SomaCow Media is proud to present SomaCow, brought to you this week by They Might Be Giants. A phenomenal band doing remarkable things utilizing a modicum of skill playing various instruments.
In this hour we discussed Producer Jen and I’s two concerts in one day. As she gets frothy talking about TMBG, I will allow her to explain further:
Hi! Jen here. I’m still giddy about that day… I started listening to TMBG back in the late 80s and was an instant fan. The first song I heard was Cowtown, and I just thought it was so different and quirky. About a year later, I went to my first TMBG concert and what an amazing show (Thanks Janus Landing in St Pete!). I have almost always known every song by heart at every show. Over the last 20 years, I have seen them every time they have come to the state. Geoff and I started talking on MucheDumbre because I had “Blue Canary in the Outlet by the Lightswitch…Who watches over you? Make a Little Birdhouse In Your Soul” as my signature. We married 5 years later, and were introduced at the reception as a couple for the first time to Birdhouse. So this band has a deep meaning to me.
We found out the day before the shows, that Geoff won tickets to see a small intimate showing at a local radio station. We got there early, per usual for us, and sat downstairs as instructed. One by one we identified them…the other winners. There is something about a TMBG fan. While we all might look different, you can just tell a TMBG fan from others. I had my camera there, just in case we could take pics (it ends up we couldn’t) and then my sensors went off. OK, that just sounds dorky, I really just looked to my left and saw John and John getting out of a van. They were walking them through the front door with the fans just sitting there? I mean we’re not a crazy bunch, but I have seen J & J yell at many a Florida crowd for being too rambunctious (seriously, mosh pits and crowd surfing to Birdhouse in your Soul??), but this crowd was calm. I mean yeah, I had my camera pointed through the glass taking pics, but why not?
So we filed upstairs, with me pushing forward and, having scoped out where the little studio was, got to be first in line. It ended up that it didn’t matter though, as Geoff’s winning was “special” so we were in the front row anyway! They played 4 songs, “Mesopotamians” off of their new album, “Dr Worm”, “Istanbul (not Constantinople)”, and then “New York City”, so all great songs. They were a little off, though. We had been warned that one of the Johns was sick (to be revealed later-hold tight!), and Linnell stated he had just woken up. If only I could have snuck a shot of his bed hair!
Ooh, I got it! So the sounds were a little off and they stumbled on some words here and there. Not their best show, but still cool as shit. I think the best part was during a commercial break when they broke out into the themes from Barney Miller and The Rockford Files.
So after this 1 hour show, they start packing up and said they had to go to get ready for the HOB show that night so they couldn’t stick around. Some douche kept begging Linnell for an autograph pointing out he had Flansburgh’s but not his. Linnell said, “how about if I shake your hand. That’s more personal than an autograph, right?” and the guy said no! So I took this opportunity to quietly move my sympathetically pregnant belly up to the Johns and quickly ask, “We do a podcast/internet radio show and would love it if we can play your music on SomaCow” and I got a quick “sure!”. I was about to pass out I was so excited. They also do a podcast you can download on iTunes (or your iTouch you can win here!) for free.
So fastforward a few hours and Geoff and I are on our way through beautiful Thursday afternoon I-4 traffic to get to Downtown Disney and the House of Blues. HOB is probably one of my favorite venues we have in Central Florida… We get there to find out that to get in the front line you have to eat at HOB or buy something in the store. Well, the store had crap in it. We were all prepared to buy stuff at the concert, but not from HOB. So we were 2nd in line in the ‘regular people’ line. My only issue was I had to find a table. Between my being all knocked up and Geoff’s toe (see the next SomaCow Episode), it was just necessary. We had a plan. Sis and her friend go to the bar with drink orders, Geoff goes to the table with the stuff to scope it out and I find the table. I run (yes, literally run) to “my table” only to find it is taken. I look and see one. I pass someone whoosh! and scoop up the table. Geoff sees me, smiles, and grabs two extra barstools on the way over. Victory!
Now at this show, they did their thing. John Flansburgh came out and announced to us all that he had the flu (so it was him!), and that he had taken every OTC flu medicine known to man and was ready to put on the best show of his life thanks to all of these pharmaceuticals! He didn’t disappoint. He was funny all running around the stage. You could tell he felt no pain but would the next day! Every single song was AWESOME. They have the best concerts. They will play about 80/20 if not 90/10 of old to new songs. They know their audience and why they are there. Have you had that experience? Or the opposite? TMBG knows that they have a babillion hits (to their fans), and they always throw a new one or two in there you haven’t heard in a while. They get their new stuff out there, too, but focus on the old. They make their fans happy. And happy we were! Oh man and Dan Miller on acoustic guitar doing his 10 minute intro to Istanbul. Just amazing and the SomaCalf went nuts! She was flopping left and right, she loves that guitar! We were both prepared to leave early if need be, due to physical pain, as we’ve seen their show, but there was nothing that would take us out once it started…except when the lights came up.
Brilliant show, and since this will probably be our last concert for the foreseeable future, it was the perfect one.
Mickey shares his wisdom on following the styles of Information Society and speaking your mind.
Oh, and this is also the I Love You episode (if you don’t know, they’ll explain it) so Geoff gives us all 5 great tips to keep love alive and we definitely do!
And we also played this great music:
- They Might Be Giants – Cowtown
- Enter the Haggis – To the Quick
- Straight Outta Junior High – Love Song
Entries (RSS)
Ah, They Might Be Giants…everybody’s favorite band to see in a standing-room-only venue. Yes, I too have been hooked since the early ’90’s. Just about every one of my college buddies were fans, and we saw them all over New England. We saw them in different venues in Boston and Providence, later on in Philly, and even in Central Park back in ‘93, I think. Good times buying beer from shady characters out of trash bags, but it was summer, and it was outside. I forget which concert it was, but they cranked through the entire first album before “starting” the show. My Apollo 18 t-shirt has faded from black to gray, and I still can’t believe I’m still wearing something that old. My wife can’t believe I still wear something so scary, with that evil squid, and all.