The Variety Playhouse was always one of those venues that it seemed like I was perpetually missing out on. For one reason or another, I was never able to go to the Atlanta shows prior to this one. So I was excited for a two night engagement. What I wasn't prepared for was how cold it was going to be in Atlanta. It was the South. People go south in the winter to escape the cold. I was very much looking forward to being warm. No such luck. This first night in Atlanta was in the low 50s or maybe even upper 40s. And I was not dressed for it so the wait outside was uncomfortable. Fortunately, I met a nice crew of people so I wasn't bored.
Tonight's JoCo set: Code Monkey - Sticking It To Myself - Big Bad World One - Still Alive - Je Suis Rick Springfield - Sucker Punch - Shop Vac - Mandelbrot Set - Re: Your Brains - I Feel Fantastic
TMBG setlist: Atlanta - Subliminal - Cowtown - S-E-X-X-Y - Can't Keep Johnny Down - Celebration - Snowball in Hell - James K. Polk - Judy is Your Viet Nam - Battle for the Planet of the Apes - Old Pine Box - Marty Beller Mask - Careful What You Pack - Pandor Jingle - Paranoid - Spoiler Alert - Cloisonné - You Probably Get That A Lot - The Guitar - Birdhouse In Your Soul - Damn Good Times - Withered Hope - Fingertips - When Will You Die Encore - How Can I Sing Like A Girl? - Particle Man - Doctor Worm Encore 2 - Dead - Istanbul
Finally got to hear the Atlanta venue song live! Yay! And Subliminal! Double yay!
There was a funny moment prior to S-E-X-X-Y when Flans started to introduce a different song. Linnell asked if they were skipping the next song on the setlist. Flans said no, he just hadn't looked at the setlist and thought he had memorized it. But clearly he was wrong. Linnell tried to give him clues about what was next telling him it was a song they hadn't yet played on this tour. Flans still didn't get it and said he was going to look at the setlist and see what the song was. Linnell told us to watch Flans' face as he learned which song they were playing. Flans made a point of doing an elaborate "oooooh" face which was very funny. And it turned out to be S-E-X-X-Y.
The Snowball in Hell bridge borrowed from the previous night's routine with "Paul" telling his story about spying on "Joe" but it didn't go on for nearly as long. The more I think about it, the more I feel like Flans forgetting to do his line (that I mentioned in the previous recap) may have been at this show. But I could be wrong.
We didn't know it at the time, but this would be the last time we would hear Marty Beller Mask. I feel pretty good about the fact that I was there for both the first and the last performance.
The Avatars shilled for Pandor again, pandering to the crowd. They referred to us as "Hot-lanta". They were also grateful that this crowd understood the effects of Pandor. This seemed like a nod to the fact that sometimes the Pandor joke is met with a bit of a "huh?' response from the crowd. Meg Ryan also made an appearance and said she had taken all the Pandor that was in the dressing room. She expressed her love for the Avatars and they told her she needed to go lie down.
Warning: fangirl moment ahead. I have to note the new shoes that Danny debuted at this show. If you've been to a show since, you've probably seen them as he almost always has them on now, but he was breaking them in in Atlanta. They are blue and shiny with a nifty tiled pattern. They are definitely rock star shoes. And with the striped pants and blazer he had on, he was looking very sharp.
Danny also executed one of the most impressive leaps in Doctor Worm I have yet seen. He essentially did a split in the air. I think even Dan was impressed.
Flans asked everyone to record How Can I Sing Like A Girl? The Johns made jokes about people doing pitch correction and adding effects before posting the videos. Then before Dead, Flans had the audience recreate the Ape battle so that people could film it. He wanted people to spin around while filming to get the full audience and give it a rock and roll effect.
This was a super high energy show and probably the best, performance-wise, that I saw on this trip. I'm a little sad that I don't remember more of the banter and humor that made it so great, but you'll just have to trust me that it was really good.
Victor made paper airplanes out of the setlists and shot them out into the audience. They actually fly really well :-)
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