When I was putting together this countdown I figured to do two entries on each of the band to keep things balanced and spread the love around. But when it came to Danny, aside from the red pants, I couldn't pick out one single second thing to highlight. There were too many to choose from and none of them seemed more awesome than the others. I figure by now you all know that I have an incredible amount of affection and respect for the band and I adore Dan and Marty. But I also assume that you have, by now, caught on that Danny is my favorite. So it should come as a surprise to exactly no one that I am about to dedicate an entire stop on this countdown to his general awesomeness. Please don't judge me for this lapse in fangirl restraint.
It should go without saying that Danny is a pretty kick-ass bass player. One need only listen to the bass line in Ana Ng or Withered Hope to figure this out. I always get a kick out of watching the way he rocks back and forth from foot to foot when he gets into a rhythm or hops up and down to a beat. And I marvel at his innate ability to sense when Flans is about to back up into him and get out of the way. And I know I've mentioned time and time again how much I love the jump he executes at the end of Doctor Worm whether it's just a sedate hop or an epic rock star leap.
I suppose I notice because I tend to pay more attention to him but I always appreciate his little moments of goofy silliness, from playing Marty's drums to kicking confetti at the audience to imitating Marty's bell playing. They make me laugh.
He's also a pretty kick-ass songwriter. All of the songs he has written for the kids albums are fantastic and both Where Do They Make Balloons and I Am A Paleontologist are among my top 25 TMBG songs period. Even Flansburgh said in a recent interview that Danny was their secret weapon who could write them a #1 song if that was what they were going for. He's certainly contributed parts to more than a few of the songs TMBG has turned out in the last 12 years and I suspect that all the guys contribute a lot on the work for hire projects the band does. I know Danny does some work for hire stuff himself in his off time that I would be very interested to hear.
I've joked before about Danny keeping the show going, but sometimes I really think it's true. There was a show at LPR where we commented that they should put Danny closer to the sound board if he was going to be communicating so many messages about raising this level and lowering that one. I frequently see him conveying messages to Will about this mic or that instrument or somebody's monitors. He was doing Linnell's soundcheck for him in Boston in April. I've seen him checking to make sure Curt is ready to come in when he's supposed to, that Dan is fetched from backstage in time for his solo, that Marty's song doesn't get skipped at a kid show. And of course there is my favorite example from St. Louis where he spent half the show trying to get missed Flood songs back into the set. I'm not sure why this role seems to fall on him; if it's something he chooses to do or if it falls to him because he is the most mobile of the band, not being tied to a mic. It might all really be in my head. Whatever the case, I'd secretly like to believe that the show would fall apart without him.
Finally, I am very happy that I can say that Danny is a genuinely nice guy. I have heard nothing but good stories of him from other fans. He always smiles at me when he sees me and it's gotten to the point where I don't feel like I've had a proper show if I haven't gotten one of those smiles. He wrote to me multiple times on Facebook after I tagged him in my pictures, to thank me for them and even surprised the heck out of one of my friends by answering a question he had asked on one of the pictures. And when I got to talk to him in March, most of the conversation was about how bad they felt about the disaster show in Charlotte and how sorry they were they hadn't been able to do something to make it up to the fans. Like I said. Genuinely nice guy. I wear my I Heart The Bass Player T-shirt with pride.
I'll leave you with this picture which illustrates a few of my favorite things about watching Danny play. He's sticking out his tongue, which he does a lot and which never fails to amuse me. He's playing the bass with his thumb rather than his fingers which I find interesting and have been meaning to find out if other bass players do as well because I've never noticed. The red pants, obviously. And I would be doing a disservice to fangirls everywhere if I did not point out, the man is gorgeous. Duh!
My setlist signed by Danny after the Richmond show.
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Wooo! Richmond was my favorite Flood show. So excellent. And you can definitely play the bass with your thumb.
ReplyDeleteSee, just goes to show what I know about playing the bass or any guitar for that matter, which is pretty much jack shit. I would be such a failure at being in a rock band. I can barely manage the piano.
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