the best thing about new york city
Finally, a report on the Beacon show! I have a bit of time to get this out now, so I better do it quick!
Pictures here.
First of all, this was a great show, and lots of fun. They put on a great performance, but being confined to an assigned location is a bit of a downer. My seat at this show was made possible by a generous grant from the k1cup foundation... I didn't look for tickets until lateish when all the close-to-the-front tickets were gone, but k1cup had gotten a ticket that she wouldn't be able to use, so I lucked out. I was extreme stage right, about 4 rows from the front, so I did get some ok pictures out of it. The good part was that I could arrive just before the show started and still have my near-to-the-front seat. It was also easier on the legs and back than standing while waiting. Quite a few people where in possession of green foam fingers, so they must have been given out before I got there. Kind of unfortunate, but I already have quite a few in numerous colors, so not a big loss.
I hadn't heard about an opening band, but I assumed there must be one, so I was pretty surprised when the "hang on, hang on tight"/stompy music started up and they came out right away. Flans right away gave us two rules: 1. "this is not television, you must stand!" and 2. even when the security guys come and tell you to sit down, don't sit. The security didn't attempt this, probably because people didn't try to rush the stage, but instead stood at their seats.
Flans announced that They would be opening for themselves that night: "They Might Be Giants, the only They Might Be Giants tribute band that matters." He pointed out that "John Linnell looks just like John Linnell," and Linnell said that the surgery was worth it.
There was a good banter/playing ratio at this show, and not having to travel far to get to the venue definitely shows in their energy levels. They played a few songs, including The Sun, during which Flans did the political "nucular" reaction part that has been common lately. Afterward he apologized for being political so close to Super Tuesday, and announced "We're voting for the Giants." He continued:
Flans: I don't know how many of you are in the band They Might Be Giants, but it really weirds me out to see "They Might Be Giants" really big in the headlines of the papers whenever the Giants are training, or in the playoffs.
After another few songs he said that this was the first time that they had ever sold out the Beacon, which is awesome. He said hi to all the folks up in the second balcony, and said "no stage diving."
Before Alphabet of Nations, Flans apologized if he looked like he was staring off into space during the previous song, but he had been thinking about how the next song was a children's song, and that he was trying to figure out how to spin it for a sophisiticated audience. Not us, he said, but for subsequent shows. At that point, a huge cloud of stale pot smoke hit him, so he said it didn't matter anymore, he was high now. He then said that he didn't actually know if it was stale, and that it might have been coming from the crew.
After AoN, they responded to all the cheering during "Zimbabwe!"
Flans: Great to hear from the folks from Zimbabwe tonight!
They speculated on why that got so much applause, and came up with the fact that it was one of the few pieces of 3-part harmony.
Someone shouted out "Boat of Car", and in a rare display of interaction, Flans replied: "We are not going to play Boat of Car. You are the only person in this room who wants to hear that song. The guys in the band don't even like that song." After other people started shouting requests right after that, he continued, "People, people, can't you see the computerized light show? We can't get off track!"
At one point the Dans and Marty left the stage for the next song, and Flans and Linnell told us they were going to go return their phone calls and instant messages. Flans started to introduce the song, but couldn't remember who wrote it. Linnell then claimed he would google it on his phone up by the keyboard, but before he could he got a message:
Linnell: I got a message from Miller, "stop IMing on stage, that's so not jive, colon-parenthesis, LOL"
Flans: I had a friend who used to think LOL stood for Lots of Love, which implies there's a lot more love in the world than there really is.
Finally they got on with it and played Maybe I Know, which I have been pleasantly surprised to notice has seemed to have joined their regular set.
They played Older, of course, and I always think about aliste's hate for that song, but secretly I like it because there's a Danny solo at the beginning. They shot off the confetti cannons unexpectedly during one of the pauses in the song.
They rounded off the set with Istanbul, started off by a lovely Dan acoustic solo (remember when he said they had retired that? hah), and awesomely capped by a trumpet solo at the end.
Then they left for a break, and when they came back they had the horns, of course. And so surprisingly that at first I didn't even notice them, they were all wearing SUITS. Also, all the William Allen White heads had been replaced with squares of a face I didn't recognize. Flans was wearing a pinstriped suit with a skinny black tie, Linnell and Dan had black with colored ties. Marty eschewed a jacket, and Danny wasn't wearing a tie with his black shirt. Dan Levine had what I think was an orange shirt on, although it's hard to tell with those lights. I never did get any really good shots of Dan in his suit, since he was hiding in the back corner for most of the second set.
After Mr. Me, which lead the set, They announce that the next song was part of the 2-part "Mr" portion of the show. And they played the promised Hey, Mr. DJ, which they claim they've never played live before. It was pretty awesome. After that Flans invited Stan out to the front of the stage for his Spy sax solo, only to be informed that they weren't playing that song yet. He wrapped his mind around what the setlist actually said and announced that he was completely fucked up in the set, and said that Stan would be coming back later.
A song later, Linnell introduced the next song by saying, "Some people named John Linnell feel that this is our finest record." It was Factory Showroom, and Flans mentioned it was released by the much-maligned Elektra. He also said that they were rewriting history right then, changing the wikipedia page. They then proceeded to play Metal Detector, which I was thriled to hear live!
I am thrilled that during the Guitar the Danny bass solo seems standard now... it won't be a surprise to most of you to hear that I much prefer it to the Future of Sound solo.
Flans told the key-difference story before In the Middle, In the Middle, explaining that Robin wasn't there to sing it because she was in France. Particle Man seems to get sillier every time I see it; Linnell was dancing, repeating "totally willing to go with it" during the break, and saying "Triangle man hates Adam West" (in ref to Flans' Adam West clapping he had talked about earlier in the show).
I was super excited when they introduced the last song of the night as the first song they ever put together as a band. Stan came down to the front with a clarinet, and Linnell brought one out too! I never got a great picture of Linnell with the clarinet, since he wasn't ever in the spotlight really, but I made some attempts. The song itself was awesome, and I can't believe I got to hear it live.
During the first encore Flans introduced the band, including "the King of the Drums", who he had "destroy" his drum set for us, once again. And I'm not sure if I've ever heard Turn Around live before, but it was a treat to hear it that night.
Finally they came out to play a second encore... I don't know if it was planned or not, because they claimed that they hadn't rehearsed this at all, and Flans wondered how they would start it out. He had the audience do a "rock clap", and then said to come in with it when it "felt right". And so they played a duo New York City, which was awesome.
It was great show, like I said, and once again because of the horns they pulled out a lot of things I had never heard live before, or hadn't heard in quite a while. It was nice not to have to sit through any openers too, and they played quite a long show to boot. Thanks again, k1cup, for your ticket!
Pictures here.
First of all, this was a great show, and lots of fun. They put on a great performance, but being confined to an assigned location is a bit of a downer. My seat at this show was made possible by a generous grant from the k1cup foundation... I didn't look for tickets until lateish when all the close-to-the-front tickets were gone, but k1cup had gotten a ticket that she wouldn't be able to use, so I lucked out. I was extreme stage right, about 4 rows from the front, so I did get some ok pictures out of it. The good part was that I could arrive just before the show started and still have my near-to-the-front seat. It was also easier on the legs and back than standing while waiting. Quite a few people where in possession of green foam fingers, so they must have been given out before I got there. Kind of unfortunate, but I already have quite a few in numerous colors, so not a big loss.
I hadn't heard about an opening band, but I assumed there must be one, so I was pretty surprised when the "hang on, hang on tight"/stompy music started up and they came out right away. Flans right away gave us two rules: 1. "this is not television, you must stand!" and 2. even when the security guys come and tell you to sit down, don't sit. The security didn't attempt this, probably because people didn't try to rush the stage, but instead stood at their seats.
Flans announced that They would be opening for themselves that night: "They Might Be Giants, the only They Might Be Giants tribute band that matters." He pointed out that "John Linnell looks just like John Linnell," and Linnell said that the surgery was worth it.
There was a good banter/playing ratio at this show, and not having to travel far to get to the venue definitely shows in their energy levels. They played a few songs, including The Sun, during which Flans did the political "nucular" reaction part that has been common lately. Afterward he apologized for being political so close to Super Tuesday, and announced "We're voting for the Giants." He continued:
Flans: I don't know how many of you are in the band They Might Be Giants, but it really weirds me out to see "They Might Be Giants" really big in the headlines of the papers whenever the Giants are training, or in the playoffs.
After another few songs he said that this was the first time that they had ever sold out the Beacon, which is awesome. He said hi to all the folks up in the second balcony, and said "no stage diving."
Before Alphabet of Nations, Flans apologized if he looked like he was staring off into space during the previous song, but he had been thinking about how the next song was a children's song, and that he was trying to figure out how to spin it for a sophisiticated audience. Not us, he said, but for subsequent shows. At that point, a huge cloud of stale pot smoke hit him, so he said it didn't matter anymore, he was high now. He then said that he didn't actually know if it was stale, and that it might have been coming from the crew.
After AoN, they responded to all the cheering during "Zimbabwe!"
Flans: Great to hear from the folks from Zimbabwe tonight!
They speculated on why that got so much applause, and came up with the fact that it was one of the few pieces of 3-part harmony.
Someone shouted out "Boat of Car", and in a rare display of interaction, Flans replied: "We are not going to play Boat of Car. You are the only person in this room who wants to hear that song. The guys in the band don't even like that song." After other people started shouting requests right after that, he continued, "People, people, can't you see the computerized light show? We can't get off track!"
At one point the Dans and Marty left the stage for the next song, and Flans and Linnell told us they were going to go return their phone calls and instant messages. Flans started to introduce the song, but couldn't remember who wrote it. Linnell then claimed he would google it on his phone up by the keyboard, but before he could he got a message:
Linnell: I got a message from Miller, "stop IMing on stage, that's so not jive, colon-parenthesis, LOL"
Flans: I had a friend who used to think LOL stood for Lots of Love, which implies there's a lot more love in the world than there really is.
Finally they got on with it and played Maybe I Know, which I have been pleasantly surprised to notice has seemed to have joined their regular set.
They played Older, of course, and I always think about aliste's hate for that song, but secretly I like it because there's a Danny solo at the beginning. They shot off the confetti cannons unexpectedly during one of the pauses in the song.
They rounded off the set with Istanbul, started off by a lovely Dan acoustic solo (remember when he said they had retired that? hah), and awesomely capped by a trumpet solo at the end.
Then they left for a break, and when they came back they had the horns, of course. And so surprisingly that at first I didn't even notice them, they were all wearing SUITS. Also, all the William Allen White heads had been replaced with squares of a face I didn't recognize. Flans was wearing a pinstriped suit with a skinny black tie, Linnell and Dan had black with colored ties. Marty eschewed a jacket, and Danny wasn't wearing a tie with his black shirt. Dan Levine had what I think was an orange shirt on, although it's hard to tell with those lights. I never did get any really good shots of Dan in his suit, since he was hiding in the back corner for most of the second set.
After Mr. Me, which lead the set, They announce that the next song was part of the 2-part "Mr" portion of the show. And they played the promised Hey, Mr. DJ, which they claim they've never played live before. It was pretty awesome. After that Flans invited Stan out to the front of the stage for his Spy sax solo, only to be informed that they weren't playing that song yet. He wrapped his mind around what the setlist actually said and announced that he was completely fucked up in the set, and said that Stan would be coming back later.
A song later, Linnell introduced the next song by saying, "Some people named John Linnell feel that this is our finest record." It was Factory Showroom, and Flans mentioned it was released by the much-maligned Elektra. He also said that they were rewriting history right then, changing the wikipedia page. They then proceeded to play Metal Detector, which I was thriled to hear live!
I am thrilled that during the Guitar the Danny bass solo seems standard now... it won't be a surprise to most of you to hear that I much prefer it to the Future of Sound solo.
Flans told the key-difference story before In the Middle, In the Middle, explaining that Robin wasn't there to sing it because she was in France. Particle Man seems to get sillier every time I see it; Linnell was dancing, repeating "totally willing to go with it" during the break, and saying "Triangle man hates Adam West" (in ref to Flans' Adam West clapping he had talked about earlier in the show).
I was super excited when they introduced the last song of the night as the first song they ever put together as a band. Stan came down to the front with a clarinet, and Linnell brought one out too! I never got a great picture of Linnell with the clarinet, since he wasn't ever in the spotlight really, but I made some attempts. The song itself was awesome, and I can't believe I got to hear it live.
During the first encore Flans introduced the band, including "the King of the Drums", who he had "destroy" his drum set for us, once again. And I'm not sure if I've ever heard Turn Around live before, but it was a treat to hear it that night.
Finally they came out to play a second encore... I don't know if it was planned or not, because they claimed that they hadn't rehearsed this at all, and Flans wondered how they would start it out. He had the audience do a "rock clap", and then said to come in with it when it "felt right". And so they played a duo New York City, which was awesome.
It was great show, like I said, and once again because of the horns they pulled out a lot of things I had never heard live before, or hadn't heard in quite a while. It was nice not to have to sit through any openers too, and they played quite a long show to boot. Thanks again, k1cup, for your ticket!