Looking Up We Can Set It Off
If it wasn't for disappointments,
I wouldn't have any appointments.
Now it's over, I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want,
Or I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do.
My craft is exploding-
It's like I'm making cloisonné.
So 2012 ended not with a bang or a whimper, but a three-peat of TMBG shows.
Venue
All three were at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. That's probably a huge reason we went for all three nights-it's just a brisk walk (on some cold nights, very brisk walk) from the apartment.
Opening Act
First night: Corn Mo. I don't know what it is about him, but I'm never excited to see him. He's opened for TMBG before and Ben Folds, so I've seen him a bunch. And, when he first comes out, I can't wait for him to finish up his set. But, by the end of it, either he warms up and gets funnier, he saves his good stuff for the end, or I just get used to it, because he always wins me over slightly. Maybe it's just because he ends the nights with the Gary Busey song.
Second Night: The Last Car, featuring Robin Goldwasser, John Flansburgh's wife. Their songs were good enough but there's always something a little bit too jokey about them. It's hard to take them seriously as a real band, instead of thinking that they open just because they're around and connected to TMBG.
Last Night: Moooooon Hooooooch. I appreciate their energy, and the way they just came out and played without taking any breaks between songs. That's got to be hard to do. It's not my kind of music-it's awesome for five minutes before everything starts to sound the same to me-but I can appreciate the effort.
OPQ (Old-Person Quotient)
Medium for the first two nights, since the shows were late but they were close to the apartment, so we didn't get home too late. The last night was even later so they could play at midnight, so it was pretty low for the last night. But New Year's Eve is not for the olds.
Seats/Position in Crowd/Up-In-Itness
All three nights we mastered the nerds so that we were pretty far Up In It. I guess the line-up-at-3-pm crowd doesn't show up when it's freezing outside. All three nights we were towards the front, to the left if you're facing the stage-my favorite spot.
Setlist
As per usual, Jesse posted the setlist for the first night, second night, and third night. The first two shows were early-years themed, with them playing half of Lincoln and half of Flood each night, and the New Year's Eve show was mostly best-of-uptempo party songs.
High Point
There were many! They included:
*Hearing some songs from the new album. I think "Circular Karate Chop" sounds really good in an "On the Drag" sort of way, but "Nanobots"-the title track-has to be my favorite. Flansburgh has to do a weird effect on his voice when they sing that, and the first night they were goofing around with it, and it was pretty funny.
*I forget how much I like "Snowball in Hell" until I hear it live. That song is just so nice. Same with "Women and Men."
*This is actually the first time I've ever heard them do "Kiss Me, Son of God," which is especially werid since I've seen OK Go do it a couple of times. It was also the first time I've heard "They'll Need a Crane," and I love that song.
*Horns! I love it when they have a horn section. And they played "Museum of Idiots," which is always a treat. I've seen them do that song nine times-so it's definitely in the rotation, but it's not a given. It always makes me happy.
*When they played "Whistling in the Dark," they did it with all the lights out except for the lights on a disco ball, and it was pretty rad.
*Blowing my obnoxious noisemaker at midnight!
*The New Year's Eve show was just fantastic in general. They came out and just tore through a bunch of great songs, and it was as if they had an agreement not to play any slow ones until 2013. After "Older" (ugh), the first song, they didn't play another slow one until "Auld Lang Syne." They didn't take many breaks until midnight, either-it's like they were in a race to get as many songs in before midnight. They also played "Celebration," a song I love and never heard live before. The rest of the setlist was pretty great, too: "Cloisonné," "New York City," etc.
Low Point
I'm sick of these "theme" shows, man. Well, I guess I'm just sick the the thems are always either "Flood" or "Lincoln." Maybe it's time to admit that not every song on Flood is gold, okay? Every song off Flood I've heard them do at least four times. It kinda stinks that I've heard "Hearing Aid" more than "Till My Head Falls Off."
If they have to have themes for the shows, I'd break them up into: The Pink Album/Lincoln/Flood, Apollo 18/John Henry/Factory Showroom, and Mink Car/The Spine/The Else and just play the best songs from each of those, not every song from each of them. I do not need to hear "Piece of Dirt."
Also, I'd kill for a Apollo 18/John Henry/Factory Showroom show. I think once I heard a rumor that we were going to a '90s-themed show, and it turned out to be '90s-plus-horns, and they mostly did the songs they usually do when they have the horn section. It'd be nice to get some "Spiraling Shape" or "Destination Moon" in there.
Also, I wish they did more songs from Join Us. (No "Can't Keep Johnny Down?") That album is really good, and I think I only saw them once after I knew the songs from it. I was all excited to hear them again, but they were crowded out by these new Nanobots songs. I hope when they tour again for Nanobots in March, it's still a Join Us-heavy set.
Exuberance
Exuberance got higher and higher each of the three nights. We started off 2013 on a very exuberant note.