I Got Problems

My last show of 2008 was one I wasn't sure we were going to get to go to. It was at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and for the longest time it seemed that it was only going to be open to students. Then, finally a few weeks before the show they opened up tickets to the public.

The show was held in a big hall lined with portraits of old school presidents. It looked like the sort of place that school plays are performed and the acoustics were pretty awful. They had a lot of students working the doors and security all in really neat shirts that had been printed for the show. It was standing room only and we got a spot relatively near the front. They had a rope stretched in front of the stage so you couldn't actually stand by it and there was a line of students standing in front of the stage throughout the show, looking out at the audience. I assume they were supposed to be making sure no one crossed the rope but it looked pretty silly.

They played the Venue Songs DVD on a screen while we were waiting (I can't remember if this was the first time they had done that or if they had done it at the previous show too). I always enjoy it and it seemed like most of the audience hadn't seen it before so it was fun for them too.

The opening act was .357 Lover featuring Corn Mo. I had not seen Corn Mo before but my boyfriend had. With his band he played keyboard the entire time, no accordion. He did several of the same songs he used to do as a solo act but with different arrangements and several new ones. And he was really good, which I seldom get to say about an opening act.

The TMBG portion of the show started with just Dan Miller on stage doing his intro solo to Istanbul (this was labeled in the set list as Dan "Gypsy Man" Miller). The rest of the band joined him just before the main portion of the song began.

I actually really enjoyed the return to a regular show without a theme after so many album shows.
The rest of the setlist was: Hey Mr. DJ, - S-E-X-X-Y - Drink! - Particle Man - Wicked Little Critta - Damn Good Times - Dinner Bell - Seven - The Guitar - Clap Your Hands - Withered Hope - WDTSS? and WDTSRS? - Birdhouse - Take Out the Trash - I'm Impressed - Don't Let's Start - Older - James K. Polk - The Mesopotamians.

For the encores the setlist had them doing Alphabet of Nations and Doctor Worm for the first encore and Ana Ng, Dig My Grave and Robot Parade for the second. They actually ended up doing Robot Parade at the end of the first encore then it seemed like they might not even do a second but eventually they came out and did Fingertips.

Linnell messed up some of the words to Hey, Mr. DJ, flipping some of the lyrics. He also flubbed up Dinner Bell a bit. Nobody cared.

During Particle Man, Linnell started singing a different song in the bridge than I was used to (Dolly Parton's Here You Come Again) which apparently also surprised Danny and Flans. They were positioned by the keyboard waiting for Linnell to direct them on the kaoss pad but the moment never came. He just finished the song and launched back into Particle Man with a rather "ha, I got you" look on his face.

This was the first time I had heard Wicked Little Critta live. Linnell made a mistake with the spoken lines at the end that ended up being even funnier. He forgot the "way to go" line and obviously contemplated for a second about adding it back in out of order but then must have decided that the next line "I got problems" explained it all away. That got a big laugh.

This was the first show I saw after their Grammy nomination for 123s and they had an hysterical conversation about it before performing Seven. They were urging any members of the audience who had ever recorded or worked on an album to join NARAS so that they could vote because they were up against an entire symphony orchestra who would all be voting against them. They also mentioned that one of the other nominees' albums also started with Here Comes so they were going to have to wait until the third word in the announcement before they even knew if they had won. Linnell was describing them halfway out of their chairs and then realizing it wasn't them. In Flans' words "The story of our lives." The best part about it was that underneath all the humor they were obviously so excited about being nominated. They just couldn't stop grinning while they were talking.

I admit I didn't remember this on my own but reading someone else's description on TMBW reminded me that while they were introducing WDTSRS? in reference to WDTSS? being incorrect, Flans said that they "don't have a habit of looking back because what we look back on is often on fire." Fantastic!

I have noticed that they always seem to play Take Out the Trash and I'm Impressed together. I wonder why? Perhaps they just feel they flow nicely.

There were people standing near me wearing Mesopotamians T-shirts that had clearly been waiting all show for the song and they danced around singing like nutters when it started. Very funny to watch. Incidentally there were also people standing near me in costumes. I don't exactly remember what the guy was wearing but the girl was dressed in a vinyl superhero outfit. I think they said they were either coming from or going to a party but it was very odd.

I did get a setlist after the show but with some difficultly. They did not have most of their regular road crew with them at this show (it was a lot of students from the school instead) and they were going around collecting the lists and not giving them out. Most of the fans gave up after a while until it was just us and one other couple. I asked one of the kids if I could have the list taped to Linnell's keyboard and he looked at me oddly and said "It's just a setlist" and walked away. Duh, that's why I want it. Finally I spotted Lala at the back of the stage and caught his attention long enough to ask if I could have the setlist and he told me to just take it off the keyboard, which I did. My boyfriend briefly yelled at me for stealing, before he realized I had gotten permission :-) I still felt bad for the other couple who were still list-less. I don't know how much longer they stuck around or if they ever got one.

I was bummed not to be able to go to the New Year's Eve shows but this was a nice way to round out the year and topped me off at 10 shows for 2008.

From this point on, all the remaining show reports before the road trip will have photo accompaniment as I have pictures from all of them. Road trip reports will depend on camera rules for the various venues. Only six days left! Tiding myself over with a Jonathan Coulton/Paul and Storm show tonight. I haven't seen them before so I am excited.