Shows/2012-12-30
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Links:
- Bowery write-up by Geoff Nelson
- Flickr gallery and Write-up by BlueCanary
- Photos by Selfcallednowhere
Setlist:
- Stompy Intro
- Where Your Eyes Don't Go
- When Will You Die
- They Might Be Giants
- Letterbox
- Someone Keeps Moving My Chair
- Cowtown
- Lie Still, Little Bottle
- Pencil Rain
- Call You Mom
- Purple Toupee
- Road Movie To Berlin
- Hot Cha
- Sapphire Bullets Of Pure Love
- Insect Hospital
- He's Loco performed by The Avatars Of They
- Ana Ng
- Piece Of Dirt
- Women & Men
- Cage & Aquarium
- Hearing Aid
- Minimum Wage
- 123 Band Intro
- Birdhouse In Your Soul
- Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had A Deal
Encore 1:
Encore 2:
They Might Be Giants
— with The Last Car opening —
Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY
December 30, 2012 at 9:00 PM
Fan Recaps and Comments:
- i'd originally planned to go to all three shows in the NYE stint but then i came down with a certain respiratory infection, so i limited myself to this particular date. i'm pretty satisfied with that, even though we didn't get nearly as much new material as the previous night. i met up with Quinn before the show, and unfortunately we short lasses got stuck behind some kinda-tall folks after getting caught up at coat check. oh well! encountered maxemaze too, before the show started, and said hi to Q.
- as always, "Pencil Rain" was the highest light for me. i also enjoyed The Audience's screams of "THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS" in the chorus of "They Might Be Giants". i dunno why but i enjoy concerts most when everyone is singing along. "Letterbox" was good too — quoth JL, the "highest density of words of...any song". i ended up singing the falsetto in the middle verse for some reason. woops. "Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had A Deal" was a bit of a surprise as well, and loads of fun. They busted out the double-clarinets for "Cowtown". i got to see a lot of Flood songs i either hadn't seen or don't remember having seen, so that's fun (even if it is Flood).
- i also i felt really cool singing along to the non-LP verse of "Road Movie To Berlin".
- "Insect Hospital" is a swell song, though it's very short. i hope it's a john/john duo vocal on the album, those songs are always the best. and linnell didn't mess up the words to "Call You Mom" tonight! i'm told he did the previous day.
- too bad the accordion was missing for most of the show! still had lots of fun. wish i could have made the other shows.
- Wow, this was a great show. The horn section added a lot, and the arrangements of Flood and Lincoln songs were amazing. I came to the show hoping to hear "Where Your Eyes Don't Go and they opened the set with it. I've never been to a Flood or Lincoln themed show, so I heard lots of songs live for the first time, like "Hearing Aid" and "They Might Be Giants", which was fun. Other highlights were a very energetic "Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had A Deal" and an amazing version of "Whistling in the Dark" to close the show. I've seen TMBG many times over the last 16 years, and this was one of the better shows I've seen. I even enjoyed the puppets, which are usually a low point for me. Overall, the band sounds great right now, and I'm excited for the new album.
- EDIT - Gothamist referenced this page in their review of the show [1]
- Red hot rock! Blown away as always by their performance. I'm glad they did the Lincoln/Flood set because my dad's more familiar with their older stuff and he paid for the tickets. All the shows I've been to have been during the Join Us hype so I haven't heard much of this stuff live and it was THRILLING. Kind of disappointed that Flans didn't bust out the stick for "Lie Still, Little Bottle". "Cowtown" was stellar with the two clarinets and the horns. The Avatars killed it but I wish they stuck around a little longer. I was really glad to see the Johns together with the guitar and accordion on "Cage & Aquarium", heartwarming. And I liked Insect Hospital and I'm really psyched for Nanobots (nah no bots).
- One thing about their shows is that I never end up around people that get really excited. I can see them far away or closer to the stage but I can never seem to get hella pumped about rock music with my adjacent concert mates.
The setlist at this show wasn't as exciting as the first night, but there was one thing that made this show much more exciting, which is APOLLO was there with me. We talk nonstop every day but have never gotten to meet in person before so just being there with her made the whole experience much better. I'm used to going to shows alone, so being there not just with someone but one of my very favourite people in the whole world, was fantastic. I would like to point out that she came in spite of having pneumonia cos SHE IS JUST THAT HARDCORE.
<p>So "Where Your Eyes Don't Go" is my third-favourite song on Lincoln and I'd only gotten to see it once before, so that was super-exciting to start the show with. I do much prefer the accordion arrangement (like with EVERYTHING ELSE), but it was still exciting.
<p>Flans said that he and John had coordinated their outfits but I have no idea what he was talking about cos they weren't wearing similar things. Then he said he was getting ready for New Year's tomorrow--"Yesterday I dropped a bottle on my head." Then they were talking about playing songs from Flood. John: "People like that Flood album. After that things fell apart. The money got too good." Then he said the next song had "the highest density of words of any song, except maybe there's one Meat Puppets song," and I got all excited cos I knew he was talking about "Letterbox," which is my third-favourite song on Flood and one they never play.
<p>A couple songs later was "Cowtown." Before it, Flans said Stan Harrison was going to be playing sax (but it was actually clarinet?), and John said, "What we in the band know as the agony stick."
<p>JF: This is the first song John and I worked up together.
JL: It was last week.
JF: Rehearsals were short...and acrimonious.
<p>After "Lie Still, Little Bottle" (no stick sadly), Flans said, "We don't usually play a slow song after another slow song--it's almost bad luck, because it tacitly implies that the next song will be even slower." Then John said something that made NO SENSE about "barking people" (unless he heard someone barking in the crowd, but I certainly didn't) and Flans said, "Those aren't people, John." Noooooooooooooo clue what that was about but, like many things, I'm sure it made PERFECT SENSE inside John Linnell's head even if it made no sense anywhere else.
<p>Seeing "Road Movie to Berlin" live makes me feel so BADASS cos there will be all these Floodies singing along and when it gets to the extra verse they're suddenly silent cos they don't know it BUT I DO. After the show I asked Apollo "You know what makes me feel badass?" and she immediately said "The 'Road Movie to Berlin' thing?", haha.
<p>Before they played "Insect Hospital," Flans was talking about the new album.
<p>JF: If you're in England or inside John Linnell's head--
JL: Get the hell out!
JF: It's called Get the Hell Out.
<p>Then he said that really in America it's called Nanobots but yeh apparently British people say "nahno"?? I had no idea. Also oh my godddddddd I wish I were inside John Linnell's head.
<p>Then Flans said how there are 25 songs, most of them are under 2 and a half minutes, and one of them is under 7 seconds. Then John said one of them is 3 and a half minutes and Flans said "We need to take that song out back."
<p>Flans was introducing Danny and he said he was "not wearing red pants tonight for the first time ever." I was amused.
<p>They did Ana and god that song is seriously THE MOST INTENSE THING since I got my tattoo. There are a few other songs I like more, but that song and I will always have a special bond now so seeing it affects me in a way no other song does.
<p>When Flans was talking about Dan Levine getting out the euphonium for "Piece of Dirt," he said playing euphonium is "a recessive trait among musicians."
<p>Before "Women and Men" John was confirming what key it's in, and Flans said, "If you're playing along," and John said "If you're playing along with our little game" in this faux-evil way and it was cute. Then Flans said, "Most bands learn all their songs, but we find it keeps it fresher for us if we forget them immediately after we play them. It's a choice. It might not seem like a choice, but it's a choice. It keeps us confused."
<p>In the encore, John said the next song was from Join Us, but the song was "The Mesopotamians" so he was of course wrong. So Danny corrected him and Flans started improv-ing this "Join us, join us" song.
<p>JL: Danny actually knows what's going on. (to Flans) You knew.
JF: I knew, I was covering for you.
JL: They're all laughing at me. "Linnell's getting old, he's lost it!"
<p>For the second encore they did "Mr. Me" again (soooooooooooo fun with horns, but not fun enough to make up for CONSPICUOUS LACK OF ACCORDION) and then ended with "Whistling in the Dark," with accordion (YAY) and Flans playing the bass drum they hide behind when they're Avataring (so sad that he lost his marching one in the equipment truck fire). They turned off all the lights and turned on the discoball on the ceiling, and I was of course disappointed that I couldn't take pictures, but I gotta admit it looked cool.
