Keeping on the stage banter theme that I started in my earlier post, today's Audience Participation entry is a list of some of my favorite bits of stage banter. I'm not going to go so far as to say these are my absolute favorites because it is highly likely that I am forgetting even more. They are largely from the last year because I wasn't terribly good at noting down specific quotes before then. I am also sticking with shows I attended rather than recorded live shows, with two exceptions from a show that my boyfriend attended without me and has the recording of. If you haven't been to many live shows or there are just recorded shows you like, feel free to include them on your own list.
The numbers are only to indicate how many there are, not necessarily an order of preference. Also, I apologize for all the swearing. It would appear I favor quotes with "fuck" in them. Also, very heavy on the Flans quotes. Not sure why.
15. Flans: "Do you know why I pulled you over Mr. Whale? Do you know how fast you were going?" - AMNH - 10/4/09 - After Marty demoed some whales sounds followed by police sirens on the electric kit.
14. Flans: "Did we miss anything else? Did we forget to play all of Lincoln before we started?" - The Pageant - 10/9/09 - After being constantly reminded by Danny that they had skipped various songs while playing Flood.
13. Green Avatar: "The phrase 'rock out with our socks out' is TM the Avatars so you better not use it on your blogs or our lawyers will be on your ass faster than you can say Walt Disney Corporation." - The Pageant - 10/9/09
12. Flans: "Have you been drinking?"
Linnell: "Have you NOT been drinking?" - Wolf Den - 11/27/09
11. Linnell: "This next song is about a bunch of guys who really made a MESS of things."
Flans: "John, our freak flag just fell on the ground. We need to burn it." - Calvin Theater - 12/31/09
10. Flans: "Fuck everyone. Twitter this: Fuck everyone. That's 40 characters. I can even double up. F-F-U-U. Then my one Twitter follower can read it."
Linnell: "It's me. Fuck me? Fuck you!"
Flans: "This isn't a kids show is it?" - Exit/ In - 3/9/10
9. Flans: "This one's mine. Fuck you." Stone Pony - 6/11/10 - In reference to what the imaginary Guitar Center employees wrote on the guitars before donating them to the club.
8. Linnell: "A chimp playing a theremin on the sun...people."
Flans: "This show isn't free. They're torturing us!" - Rose Kennedy Greenway - 4/22/10
7. Flans: "Linnell's slogan for his 2004 presidential campaign: John Linnell - Givin' a shit." - Avalon - 9/18/04
6. Flans: "Marty Beller: Strong enough for a man but made for a woman." - Beachland Ballroom - 10/15/09
5. Flans: "Does anyone in the audience have a mallet?" - The National - 3/11/10 - After being unable to find a mallet to play the bass drum with on Whistling in the Dark
4. Linnell: "How ya' feelin', Flans?" - Visulite - 3/10/10 - Checking up on Flans after a bad night.
3: Linnell: "Regicide."
Flans: "John, have you been reading your word a day calendar?"
Linnell: "Erm, yes..."
Flans: "What does that even mean?"
Linnell: "Regicide: Death of king of drums."
Audience Member: "We love you Marty!"
Linnell: "That wont help him when he's dead!" - Orange Peel - 3/9/10
2. Flans: "Danny was backstage smoking a menthol and was like pirate style?! I better get out there!" - Stone Pony - 6/11/10
1. Flans: "We've been saying fuck it since 1982." - Avalon - 9/18/04
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Haha, it's so incredibly geeky that you've not only been to enough shows to compile all of these but actually remember them. It makes the rest of us jealous! Or me, at any rate. :>
ReplyDeleteI haven't even got enough recordings to make participation worthwhile, but here's one long-ish paraphrased Flans thing from the London kid show in June that stuck in my memory (and, uh, LiveJournal):
"Everyone raise your hands if you can count to nine!" [mass hand-raising] "Okay, this is your soundcheck."
("One two three four five six seven eight nine.")
"...Well, you all raised your hands, but... Okay, last chance to get it right without the music."
("One two three four five six seven eight nine!")
"...How about we split you guys up to create a fake kind of rivalry? Let's hear it from the people in the balcony."
("One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Eight! Nine!")
"See, the people on the balcony are better than you guys on the floor, and we can't even see them! And I can make direct eye contact with all of you down here." [prolonged glaring at everyone on the front row] "...Your turn."
("ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FIVE! SIX! SEVEN! EIGHT! NINE!")
"Yeah! This is what we Americans do! Create a kind of false system of value, and things will change."
Oh, and another, shorter one from the same show:
F: "Thanks for coming out. We're super glad so many of you are here today."
L: "You have no idea how lonely we'd be if you weren't. [airy voice] 'Hey guys, bad news...'"
Ha! "Hey guys, bad news..." I can hear the exact airy tone of voice you mean.
ReplyDeleteThe "Fuck everyone. Twitter this: Fuck everyone." "Fuck me? Fuck YOU!" makes me laugh uncontrollably every time I think of it. I am very excited to report that I was present for eight of your moments (12, 11, 9, 8, 5, 4, 3, and 2) and enjoyed all of them. Some others:
1. Flans telling the audience that Dan is the only member of the band who hasn't shown them his birth certificate. "Where is that birth certificate, ladies and gentlemen?" I love that it's become a multi-show joke.
2. On the same note: "Marty needs to hear the ladies scream! He's a SOCIALIST, ladies!"
3. The little song Linnell sang to his microphone stand at the Stone Pony.
4. Rob Tanner, WEATHER DETECTIVE.
5. Linnell: "So in 2004 we went on tour and we wrote a song for each venue we visited, some of them better than others."
Flans: "He means the venues. The songs were all great. It was the venues. How could they all be great when some of them smell like human feces?"
6. Flans introducing Electric Car: "This song was originally performed by our friend Robin Goldwasser but she's at home tending to her emotionally needy cats." I also love that he never mentions she's his wife, except in the London interview, where he referred to her as his "life wife."
These blog entries are seriously helpful to me during this three-month show drought.
Hahaha...now I really want to bring a mallet with me to the next show I attend. How odd it would have been if someone happened to have had one. X]
ReplyDeleteI certainly enjoyed the stage banter at the Indianapolis show. It was sort of a nice surprise, as I really didn't know what to expect, and it was very candid and loose and just made me like TMBG that much more. TMBG really know how to engage an audience. I wrote up a little review of the show, but since I didn't happen to remember any quotes, I stole this from your blog from October 16, 2009. It's not all quotes, but I really enjoyed the puppet portion in general. I had no idea they were going to have puppets, though I should've guessed since they've been used so much in their kids' videos.:
"It took longer than normal to get the screen and puppets set up and when the band finished playing a longer than average version of the puppet intro music, Linnell said "And we're still not ready. I think you guys are going to have to play the whole song." The Avatars were talking about their new album James Camerson Presents Songs from Avatar but they aren't allowed to play any of the songs until after the movie is released. Flans was fixated on the puppet shadows that were obscuring his puppet on the screen. Flans-puppet tried to eat his shadow again. Linnell suggested that Flans tilt the camera down to illiminate the shadow but Flans said that then the audience would be able to see the people operating the puppets. Linnell pointed out that the audience probably already knew there were people operating the puppets. Linnell also demonstrated some of his new puppeteering skills he has been learning by making his puppet swallow."
Haha. I also liked the coffee cup hat and "It's our pleasure to serve you". I wasn't aware it was a running joke, but I'm sure it was just as amusing every time it was done. I actually went to see the movie "Remember Me" with a couple of friends a few months ago, and one of the characters had that coffee cup. I was so excited, I nudged my friend and preceded to whisper to her the significance of the coffee cup to the TMBG show I attended. She just gave me a dirty look for interrupting something her beloved Robert Pattinson had said. *eyeroll* Oh well. I was amused. :]
It's a very common generic coffee cup that has shown up all over movies and television for decades; just watch any cop show on the tube and you're bound to see one of those cups sitting around somewhere. After a show in 1997 I snagged the (same) cup that Linnell was drinking out of during the show. The coffee inside was cold, and sweet. Still have the cup.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, the designer of that coffee cup died recently. Somewhere (though I have no idea where at the moment) I have a change purse that my uncle gave me for Christmas that is in the shape of one of those cups. I bet it even says "It is our pleasure to serve you" on it. I should find that.
ReplyDeleteOh, I had no idea it was that common. Still amusing to me, though. :] Haha, that change purse sounds awesome. I just bought one that looks like a blue cat's head with big green eyes.
ReplyDelete