through the years, and my buddy Jon has told me it's the most authentic NY pizza experience in Orlando.
  • During the intermission, I was talking to a guy in front of me who had been to the previous night's show in St. Pete. My jaw noticeably dropped when he told me Linnell broke out into Sia's "Chandelier" at the break of "Particle Man", even going so far as to awkwardly hit the high notes. That must have been quite a sight.
  • As usual, they were promoting their upcoming tour stops. In a quirk of scheduling, they were slated to head up to North Carolina the very next night, and then back down to Atlanta after that--quite the logistical non-sequitur. Linnell joked that it was like somebody was just rolling dice and picking random cities. "Who put this tour together?! (then sheepishly) Oh wait, I know who put this tour together."
  • For several songs, a couple of audience members were holding up the cardboard "Z" typewriter from the fan-produced "Am I Awake?" video. I'm pretty sure they were the ones who worked on it. I saw Dan Miller looking at it quizzically for quite a while. Eventually, Linnell asked what it was, but I don't think he or anyone else on stage properly heard the shouted responses. Flans asked them to put it down because it was a distraction from trying to remember song lyrics, and that they were easily distracted. He was maybe a little dismissive, but not totally rude...nevertheless, I felt kind of bad for those audience members, because they clearly were hoping to get it recognized and signed. I don't know if they got Marty to sign it after the show.
  • Before officially starting the first encore, Flans joked that they had considered switching encores with the band next door in The Social (it happened to be Chon). That actually would have been pretty amusing but I'm glad it didn't happen.

CJSF:

I don't have much more to add to what MisterMe has already entered above. This is my 3rd Florida/Orlando area show, and it's always been a pleasure. While the sound wasn't stellar, the performance and energy were fantastic!
Flans was handing out the round logo stickers by the handful, so I have a whole stack. It was funny, because many people didn't manage to get any, but when I offered some of my multitude, I had no takers. I sort of understand - we'd all prefer to have Flans hand them to us, personally, right? :-)
They played "Authenticity Trip"!!
Despite SIGNIFICANT notice and postings (digital and paper), including right outside the venue, that this was a NO CHILDREN show, there was at least one group of pre-teen/teens up by the stage. Whether this was a small form of nepotism or what, I don't know. I don't care so much that they were there, that's cool. It was just that part of the explanation given was that these venues aren't insured for minors, and I didn't want the band or the venue to get in any sort of trouble over it. But the kids had a hopping (literally) good time!
Regarding the "Z" typewriter prop, I found the band's puzzled reaction to it a little strange. At their show from the last tour, a couple had hats/costumes that were quite good renditions of The Avatars Of They, and the band was amused and impressed, with no mention of distractions. But I suppose it's all in what head-space the band members were living in. This was a much more straightforward rock show. I liked the Avatars last time, but I didn't even realize they weren't there until after the show.
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