tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25699464326160550802024-03-05T11:11:20.069-05:00My Name Is Blue CanaryConcert Reports, News, Photos and Ramblings From A They Might Be Giants FanBlue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.comBlogger1381125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-46426327046942816282016-04-26T21:01:00.000-04:002016-04-26T21:01:09.546-04:00Jump for Joy! Second Danny Weinkauf Album Available for Pre-Order!Hey all! Bet you thought I fell off the planet. But nothing brings me racing back to the blog-o-sphere faster than an new album announcement from one of my favorite peeps!<br />
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That's right, it is once again time to wave my Red Pants Team banner high! That incomparable, high-flying, red-pants-stylin', kindie rock dynamo Danny Weinkauf has just launch a PledgeMusic drive for his second album with his very own Red Pants Band.<br />
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<a href="http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/dannyweinkauf">http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/dannyweinkauf</a><br />
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There are some great perks if you pre-order like signed CDs, t-shirts, even your very own song! I've gotten a sneak peak at some of the tracks played live at concerts over the last year and they are super-tastic (see I had to make up a word just to describe them). I promise, if you liked No School Today, you are going to love this album.<br />
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So what are you waiting for? Jump up and join the parade!<br />
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P.S. Don't miss the questionable safety of playing guitar while bouncing on a trampoline in the pledge video :-)<br />
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#RedPantsTeamAssemble<br />
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<br />Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-52182194488326007502015-12-04T20:34:00.002-05:002015-12-04T20:34:46.609-05:00Happy Birthday Danny!Happy birthday to Danny Weinkauf! Hope it's a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious day!<br />
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<br />Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-60186401557195005442015-10-03T13:07:00.000-04:002015-10-03T13:07:37.294-04:00Happy Birthday Dan!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
October 3 comes around but once a year. And you know what that means right? RIGHT?!</div>
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All together now...</div>
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DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN!</div>
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The very happiest of happy birthdays to our favorite guitarist. Hope it's a totally rockin' day!</div>
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<br />Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-27170939445922005682015-07-10T06:00:00.000-04:002015-07-10T06:00:03.460-04:00Happy Birthday, Marty Beller!Happy, happy birthday to the King of the Drums...Mr.....Marty....Beller!!!!!<br />
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Long may he reign! Rock your heart out, Marty :-)<br />
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<br />Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-4209557670865093102015-06-12T07:00:00.000-04:002015-06-12T07:00:02.124-04:00Happy Birthday Linnell!It's Linnell day! Yaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy *insert flailing Kermit the Frog arms*<br />
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Happy birthday to one of the most brilliant and awe inspiring songwriters of our generation. Hands down, no exaggeration. Hope it's a really lovely day filled with lots of people appreciating your awesomeness. </div>
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I will start.</div>
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You are awesome.</div>
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Thank you for sharing your abundant talents with the world.</div>
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Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-73322292986694839072015-05-06T18:35:00.003-04:002015-05-06T18:35:55.229-04:00Happy Birthday Flansy!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hey everybody, it's Flans Day! Internationally recognized holiday, celebrated by TMBG fans world-wide, to honor the occasion of the birth of that most esteemed rock 'n' roll "giant", John Flansburgh!</div>
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This looks to be a banner year for Flansburgh, with several truly stellar Flans-penned tunes already released on Glean and dozens more to come. In my own esteem, Flans has achieved the pinnacle of success this year, not only in being the composer of my favorite song on the new album, but also in having written the majority of my favorite songs on the album. He has absolutely outdone himself and I can't wait to see what's still in store.</div>
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Please join me in a hearty "hip-hip-hurray" and "happy birthday" for Mr. Flansburgh, and celebrate by tuning into Conan tonight to watch the band perform Answer!</div>
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Happy Birthday, Flans!!!</div>
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<br />Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-26364081297875471842015-01-27T18:35:00.000-05:002015-01-28T02:10:13.627-05:00Two Bosoms Walk Into A BarJanuary 25, 2015 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY<br />
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I have not done a particularly good job at keeping up with concert write ups in the last couple of years. Some how it was a manageable thing when I was seeing 20-30 shows a year but got very unmanageable when I was seeing 50+. And once I stopped, I wasn't exactly sure how to start again. But I am going to try to at least write up the MHoW shows this year as they seem destined to be really special ones.<br />
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Arrived at MHoW around noon, just slightly beating the crew to the venue for load in. Kind of fun to see that they can unload an entire stage set-up in 20 minutes flat. Also lovely to see all my band buddies again after such a long hiatus. I ducked out for a bit to make a dash into Manhattan to see Danny play a kids show at the Jewish Museum. He was sick as a dog and yet still managed to get the kids dancing and hopping around. Prime example of "the show must go on" and he powered through it admirably, with a little help from his band. They debuted a new song I hadn't heard yet called Only One You, which was really fun. It features bass player Tina Kenny on lead vocals and I am definitely looking forward to hearing it on a future recording.<br />
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There are pictures from that gig on Flickr if anyone is curious: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mynameisbluecanary/sets/72157650065986597/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mynameisbluecanary/sets/72157650065986597/</a><br />
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Dashed back down to Brooklyn for several more hours in the cold as soon as the gig was done. Met lots of lovely new people in line. Hi, new people! I hope to see you all again in February! I admit, I feel like I cheated skipping out on being out in the cold while I was at the other gig but I am sure I'll make up for it in February.<br />
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We overheard an extended soundcheck from outside. Almost more of a rehearsal as they ran through probably close to a dozen songs and it went on for over an hour. My guess is that they didn't get a lot of chance to rehearse with the full group prior to the show.<br />
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Once inside, checked out the new selection of merch. I highly approve of the new hoodie (which I am currently wearing) but am undecided on the new "tuxedo" T-shirt, largely because the cartoon figure whose head you become when wearing it, is so hairy and appears to inexplicably be digging worms. I'll probably end up getting it later just out of a sense of completeness but I can't really see myself wearing it.<br />
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There was a slight misadventure while we were waiting for the show to start when one of the lights on the ceiling appeared to spontaneously break, showing the stage with something, though whether it was broken glass or water or gel from the filter we could never quite tell. It appeared to stump the crew too, who stood staring at it for a bit and couldn't really seem to determine what had happened. It didn't seem to affect anything during the show, however.<br />
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The "Evening with" aspect of the MHoW shows means no opener and an early 8pm start time, which is kind of refreshing. They kicked off the show with a recording of No Cops as an intro and projected the video on the ceiling, then the band started right up with Damn Good Times. Flans had the boys play very softly during the quiet verse, giving his performance a little extra pizazz. Must say that Flans was in top form throughout the night, though he was struggling with some technical issues.<br />
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When they paused to greet the crowd, Linnell asked everyone how it was going and when everyone cheered he said "that's how I felt that it's going!" Flans introduced the last Sunday of every month concept and then joked about the tall people in the crowd standing at the side due to their tremendous height and considerateness, a subtle joke at the expense of a very tall fan standing right in front, I believe. Flans said they had a fantastic show that they had been rehearsing for a day and joked about it being an adult crowd so the swear words would come later. Linnell added in that bawdy language and adult humor were also coming. "We're very risqué when it's an adult show." To which Flans replied, "Bosoms." Just that. Linnell said they had a lot of bosom jokes prepared if we could handle it. "Old timey bosom jokes," added Flans.<br />
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After playing Number Three, Linnell re-started the banter with a joke, "So these two bosoms walk into a bar.... I don't remember the punch line of that one." Flans comment on the "kick ass" three part harmonies on the previous song and complimented Dan "the undisputed king of stage left.""When will his hegemony be threatened?" queried Linnel. "It will not!" stated Flans. Flans strummed on his guitar a bit and then said he was thinking about all the opening acts. Someone in the audience shouted that they had sucked. Linnell disagreed and said they were all good. Flans said that they had opened before. Someone asked if it had sucked. "We sucked," said Flans. Linnell added that according to the response they had sucked, which Flans demonstrated by displaying double middle fingers in a "rainbow motion" which he then flipped over to demonstrate a windshield wiper. "No, thank you," he intoned. "It's raining now. The windshield wipers are on." And then he noticed that someone was taking his picture and said that was going to be hard to explain to his mom. "No, it's not both fingers, Mom."<br />
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Linnell introduced Letterbox as being a hearty "Yo!" from Flood and they certain performed it with a bit of "yo!," so much so that Dan's acoustic guitar got knocked over at the end of the song. Whoops. Flans introduced the fact that they were going to be be playing tracks from the new Dial-A-Song, by way of introducing Erase. In my opinion, this is one of the strongest songs they have yet released on DAS and it is a good rocker when performed live.<br />
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They slipped back into familiar territory with The Mesopotamians, but Linnell forgot to sing the verse about sharing gum. He noted this afterward and that is "wasn't a good verse anyway." They followed this with Older, which I actually haven't heard in a while, and then We're the Replacements which I always love hearing live.<br />
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Prior to the show, Flans had tweeted that they would be playing five songs they had never played live before and I guess he must have been counting Hate the Villanelle, even though they have played it live twice. He introduced it saying that they had played it once before in a public forum but would now being playing it without so many fuck ups. Apparently he doesn't consider the Ask Me Another performance to be a "public forum." Linnell said that whatever they played tonight would be the correct version, and Flans told the audience to get their paper wikipedias out. To be honest, I thought the last performance of it was stronger, but not having heard a recorded version yet, I can't really say which is definitive.<br />
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Linnell introduced the next song as an old one which turned out to be Spiraling Shape. We'd heard them sound checking it from outside, so not a total surprise, but man it sounded great. Danny really nailed the bass part and the whole thing just sounded spectacular.<br />
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Flans explained the Dial-A-Song concept more thoroughly, adding that the telephone number was now toll free. He said that if anyone knew the people who have the old 718 number to please tell them there were no hard feelings, "we just don't want to talk about it in a public forum." He introduced the next song as the next upcoming DAS, Music Jail, Pt. 1 & 2, and said that it could have been called Music Jail "parts" one and two but there was a typo. Linnell joked that that name was taken. Flans said the guys that had that name would give it back because it meant a lot to them.<br />
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I really love Music Jail. It is my favorite of the DAS tracks thus far and it sounds awesome live. So much going on musically. The constant switches in beat and the inserted pauses. And the swap from one song into another mid song is a little reminiscent of With the Dark.<br />
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They followed this with Fingertips, this time without any of the silly add-ons or messing about that they tend to do. Just a straight up performance.<br />
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Flans said he had recently watched a video of Oliver Reed arguing with Shelley Winters and realized retroactively, that the next song, Madam, I Challenge You to A Duel, was written about that video. Linnell made some jokes about it, commenting that he was more in a position to agree with Flans' assessment since he knew what the song was, unlike the audience. This song is a little slow for my taste but I can appreciate the irony of it.<br />
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The band left the stage while Flans and Linnell did the duo version of Istanbul, though they were a little slow to depart as both Dans stopped to tune. Flans teased them about this and said they were tuning now so that they could make a stronger impression when they returned.There was much humorous back and forth on the "take me back/no" interlude of Istanbul. That never gets old.<br />
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Another surprise that was tipped off by being outside the venue early was the presence of the Tricerachops Horns, who joined the band for Turn Around. And then they played Man, It's So Loud In Here again to my everlasting delight. Still adjusting to the new arrangement but I like the way they have fit the horns into it and I will take it any way I can get it after waiting so gosh darn long to hear it. I'll be curious to see if it stays in the set when they don't have the horns with them.<br />
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They followed this with Cloisonné with the horns, in a version much closer to the original arrangement on the album. Linnell played on his contra bass clarinet that he had debuted at Mohegan Sun. Flans introduced the instrument in a humorous way that I don't quite recall, unfortunately. Linnell seemed to be having a little trouble getting it situated for comfortable playing during the performance, but the song still sounded wonderful.<br />
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They introduced Doctor Worm as a song about a worm who was a doctor and when the audience cheered, Linnell added "no, not that song, a different one." Dan Levine really hammed this one up, running up onto the drum riser and playing his big trombone note straight up in the air on a bass trombone. And despite illness, Danny still managed a seriously impressive leap off the drum riser, launching right out of the frame of my photo. The show must go on and upwards, it would seem!<br />
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One of the nicest parts of having the horns is always getting to hear Museum of Idiots, almost without fail. But the last several times I have seen them play this there has been this funny moment at the beginning where Linnell seems to forget that Danny starts the song and Danny has to remind him, which happened again. Silly.<br />
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Flans put on his robot Flansburgh voice again for Nanobots. Linnell some point in here had a problem with his earpiece and had to go backstage to have one of the wires reattached. I'm going to claim that as my explanation for why I don't remember any of what Robot Flans was talking about.<br />
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Flans also was experiencing some guitar trouble at this point and left the stage for a portion of the song, returning at just the right moment to sing. There was some ugly feedback that kept recurring for several minutes after this point which I think they did finally manage to get under control but it took while.<br />
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At some point in here, Linnell also went on a tangent about how the wire on his earpiece kept hitting his neck and making him think it was a bug even though he knew there couldn't be any bugs at this time of year and he did a very humorous miming of his freaked out reaction to thinking there was a bug on him. Flans pointed out that he could tighten the wires and Linnell said no, he was fine, he was enjoying the sensation, though he did then tighten the wire.<br />
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Marty turned in another spectacular drumming performance on Call You Mom. I hope that's one of the Nanobots songs that sticks around once they really head into new material.<br />
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For me, the best moment of the night was the performance of Authenticity Trip. I knew it was coming because we had heard them soundcheck it but that didn't prepare me for how spectacular a performance it was going to be. I once told someone that I didn't think they would ever successfully be able to play this song live because Flans would never be able to remember all the words, but he nailed it. He totally and absolutely nailed it. I was a little blown away by how good it was.<br />
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At the end of the song, Flans asked the boys to start playing it again and used that as background music while introducing the horns. After Dan's solo Flans commented on how nice it was to hear the trombone all by itself, "truly alone in the universe." Flans invited Stan to play a bit more after his first short riff, giving Stan a real opportunity to jam out. And Curt did a lovely solo ending with just silently blowing into the trumpet which was a surprisingly effective ending, though maybe not heard past the first few rows. It always impresses me that these guys are willing to come back and play with TMBG year after year. Curt spends half his year on the road with Bruce Springsteen, and Dan and Stan sit in on sessions with some seriously big names, and yet they still come back whenever they can and gig with the Giants. It has to be something they do just out of sheer enjoyment of playing with them and it's evident in how joyous they are when they are performing.<br />
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They finished up the main set with Birdhouse, and another horn staple, Mr. Me. And then the first encore was just a horn powerhouse. While Linnell twiddled with something on the keyboard he told Flans to do some talking and Flans made some jokes about Final Cut Pro, stating that he'd been having Final Cut Pro dreams lately which weren't as much fun as Tetris dreams because you don't win. When Linnell indicated that he was ready, Flans said he was only just getting started on the Final Cut Pro thing, but they proceeded on to With the Dark. Somewhere in this encore I believe, Linnell was also squinting heavily at his setlist and Flans teased him asking "How's that vision working out for you?" Linnell replied that Flans didn't get it since he had his eyes fixed.<br />
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They blasted through Hey Mr. DJ, and When Will You Die, and when they returned for the second encore it was just Flans and Linnell. They played How Can I Sing Like A Girl? but Linnell forgot to go to the watchtower verse. He kept playing for a minute while Flans stared and the audience sang the lyrics, and then Flans started talking, saying something about how he usually thought that talking in the middle of a song was phony but in this case it was called for and they joked for a minute or so before Flans told Linnell he wanted to go back to the watchtower verse and they restarted the song (though Linnell had still been playing the accordion the whole time).<br />
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Then the band rejoined them for a not recently heard performance of Cyclops Rock, finally ending on a classic with Ana Ng. Marty and Flans came out with stickers, though not new ones, and many of them seemed to be stuck together in wads.<br />
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I collected a setlist and picked up the hoodie and the first of a set of five posters that have been created for these shows. And then walked out feeling like the Giants had made a spectacularly triumphant return for 2015. Can't wait to do it again next month!<br />
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Photos from the show can be found here: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mynameisbluecanary/sets/72157650418141676/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mynameisbluecanary/sets/72157650418141676/</a><br />
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<br />Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-2604732527405975142014-12-04T07:52:00.002-05:002014-12-04T07:52:37.937-05:00Happy Birthday Danny!Happy birthday to my favorite bass player, Mr. Danny Weinkauf!<br />
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TMBG may have been pretty down periscope in 2014, but Danny was busy taking the children's music industry by storm! Climbing the kindie music charts and teaching the youth of the world that spelling is actually pretty cool, the moon probably is made of cheese after all and hopping up and down is an activity best suited to kangaroos and youngsters attending rock shows by Danny Weinkauf and his Red Pants Band.<br />
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Speaking as a fan and a long-time admirer of Danny's music, I could not be prouder of everything he has achieved this year and look forward to all the music and adventurers the next year holds.<br />
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Wishing you the very bestest of birthdays, Danny! Sit back, relax and enjoy a giant slice of cake. Cheers!<br />
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<br />Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-57081018625388955012014-11-17T22:45:00.001-05:002014-11-17T22:45:36.686-05:00Song of the Day - Day 859New song = new song of the day!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Meh (They Could Try Harder)</span><br />
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How cute is that little monster, right?! I have to admit that Flansburgh's pronunciation of "meh" (too much "ah" not enough "eh") bugs me a little, but how can you not love a song with the lyric "cheer up, sucker"? The melody is super catchy and makes me bop my head just like the little monster. And were it not sold out, I just might have been tempted to buy that bag of mystery stuff.Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-11443054520792115342014-10-23T23:35:00.002-04:002014-10-23T23:35:15.439-04:00Here's A Good One That We've Been Ignoring For Too LongOctober 17, 2014 - Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun - Uncasville, CT<br />
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I haven't done one of these recaps in forever but this show was so notable I feel I have to.<br />
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This was my first concert since moving to New York City as a permanent resident and I set out for Mohegan with a whole car full of likeminded fans, blasting TMBG (and others) from the stereo as we crawled through NYC traffic.<br />
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Every show involves this line waiting and fan bonding experience but for some reason the Mohegan shows always seem special. Maybe because of the sheer number of fans who turn out. Maybe it's something about the environment of waiting in line all day in the middle of a casino. Whatever it is, the hours melt away in good company.<br />
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One of the best parts of Mohegan Show line waiting is getting to watch soundcheck and this concert was no exception. Marty pounded away on his drums for quite a while before the rest of the band turned up. Linnell appeared on stage in stocking feet, testing out a tiny symphony of clarinets (okay it was just two, but that is one more than usual). Soundcheck began with the very end of S-E-X-X-Y complete with the Tricachops horns, which we all spent an embarrassingly long amount of time trying to identify. This was followed by the majority of Doctor Worm and some When Will You Die and possibly some other little bits of things that I am forgetting. Mostly there was a lot of noodling.<br />
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Met some lovely new people in line. If any of them happen to be reading this, hello! Danny came out and handed out flyers to everyone in line for his next kids concert in NYC, but he told me I didn't need one. It's like he just knows I'm going to show up no matter what.....oh, wait.... ;-)<br />
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Our rather enormous group got split up once we entered the Wolf Den due to the majority of the floor tables being reserved. Pretty sure there were only four tables that were available on the whole first level. That part was a bit frustrating but out of our control. The tasty drinks almost made up for it.<br />
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The challenge of the Wolf Den is in knowing when to anticipate the stage rush. I'm not sure it has been the same any two years I have been there. Some years we have remained seated. One year it happened so early I was in the bathroom and missed it entirely. This time, we were ready, and with one signal from our line leader, the entire group stood up en masse. It happened so fast that someone else who came up behind us asked what the signal had been because they hadn't been ready and couldn't figure out how everyone knew to go.<br />
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The show began with the seldom heard Orff Intro and let straight into the duo version of Istanbul. My favorite part of the back and forth "take me back" yes/no banter in the bridge was Flans begging Linnell to reconsider because the venue had a curfew. Linnell remained unmoved.<br />
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The rest of the band, including the horns, joined the Johns for a semi-rare performance of With the Dark. Now THAT is a song made for a horn section. They followed it up with Birdhouse and a horn-tastic rendition of Withered Hope.<br />
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Flans paused to say that they had a whole bunch of songs he didn't know how to play tonight. Linnell chimed in to say there was a variety of "don't know how to play songs". "High, low, fun, not fun." And then Flans announced "a good one that we've been ignoring for too long."<br />
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Now let me pause a moment. Any one who has been reading my blog for any length of time, or knows me at all, knows that I have been waiting my entire show going history to hear Man, It's So Loud In Here live. It was last played in 2003, a good five years before I started going to shows regularly. And it is my absolute favorite TMBG song. But I had actually managed to attend 164 shows without ever hearing it live. I'd almost given up hope.<br />
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But the previous night, Susan had handed me her phone with a series of tweets from Flansburgh on it. I started reading at the top and was scrolling down wondering what exactly I was supposed to be looking at when she told me to read the last one."@tmbg: Tomorrow night we'll perform Man It's So Loud in Here with our 8 piece band. Exciting!" I think I starred in dumb shock for a minute and then just said "really?" several times before sharing a number of expletives. Susan, can probably elaborate more on my amusing reaction, but suffice it to say I was shocked and elated and actually maybe just a tiny bit disappointed that it wasn't going to be a surprise at the show because that would have been the ultimate in epicness.<br />
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But suffice it to say, I was prepared for Flans to introduce Man, It's So Loud in Here but no less enthusiastic for the performance. They changed up the arrangement of the song a bit to incorporate the horns and it was kind of part way between the old rock version they played long ago and the super dancy/disco version on Mink Car. But HOLY CRAP they played the song I've been waiting years for! I'm still kind of reeling from it. It is the main reason I felt the need to recap this show, because I feel like it is sort of the culmination of years of touring and blogging and the ultimate example of good things come to those who wait.<br />
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Thanks to Victor for this video. I feel compelled to comment on something that I only noticed after the fact when reviewing the various videos of the performance (probably because I was just a teeny bit excited at the time). I am really impressed with Marty's ability to replicate the essence of the drum machine beat from the recording live on the kit. Especially since, just as I had never heard the song live, Marty had never played it before, in any version. High five, Marty!<br />
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After the song Flans made a crack about Marty being the "best theatrical drummer in show business" which he then explained he had a recording of Frank Sinatra saying. But he always suspected that Frank meant it as kind of a dig. "Everything was provisional with Frank. That was the kind of guy he was.<br />
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And THEN, because my brain wasn't already melting, Flans made some cracks about songs about the government and I was sure they were going to play Shadow Government or maybe Black Ops, but they played Working Undercover for the Man! ANOTHER song off of my bucket list that I've never heard. This might not seems like such a big deal to some people, but short of a new album coming out (or one offs like the Pink Shows), it is really rare that I hear anything I've never heard live before, so a double header is just unheard of. Damn. Someone please tell me what I did to deserve it so I can keep doing it!<br />
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Round about this point, give or take a song or two, Linnell paused and said he remembered what he had been meaning to say and then howled into the mic like a wolf, the traditional Wolf Den greeting.<br />
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With my head still spinning, the show marched on to Call You Mom which Marty knocked out to the friggin park...er, casino. And then Flans moved to the back of the stage for Whistling In the Dark. He didn't actually have a bass drum this time around and I think he just moved because he was conscious of not having much of a part in the song. Linnell later teased him about being so far away.<br />
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Before the next song, Linnell made a comment about something and I believe howled into the mic again just being a goof and Danny asked him if he was ready to start. Linnell asked him if he was in a hurry for some reason and Danny looked amusingly chastised. Linnell then made a point of stating that Danny started the next song and asked him to proceed into Museum of Idiots. After the song, the rest of the band left the stage and Flans said Danny was the glue that was holding the band together and keeping them on track, :-)<br />
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Somewhere in here, Flans noted on the setlist that he had neglected to include any audience participation in the show. I feel like him made an amusing joke about it which I've now forgotten.<br />
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They performed the duo version of How Can I Sing Like A Girl? and then Flans made some cracks about asking the audience to clap along to the next song except he couldn't because there was absolutely no audience participation in this set. Pretty sure some of the audience clapped along with We're the Replacements anyway.<br />
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Flans made some jokes about fake New England accents that I can't really remember the context of, but I did enjoy the fact that his analogy for a broad New England accent was "Saturday Night Live levels of broad." He declared that there was nothing quite as fake as a fake New England accent, but Linnell begged to differ. Though he didn't offer an alternative. Just the next song, Hate the Villanelle.<br />
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Afterwards Linnell declared the benefit of playing new songs. "New songs. Most people don't know that we're fuckin' em up. You can't tell!" Flans added that they had that kind of transparency with their audience. "Full disclosure," said Linnell. "That was wrong, and if you liked it, you were wrong." Flans said if they messed the next one up, we would know. It was Letterbox, but Linnell declared it was a perfect performance.<br />
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Flans pulled out his robot vocal for Nanobots and carried on some humorous banter about the horn players. I swear they keep that song in the set just because Flans has so much fun doing the robot voice.<br />
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They played S-E-X-X-Y with Linnell chiming in on the outro on the clarinet (the normal sized one, not the bass). Linnell and Flans riffed on Jonathan Letham whom Linnell credited with writing the lyrics to the next song "but then I just took the title and wrote new lyrics. I hope he's okay with that." Flans mistook him for a podcaster and Linnell expounded on the fact that Lethem is a MacArthur genius, though Flans said Linnell would never know if he was angry about Linnell stealing the title of his song because he wouldn't return his calls. The song in question was the also seldomly played Bee of the Bird of the Moth. Not actually one of my favorites but it's still nice to hear something I don't hear often.<br />
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For Cloisonné, Linnell pulled out not the bass clarinet, but the contra bass clarinet, a truly deep clarinet. And a huge one. The thing was almost as tall as he is. Jokes were made, as the should be.<br />
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They closed out the main portion of the show with Turn Around and Mr. Me with the horns, who got a lot of play time in this show, though I could not see them due the keyboard.<br />
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During the encore Flans announced both the return of Dial-A-Song (yay!) and their gig in Brooklyn in January (double yay!). This will actually be the first show occurring in a town where I am currently living, that I can commute to via subway. Of course Danny's got a gig in Manhattan earlier in the day so I'll be hopping about town, but at least it gives me an excuse to not stand in the freezing cold line until a bit later in the day.<br />
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The encore consisted of Number Three, The Mesopotamians, When Will You Die and Doctor Worm. For whatever reason I was not anticipating the Doctor Worm leap, possibly because the drum riser was only about six inches high and I missed my once a show opportunity to attempt the jump shot. Good thing there will be others.<br />
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It was, at the end of the day, a truly epic show, and a day spent in the company of all my favorite people. We finished it with a pancake dinner with pancakes the size of our heads and wound our way out of the casino with hundreds of teenagers just exiting a Demi Lovato concert in the Arena. How's that for a juxtaposition?<br />
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Pictures can be found <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mynameisbluecanary/sets/72157648785001226/">here</a> if you are so inclined. Thank you all for sticking with me through to this point. I know I have kind of dropped off the face of the earth where this blog is concerned, but I really wanted to share this show of all shows with all of you. Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-21031408804990395082014-10-02T21:55:00.000-04:002014-10-03T19:41:08.323-04:00Happy Birthday Dan!It's Dan Miller's birthday! Let the traditional birthday chanting begin!<br>
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DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN!<br>
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<br>Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-87405654797115101162014-07-10T08:03:00.001-04:002014-07-10T08:03:23.598-04:00Happy Birthday, Marty!Happy birthday to the one and only King of the Drums, Mr. Marty Beller! Thank you for sharing your enormous talent with the world. Hope your birthday totally rocks! High Five!<br />
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</div>Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-71585457019717667862014-05-06T13:29:00.000-04:002014-05-06T13:29:32.022-04:00Happy Birthday Flansy!It's Flansy's birthday! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!<div>
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Happy birthday Flans! Thanks for always being awesome! You totally rock!! </div>
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Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-18013906792288667542014-02-05T17:31:00.000-05:002014-02-05T17:38:15.262-05:00No School Today Gets A Release Date!I haven't posted anything about Danny's upcoming album in a little while, but today I've got an update chock-a-block full of new info including a release date, label, new videos, and another special guest! I'll let this handy press release give you all the details :-) So exciting!!<br />
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<span style="background-color: black; letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: white;"><b>They Might Be Giants Bassist</b> <b>Danny Weinkauf Announces Debut Solo Album <i>No School Today</i> Out April 29th</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: white;">From the Grammy Award winning artist who brought you the songs "I Am A Paleontologist", "Number Two", and "Where Do They Make Balloons?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: white;">Lynbrook, NY (February 5, 2014) - Danny Weinkauf, long time bassist for They Might Be Giants, is thrilled to announce his first solo children's music album, <i>No School Today</i>, to be<i> </i>released on April 29th. The album will be released via Idlewild Recordings And Megaforce Records with distribution by Sony/RED. This is the first album by an artist other than They Might Be Giants, to be released on the band’s own label, Idlewild Recordings.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: white;">Packed with 16 catchy and memorable tunes, <i>No School Today</i> covers topics from marsupials to archaeology, spelling bees, voting rights, the four food groups, and even a song about Ben Folds! The songs on this album are written with both children and their parents in mind — no “cutesy” baby stuff — just intelligent, fun songs that the whole family will enjoy! Danny produced the album and plays all the instruments himself. He has recruited Jeff Thall (Bryan Ferry, John Cale) to mix and Tom Durack (Chic, B52s) to master. Guest performers include Danny’s son Kai, wife Michelle and children’s music superstar Laurie Berkner. The album also features a bonus track, “The Kidney That Lived In Four People,” based on a true story, and written and recorded with Hank Green of the VlogBrothers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: white;">Funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign, <i>No School Today</i>, met its initial goal in only five days and ended the campaign 160% funded, allowing for the production of several music videos to accompany the album. Videos for the songs “Marsupial” (EG Design), “Archaeology” (Yvonne Grzenkowicz), “Ice Cream” (David Cowles), and “Champion of the Spelling Bee” will be released in early spring, in advance of the album. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: white;">A Grammy winning songwriter and producer, Danny Weinkauf has written hundreds of tracks for television, including music for "Malcolm in the Middle,” Sex and the City,” “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” ESPN, CBS Sports, and more. In addition to They Might Be Giants, Danny has recorded with Fountains of Wayne, Candy Butchers, and Lincoln. His song, “I Am A Paleontologist,” from They Might Be Giants Grammy nominated <i>Here Comes Science</i>, has been featured in a national advertising campaign for Payless, and used in museum exhibits all over the world. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: white;">Samples of all the songs on <i>No School Today</i> can be heard on Danny’s website:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.dannyweinkauf.com/"><span style="color: white;">http://www.dannyweinkauf.com</span></a></span></div>
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Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-79420106662180264012014-01-14T16:32:00.000-05:002014-01-14T16:32:26.258-05:00Happy Birthday - I Was On Your Bus<div>
Once again, I have run into a situation where I started writing this recap close to a year ago, immediately after the show, and then never followed through and finished it. There are parts I can still fill in vividly, and others have completely faded. But the story of this show is the kind that really needs to be told, so I couldn't just let it go unheard. I'll note where the break in the recap is, and any ommissions after that point are due to faults in my own memory and the fact that I have seen like forty shows since this one.</div>
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April 3, 2013 - Paradise Rock Club - Boston, MA - Flood Show<br />
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When I first saw that TMBG were playing Boston on my birthday, I knew it would be memorable and a rocking good time. I just didn't know it would be _this_ kind of memorable.<br />
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My friend John and I arrived at the Paradise around 3:00 and were the first people there. There wasn't much going on. We saw Flans walk by and retrieve something from a car. It should also be noted that, due to it being my birthday, I had elected to wear a cheap novelty tiara that I picked up at iParty that said "Happy Birthday" on it. Yes, it was a little ostentatious, but if you can't be a princess of your birthday, then when can you, right? Anyway, Flans walked into the venue with Scott, and, noting my tiara, said "happy birthday" as he passed. Birthday win, thought I! Then a few minutes later, he poked his head back out of the venue and said "I don't know if it's really your birthday..." "It is, I swear!" I said. And he handed me a signed vinyl copy of Nanobots and a poster. I think I remembered to say thank you before he disappeared again. :-)<br />
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Shortly after this, my friend Kathy arrived and joined us on the sidewalk. Dan walked by on his way into the venue, and said hi. So did Curt. Then things started to get weird. This strange guy appeared and started drawing on the sidewalk with blue chalk. It was a little unclear if he was drunk, on drugs, generally disturbed or some combination there of. He drew a big semi circle from one side of the venue to the other and down at the bottom, wrote KARMA. Between his graffiti endeavors, he would sit on the trailer hitch on the back of the tour bus, which was parked in front of the venue, and drink out of a large plastic pitcher. Like the sort you put lemonade in. It looked like he was drinking water, but who knows for sure. Then he'd get up and do some more drawing, eventually decorating the sidewalk in front of the building next door too. Then back to sitting on the trailer hitch. He made all of us nervous enough that John wasn't comfortable leaving us alone to go put some stuff in the car until the dude had wandered away. Of course, no sooner had John gone to the car than Crazy Dude returned.<br />
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After a little more sitting on the trailer hitch, Crazy Dude walked over to where I was sitting with Kathy on the sidewalk and asked if it was my birthday. "Yeah," I said reluctantly. I couldn't exactly say no, since I was wearing the tiara. It was kind of obvious. He asked how old I was turning, which I foolishly told him. "You know what that means?" he asked, excitedly. "32 years ago today, you were born!" I didn't exactly have a response to that. And then he asked why I was going to the concert. "Why not?" I replied, trying to get him to go away. He apparently found this answer very exciting, as he walked away hollering about it and doing a little jump dance. He disappeared once again, but the next time he returned he REALLY made his presence known.<br />
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John returned from the car. The band started soundcheck which we could vaguely hear through the walls. Then I got distracted as some members of one of the bands family exited the club, saying something to the guy at the door about being "spooked by some guy inside." And then the next thing I knew, there was a lot of shouting and Crazy Dude was causing a big commotion over by the bus. Members of club security, Brunette, Scott and Flans were all standing on the sidewalk, as Crazy Dude sat on the trailer hitch, screaming at them. One of the security guys was trying to get the dude to leave and he absolutely refused, yelling about how he had every right to be there, and screaming obscenities. Flans headed back into the venue, where more security folks were coming out the door. "You got a phone?" asked Flans. The guys nodded. "Call the cops." said Flans. While one of the security people spoke to the police on his cell phone, Brunette and the other security guy continued their attempts to get Crazy Dude to leave. He started running laps around the tour bus, hollering the whole time and trying to get the guys to chase him, while a venue employee gave a description of the proceedings to the cops on the phone. Then Crazy Dude ran out in the middle of the sidewalk. He started screaming about how it was my birthday and how he wanted to see "the musicians" (he repeatedly referred to the band in this manner), and something about them signing my album (he apparently thought I had brought the record I was holding with me to be signed, not realizing the band had given it to me already signed). It briefly looked like there was going to be a fight, but Crazy Dude just laid down in the middle of the sidewalk and dared the guys to try to move him. And then, eventually, the dude just wandered away. The cops never did show up (apparently, they went to the wrong address). Crazy Dude came back a while later but turned around before he got to the venue. Security guys remained by the bus for the rest of the evening, making sure the dude didn't return and cause more trouble. The story was recounted multiple times as more members of staff arrived, and we eventually filled the security guys in on what we had seen earlier to kind of fill in the blanks.<br />
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Somewhere in all this, I said something to one of the crew about not having anything to do with the crazy guy screaming about my birthday. I didn't want them to think I was somehow responsible. The response I got was not encouraging. "Oh, he was in here [here being inside the venue]. He made sure _everyone_ knew about your birthday." Oh crap. This was the point at which I really started to panic. I was sure the band, or at least Flans, was going to be pissed and my reputation as the "good fan" was going to be forever spoiled.<br />
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After they finished sound check, various members of the band and crew made trips to and from the bus. Marty walked over to me carrying a small keyboard, and started talking to me about a picture of mine I had let him use. No mention of the incident with the crazy guy. But then as he went to walk away, he looked at my tiara and started to ask if we were celebrating someone's birthday, and then stopped himself, with a look of realization. "Oh it's _your_ birthday. Happy Birthday," he said as he walked away.<br />
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Danny walked by shortly after, and also wished me a happy birthday. And then we spent the last 45 minutes or so before we got to go in, listening to members of security regale each other with the story of Crazy Dude, and freezing our butts off since the sun had gone down. Doors were late because Moon Hooch was still sound checking. Seems Crazy Dude had delayed things by a good twenty minutes.<br />
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Inside, we took up a position on the left side of the stage, and were joined by our friend Stacy and one of her friends. Crazy Dude story was related once again. Nothing like a good story to pass the time. Moon Hooch came on and did their typically rocking set. We had a brief but heated dispute with some girl in the crowd who insisted on putting her empty drink on the stage in front of us. I mention this only as context for why, by this point I was fairly paranoid and stressed out.<br />
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TMBG setlist: Hey Mr. DJ - Theme from Flood - Damn Good Times - Lost My Mind - Drink - Call You Mom - Nanobots - Doctor Worm - Twisting - Letterbox - Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love - Women and Men - Lucky Ball and Chain - Whistling In The Dark - Hot Cha - Hearing Aid - Minimum Wage - He's Loco - Particle Man - We Want A Rock - Someone Keeps Moving My Chair - They Might Be Giants - Dead - Your Racist Friend - Birdhouse in Your Soul Encore - Road Movie To Berlin - Istanbul Encore 2 - Tesla - When Will You Die - Mr. Me<br />
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Can we talk about how awesome Hey, Mr. DJ is with the horns? Cause it REALLY rocks. Totally explosive start to a show. Sooooo good. <br />
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There was a young girl in the front row who leaned across the stage to touch Linnell's leg under the keyboard. He gave her a "don't do that" look. Flans called her out on it and told her not to touch the band. "There are so many potentially career ending things I could say right now," he quipped. Flans then explained that they would be performing Flood, but that they would not be playing it in order and there would be commercial interruptions and pledge breaks. He said they had a new tote bag that they would be offering during the pledge breaks. And he joked about how, when they did their first Flood show, they realized that if they only played a 42 minute set, the audience would feel ripped off, so they had decided to supplement the set. They also mentioned their new album and said they would be playing some songs from that, but that the next one wasn't one of them.<br />
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Flans joked about not having his note ready for Theme from Flood and Linnell gave it to him again. And then away they went. Except they played right into Damn Good Times afterward instead of Birdhouse, which just sounds odd. <br />
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Before one of the new songs, I think it was Lost My Mind, but it could have been Call You Mom, Flans called over to me. "Hey, birthday lady, er, birthday girl. Hope you aren't offended that I called you lady." I wasn't, but I was nervous to the point where I was sure that Flans was about to ask me to remove the tiara because it was distracting him or something. "Do you have that album I gave you?" Flans then explained to the crowd that it was my birthday and they had given me a copy of their new album. Meanwhile, I was digging around for where I had tucked it under that stage. I briefly panicked when I couldn't lay my hands on it immediately, but I pulled it out and held it up, for the crowd to see, while Flans discussed the vinyl. He said they had gone to a new company in the Czech Republic to have this one manufactured and they were really impressed with the vinyl itself. He said the actual vinyl was as impressive as the packaging. He made a joke about how there were lots of people who were audio-philes but there weren't many Czech-ophiles. Then someone else held up their vinyl, while "wooing" and Flans declared that person to be a Czech-ophile. I had a brief internal debate with myself about how long I needed to hold up my own vinyl, but was relieved after this episode, that Flans did not seem to hold any ill will towards me.<br />
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I love watching Marty do Lost My Mind, cause he does this thing where he whips out both his hands to stop the cymbals on either side of him, during the chorus. Its so rhythmic, and it looks so cool. Actually, I picked the left side of the stage tonight, mostly so I could watch Marty, because there are so many of the Flood songs that are fun to watch him play. Sapphire Bullets, Road Movie, Hot Cha. I honestly don't think I will ever get tired of watching that man play. <br />
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Flans gave us chanting instructions for Drink! and told us we needed to chant in waltz time. A number of jokes were made about this. I think we did pretty well as a crowd. Good chanting, team!<br />
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Another rousing performance of Call You Mom, once again with horns. God damn, that song plays well live. <br />
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Flans once again did his Robot Flansburgh routine before Nanobots.<br />
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Flans: "Things are about to change."</div>
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Linnell: "Things have already changed."</div>
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Flans: "Things are really about to change."</div>
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Linnell: "I'm scared, man."</div>
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Flans: "You should be scared."</div>
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Linnell: "I've got a question Robot John Flansburgh."</div>
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Flans: "Yeah, what's your question?"</div>
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Linnell: "How did you become Pope Robot The First."</div>
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Flans: "It's a complicated story."</div>
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Linnell: "We got time."</div>
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Flans: "You see, there was a conclave. </div>
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Linnell: "Go on."</div>
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Flans: "There was a conclave. The band and the crew met in the back lounge of the tour bus, just three weeks ago. There was a small box. And members of the conclave decided who would represent them. White smoke poured out of the back lounge windows and it was determinded that I, Pope Robot Flansburgh The First would take over for the dearly departed Pope Robot Zero."</div>
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Linnell: "That is a hell of a story."</div>
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Flans: "We will miss him. He only spoke in modem. *modem noises*"</div>
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Linnell: "We're gonna miss that guy."</div>
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Flans: "No one speaks in modem anymore, but it was a beautiful sound. Only sometimes when somebody puts an iPhone near a machine, I remember Pope Robot Zero. No more modems."<br />
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Side note: This is the point where I stopped writing the recap originally, so much of what happened after this is completely gone or very hazy.<br />
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At some point in the middle of the show, the Johns told a story about being at the Paradise at as show as teenagers. They were talking about some guy in the crowd at that show who kept shouting something at the band on stage (I seem to recall that the guy may have been shirtless in the story too). They clearly both remembered this incident some 30 years later, but unfortunately, I can't even remember what it was the guy was shouting. Which is a shame because it was funny and became somewhat of a running joke for the rest of the show. But I've asked every single person I knew who was there and not one of us remembers. Regardless, it was a funny and nostalgic tale about the longevity of the Paradise.<br />
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One of my favorite visual moments of the show was provided by the horn players. Tucked off in the far corner of the stage, it wasn't convenient for them to come and go from the stage for every song they didn't play on, so at one point all three of them just sat down on the floor cross legged behind their music stands and were just hanging out watching the show. Gotta say, that has got to be a pretty great life!<br />
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If I am not mistaken, this was the Flood show where Marty missed on one of the beats of Sapphire Bullets while he was doing that cool spotting trick that he does. And from this point on in the tour, he changed how he played it and used the electronic drum pad instead. It's a shame because I loved watching him do it the other way, but maybe the risk of missing was too high. Or perhaps it was just time for a change.<br />
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The Avatars did most of their bit pretending that they were reading from a prepared statement. And they lamented that they spend most of their time in a suitcase. Blue accused Green of smoking menthols. Green shot back that the schedule said it was a day off. Blue replied that the schedule said Days Inn. And then he made a joke about the car not going to the Courtyard, which he claimed was a "thinker." And then they did their bit about collaborating with Axl Rose on the next song, before doing He's Loco.<br />
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I'm going to make a completely fangirly comment here too and point out that for this, my birthday show, not only was it a red pants day, but Linnell was also wearing my favorite shirt, making this a practically perfect visual experience.<br />
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Somewhere is the middle of the Flood portion of the show, Flans paused to tell a story. It went something like this (I'm paraphrasing a little but this is pretty close). "So earlier today we're on stage doing soundcheck and this guy comes in and starts talking to us. And we just thought he was one of the local crew, you know. He starts saying how there's this girl outside who is celebrating her birthday and we may want to sell stuff but today should be all about her, and by the way, I've been on your bus for an hour! And that was the point at which we realized we needed to call the cops." Flans then made some remarks about how crazy this guy was, and then turned to me and was like, "You saw him right? He was nuts!" And I confirmed that, yes, the guy was really crazy.<br />
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So that's the other half of the story that I didn't witness. Apparently the guy busted into soundcheck, started yelling at the band about my birthday and then declared that he had been on the bus. They didn't realize that he had only been sitting on the trailer hitch and thought he had actually been inside their bus, which was why Flans and Scott had gone outside when security pitched Crazy Dude out of the venue. Since there wasn't actually any real harm done, the whole thing just became a pretty funny story and the line "I've been on your bus for an hour" became a running joke for the rest of the show. So much so that it popped up again during the Avatar segment in Philadelphia two days later.<br />
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Apparently, though, after all the joking about the absurdity of the incident, Flans did want to make sure there were no hard feelings. Because when they came back on stage for one of the encores, he made a point of leaning around Linnell's back to address me and said "And we did want to wish you a happy birthday." I said thank you. It was both thrilling and a bit embarrassing to have so much attention focused on me during a show. But boy it was a birthday I won't forget for a while!<br />
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I don't remember much of the specifics of the back half of the show, but I do remember thinking it was a particularly good one. The horns always add a little extra something and as many times as I have seen them play Flood, it's always fun because there are songs they play at a Flood show that they don't play otherwise.<br />
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After the show, Brunette handed me the setlist, and then both he and Victor were standing there pointing at it and indicating that I needed to look at it. It took me a minute to figure out what they were talking about, until I finally looked down at the setlist to see that, written across the top of the setlist it said "Happy Birthday - I Was On Your Bus." I laughed pretty hard at that. The incident forever immortalized in setlist form.<br />
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I hung around for a little bit because I wanted to have Marty sign my vinyl, while he was out signing things. He had had Brunette bring him his drum head to doodle on, and I was standing off to the side waiting for him to finish. I assumed he was fixing up the drum head for the girl that was standing in front of him, but when he was satisfied with his work, he looked up and held it out to me. I've never actually gotten one of the drum heads before and I'm sure Marty knew it. He keeps pretty good track of who he has given them to and who he hasn't. And this one, he clearly intended to be mine, because instead of just the usual caricature of himself and his signature imbedded in the middle of TMBG, that he usually writes on them, he inscribed this one for me. It has the date written on it, and then below he wrote "The best fan of the best fans." I was so touched, I didn't even know what to say besides "thank you." And he graciously signed my vinyl as well. I walked out of the club in such a daze I actually lost the people I was with.<br />
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It was, without a doubt, one of the most bizarre, incredible, memorable days of my life and probably the most interesting birthday I have ever had. I have a feeling I will be hard pressed to ever top it.<br />
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Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-4537106610010833892014-01-06T23:56:00.000-05:002014-01-06T23:56:11.027-05:00Flood by S. Alexander Reed and Philip SandlerHello TMBG friends!<br />
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Many of you have probably seen by now that a couple of fine fellows have written a book about our favorite band's Flood album for the 33 1/3 series. If you aren't familiar with the series, each volume is about a different musical album. Each book is unique, written by a different author, and takes a slightly different approach to talking about its album. Some are historical narratives about the creation of an album. Some are analyses on the cultural significance of the particular album. Some are very personal stories about the impact of the album on the author. And, what I have always found to be most interesting, the books are a result of an open call for submissions from the publisher, so literally anyone can be chosen to write one if they have an interesting enough story to tell about their chosen album.<br />
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I'm not sure if it is true, but it has seemed like at least one book about a TMBG album has been proposed for the series every year, at least since I have been paying attention. But this is the first time one of those submissions has been selected for publication. And I have been looking forward to reading it since it was first announced. The authors were kind enough to have the publisher send me a copy for review when it was released in November, but my "real" job kept me too busy through December to have any time to read it until now.<br />
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I am sorry to report, but I was a bit disappointed in the book. It was written much more academically than I was expecting, with its central idea being to relate the concept of "flooding" to the album across several different themes. However, I found the flooding idea to be a bit forced, and found by the end that I could no longer remember what exactly their concept of flooding had been and thus why it was supposed to be relevant in themes like childhood, geek culture, technology, etc.<br />
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I think, upon reflection, that the book wasn't really written for fans like me. The band has spoken in interviews about the challenge of arranging a concert that satisfies both the "front row" like myself who want to be surprised and hear the rare and unusual tracks, while also playing all the hits for the people in the middle of the room who came to hear Birdhouse and Istanbul. And I think this book was written for the middle of the room. While it certainly assumed a familiarity with and appreciation for TMBG's music, much of the history presented, both of the band and the making of Flood, was information I learned from the documentary Gigantic years ago, and indeed, several of the narratives relayed are almost word for word from the interviews in that film. Despite the fact that the authors had an interview with the Johns for the book, I felt like I learned disappointingly little about the making of Flood that I didn't already know. This is, admittedly, something that might not be the case for more casual fans of the band reading the book. Not only have I seen the movie, I've read most of the interviews quoted in the book along with a hundred others, so I may actually be too well informed.<br />
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Much of the book is not focused on the history at all, but on exploring the themes of Flood and how the album fits into the larger world of geek culture. While much of this analysis was well written and well thought out, I couldn't help but feel they were missing the point. One of the things I love most about They Might Be Giants is that they defy classification. They do no not fit into any one genre or mold and it is possible to interpret their music in any of a hundred different ways to suit a hundred different listeners. And while I fully agree that there is a definite affinity between the band's music and geek culture, I don't feel the authors managed to satisfactorily explain exactly why that affinity exists and what it is about Flood in particular that is so appealing to people of a geeky sensibility. The closest they came, for me anyway, was in discussing the album as post-cool, shunning the accepted "popular" themes and embracing the outskirts.<br />
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Actually what struck me as most disappointing about the book, and this is apparently something unique to me as it is exactly the thing that one of the reviewers on Amazon said they liked about it, is that I never had that feeling while reading it of "yes, THIS is why I love this band." There was a brief moment of it, in the epilogue, while describing attending a TMBG concert and the camaraderie that one experiences with the rest of the audience over shared love of the music. But I think, maybe, that just proves that They Might Be Giants mean different things to different people. That it is very possible, and even likely, that another fan might sit down with this book and feel that it exactly captured their feelings on Flood and the band as a whole. And I'm pretty okay with that. I don't need to appreciate the same things about Flood as the authors do, and I don't expect to appreciate the same things as every other fan. In fact, I expect not to.<br />
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In short, while the book was not my cup of tea, and was not exactly what I was hoping for when I sat down with it, I wouldn't let that discourage other fans from picking it up. You might find that you identify with it more strongly than I, and it is certainly an interesting and well written analysis. And perhaps most importantly, it's existence demonstrates an acknowledgement that They Might Be Giants, and Flood in particular, hold an important cultural significance in the music world that is oh so rarely appreciated. And for that reason, I am extremely grateful that it exists.<br />
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You can pick up a copy from B&N here:<br />
<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/they-might-be-giants-flood-s-alexander-reed/1114060361?ean=9781623569150">http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/they-might-be-giants-flood-s-alexander-reed/1114060361?ean=9781623569150</a><br />
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Or Amazon here:<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/They-Might-Be-Giants-Flood/dp/162356915X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389070063&sr=1-1&keywords=flood+by+alexander+reed">http://www.amazon.com/They-Might-Be-Giants-Flood/dp/162356915X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389070063</a>Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-46103849090060780932013-12-30T16:22:00.001-05:002013-12-30T16:22:20.670-05:00A Year On The Road With TMBGThey Might Be Giants played exactly 100 shows in 2013, more than they've played in any single year since the Mink Car tour in 2001. Prior to this year, my own record for show attendance was 32 shows in a year, in 2009 (largely thanks to a number of "double feature" days with a family show in the afternoon and a rock show in the evening). But this year I blew that record out of the water attending 52, or just slightly more than half the shows they played.<br />
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To put this in perspective, I saw shows in 45 cities, 26 states (plus DC), 3 countries, and traveled a somewhat staggering 25,432 miles following the band between February 27 and November 21. Counting travel days, I spent slightly over two months following these guys around.<br />
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I think Dan Miller put it best. He told me, at my last show, that I had been on a year long scavenger hunt, locating the band in cities around the globe. And it definitely felt like that some days, wandering around unfamiliar cities, looking for venues, parking, doors, lines, etc, etc.<br />
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And a particularly amusing fact for me, I actually attended as many or more shows than at least four members of the band's regular crew this year. And I'm not even on the payroll!<br />
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I'm sure many of you noticed that I stopped posting recaps after the March tour ended. There were a number of factors influencing this, but the biggest one was, simply, time. Traveling alone, usually driving, and seeing shows back to back to back, left little to no time in between to write recaps and the more shows I saw, the less I remembered the ones back at the beginning of the tour. I actually got about half way through the recap for the first show in Boston (which was where my recaps left off), but never finished it because I've never been able to recall the punch line to a very amusing story that was told on stage and I always felt the recap was incomplete without it.<br />
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So, by way of making up for the lack of recaps, please enjoy this "year in review", recalling the highlights of 2013, on the road with TMBG.<br />
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February 27, 2013 - Port City Music Hall - Portland, ME<br />
The tour begins in disgusting sleety weather, in my home state. Linnell appears on stage in snow boots. The band kicks off the tour with the live premiere of You're On Fire. And spontaneously plays a cover of the Rockford Files Theme halfway through the show.<br />
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March 14, 2013 - The Blue Note - Columbia, MO<br />
I am re-introduced to Moon Hooch, who begin their set with 20 minutes of meditation on stage. And I have the pleasure of hearing the Columbia venue song live, even if Linnell did mess up the lyrics.<br />
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March 16, 2013 - The Vic - Chicago, IL<br />
John Linnell performs a keyboard solo using only his head. The results are....interesting.<br />
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March 17, 2013 - Beachland Ballroom - Cleveland, OH<br />
Dan sports a "My Other Truck Is They Might Be Giants" hat on stage, while Marty realizes the full potential of the Marty Cam and strikes the first and, without a doubt, the most terrifying of many triumphant/threatening poses for the camera at the end of his solo.<br />
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March 22, 2013 - The Paramount - Huntington, NY<br />
The final show of the first leg of the tour coincides both with a Sweet Sixteen party at the venue and the final Song of the Day post on my blog. Needless to say, this performance of Birdhouse (the final song of the day), was rather emotional for me.<br />
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April 3, 2013 - Paradise Rock Club - Boston, MA<br />
My 32nd birthday turns out to be my most memorable when a legit crazy man breaks into the band's soundcheck and starts yelling at the band about my birthday, among other topics. After a truly bizarre sidewalk screaming match between the guy and security, this incident eventually leads to my birthday being mentioned on stage three times over the course of the show. The line "I've been on your bus for an hour!" is entered into our official fandom lexicon and I walk away with, hands down, the most insane story I've collected in all of my 161 shows.<br />
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April 5, 2013 - World Cafe Live - Philadelphia, PA<br />
One of the most unique shows I have ever seen. The band appears on stage for a short live radio set looking like they just rolled out of bed and found themselves on stage. Marty plays a drum kit constructed out of an upside-down recycling bin and various equipments cases, and just for radio, we participate in a Battle of Passengers vs Drivers.<br />
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April 7, 2013 - The National - Richmond, VA<br />
Unexpected pre-show band member encounter leads to me being introduced to band family members as "one of our primary photographers." While outwardly I think I turned several shades of pink, inwardly, I was beaming with pride :-)<br />
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April 9, 2013 - Jefferson Theatre - Charlottesville, VA<br />
CREPES!!!<br />
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April 10, 2013 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC<br />
Still haunted by the terrifying image of Gitmo Elmo in the junk shop across the street. *shudder* After weeks of watching others do the honors, I am afforded the honor of playing Flans' guitar for the Famous Polka solo. Plus the "zipper incident" (if you know, you know).<br />
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April 11, 2013 - Music Farm - Charleston, SC<br />
My first show in South Carolina! Best tour cupcakes of the whole year. And for being first in line, Susan and I are presented with chairs, bottled water and our very own potted plant to keep us company. Plus, Charleston venue song!<br />
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April 13, 2013 - Variety Playhouse - Atlanta, GA<br />
There is a story from this day that I've sworn not to tell, but suffice it to say, it was memorable. Very memorable.<br />
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April 16, 2013 - Academy Records Annex - Brooklyn, NY<br />
Fourth official signing with the Johns, following a neat little in-store performance that I couldn't see at all from where I was standing.<br />
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May 30, 2013 - The Vogue - Indianapolis, IN<br />
Fresh off the Australian tour, the boys are back to conquer the remainder of the good old US of A.<br />
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May 31, 2013 - Turner Hall - Milwaukee, WI<br />
Hilarious soundcheck version of 9 Secret Steps precedes show plagued by tech issues, on a comically slanted stage.<br />
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June 2, 2013 - Englert Theatre - Iowa City, IA<br />
This show should get some sort of prize for prettiest lighting of the tour.<br />
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June 5, 2013 - Slowdown - Omaha, NE<br />
First visit to exciting Nebraska! Live goal achieved - hug from Dan Miller :-)<br />
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June 6, 2013 - Crossroads - Kansas City, MO<br />
Beautiful outdoor show. Live premiere of Icky (sans melodica)! Duo Istanbul!<br />
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August 10, 2013 - Prospect Park - Brooklyn, NY<br />
And another beautiful outdoor show, this time with horns! Highlights include Dan's interpretive dance during soundcheck and Flans sneaking up on Dan, on all fours (the image of that just made me crack up while writing this).<br />
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September 7, 2013 - Penn's Landing - Philadelphia, PA<br />
Combining two of my favorite things. TMBG and tugboats!<br />
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October 11, 2013 - World Cafe Live at The Queen - Wilmington, DE<br />
They Day! Never have so many foreheads been decorated in one place! Plus, the band actually managed to surprise me by unexpectedly pulling out Rhythm Section Want Ad before the Pink Shows. Pretty sure I watched the entire song wearing a stupid grin.<br />
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October 12, 2013 - 9:30 Club - Washington, DC<br />
The legend of the boa is born. Also, the delightful experience of the DJ Flans dance party complete with glowsticks, a contortionist, and a dancing ice cream sandwich lady.<br />
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October 13, 2013 - Ziggy's - Winston-Salem, NC<br />
More beautiful lighting. What is it about these specific venues that transform the same lighting set up it something so gosh darn pretty?<br />
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October 25, 2013 - Marquee Theatre - Tempe, AZ<br />
If any show was a Pink Show preview it was this one. Quite possibly the coolest setlist of the tour (outside of the Pink Shows themselves). And some truly hilarious/adorable antics from some guys named Dan.<br />
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October 26, 2013 - Royce Hall - Los Angeles, CA<br />
CONFETTI! Marty dancing, Danny singing, construction hats, and that was just the first show! Did I mention the full performance of the Pink Album in the evening? Songs I pretty much never thought I'd get to see live. Spectacular doesn't even begin to cover it. Only slightly marred by Danny scaring the crap out of me (and himself) by nearly taking a header off the front of the stage.<br />
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October 27, 2013 - Rio Theatre - Santa Cruz, CA<br />
Stop the presses. Linnell said hi to me. Voluntarily. Year=made. Extremely nice venue staff let me wait for this show inside once it got cold too, making this one of my favorite pre-show experiences of the year.<br />
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November 1, 2013 - Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun - Uncasville, CT<br />
Awwwwoooooooooo! Let's be honest, the pre-show cocktails made this show pretty entertaining, even if I was watching it from under the keyboard. The ridiculously enormous post-show pancake didn't hurt either :-)<br />
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November 2, 2013 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY<br />
Pink Album show in NYC. A thousand TMBG fans singing along with The Day will forever remain a live show highlight. And I walked away with the gift of a thoroughly soaked setlist, because who else would appreciate such a weird gift?<br />
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November 15, 2013 - The Queen's Hall - Edinburgh, UK<br />
Surprise! This fangirl is international! My plan to surprise the band didn't go exactly as expected but I sure surprised Brunette!<br />
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November 18, 2013 - Vicar St - Dublin, Ireland<br />
This show makes it onto my all time top ten. Killer jokes, hilarious banter, high energy, and an Irish crowd that was starved for some TMBG. So. Much. FUN!<br />
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November 19, 2013 - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire - London, UK<br />
I've got a lot of pretty cool souvenirs from my years on tour, but nothing quite as special as the guitar pick I was gifted at this show. Still stunned.<br />
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November 20, 2013 - Manchester Academy 2 - Manchester, UK<br />
End of the tour. Happy day and sad day at the same time. But for the first time ever, I actually got to say goodbye to all three of the boys when I left, giving a valuable sense of closure to a year unlike any other.<br />
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One of the best things about traveling the country/the world to see the band, is all the wonderful and interesting people I get to meet along the way. And this year I got to spend a lot of time with friends I already love, and make a lot of new friends in places near and far. Thanks to all of you for helping to make the year so fun. I hope to see all of you again in 2015!Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-21223208361225779672013-12-04T11:56:00.000-05:002013-12-04T11:56:59.603-05:00Happy Birthday, Danny!Every year, I write up a post for each member of the band's birthday, in which I wax lyrical about how awesome I think they are, and share a whole bunch of pictures of them from the last year. Well, this year, for Danny's birthday, I'm going to do something a bit different.<div>
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You are all, hopefully, aware by now, that Danny has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund his new solo kids' album, No School Today. Thanks to 349 generous backers, the campaign has already been funded with 40 days still to go. But he's still about $3,500 away from his stretch goal, which will allow more music videos to be made to accompany the album. And every extra dollar makes a big difference in getting the album out into the world.</div>
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So, possibly for the first time, we have an opportunity to give a member of the band a real, tangible and very meaningful birthday present, by backing his album. If you haven't backed already, tell Danny "happy birthday" by doing so right now. Any amount helps. $10 will get you a download of the album. $25 will get you a CD. For $80 he'll make you a video teaching you how to play any of his songs. $100 will get you an Executive Producer credit. For $10,000 you can even have his car! Even, if you don't have kids, back the album to support Danny, and great music.</div>
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And if you have already backed the album, kick in an extra $10 today, as a special happy birthday wish. And then, please, share the campaign with your friends. I don't think I have enough clout to get him all the way to his stretch goal today, but I am sure as heck going to try and I need help from every one of you.</div>
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And for my part, I am making two promises. First, to any fan who backs at $10 or more or adds $10 to their pledge, I will offer a PDF of my TMBG calendar I put together every year. It has previously only been a Christmas present I make for my band friends, but I am offering it up as an incentive for TMBG fans who back the campaign. Just show me you've backed, send me your email and I'll send you the PDF near the end of the month, when I finish assembling the calendar.</div>
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And second, I will, personally, kick in an extra dollar for every person who backs today at any level. Whether there are ten of you or 100. </div>
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I can honestly say that Danny is one of my very favorite people. A tremendous musician, and just the nicest guy you are ever likely to meet. He has been nothing but kind and supportive of me over the years, and it means a great deal to me to be able to give back in such a real and positive way by helping get his album out to the world. I sincerely hope you will all join me in saying, "Happy Birthday, Danny. We are behind you 100% and can't wait to see the results of your new endeavor!"</div>
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Now go, Red Pants Team, go!</div>
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This link to the Kickstarter campaign: <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/242408143/danny-weinkauf-bassist-for-tmbg-new-kids-music-lp">http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/242408143/danny-weinkauf-bassist-for-tmbg-new-kids-music-lp</a></div>
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I also made this video to celebrate Danny's birthday and his quest to reach new heights :-)</div>
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Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-36603041408388509702013-11-13T23:55:00.002-05:002013-11-13T23:55:43.257-05:00Introducing Danny Weinkauf Dot Com!Check it out! Danny has just launched a new website at <a href="http://www.dannyweinkauf.com/">www.dannyweinkauf.com</a>! You can listen to samples of all the songs on his upcoming kids album, No School Today, and get a sneak peak of what's in store! There will also be a new video for the song, Marsupials, coming soon! And did I mention this adorable adorable cover art?<br />
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Is it just me or does that red-pants-wearing, blue-guitar-pick-wielding, too-cool-for-school kangaroo look like a certain bass player we all know? ;-)Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-79269571818684234592013-11-11T00:49:00.000-05:002013-11-11T00:49:30.814-05:00No School TodayA funny think happened recently. I was talking to a friend about the backing band and commenting about how I would gladly pay to see any one of them play a show on their own. And then later that same day, Danny announced that he was going to be releasing his own solo album of children's music! The coincidence was a little spooky but the announcement was most welcome.<br />
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Now, I am a HUGE fan of Danny's music. Two of his three songs with TMBG are in my Top 25. So I am beyond excited about the new album. It is called No School Today, and in the very near future, he will be launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund it. Kickstarter is all about the power of the people and Danny will be counting on us, the fans, to make both the funding campaign and the album itself a success. Kickstarter also means that in addition to getting copies of the album, there are bound to be some other fun backer rewards that we can throw our money at!<br />
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In my own small way, I'm going to be doing as much as I can to make this project go, so expect to see future posts with all the details of the Kickstarter, and any other updates that come along. Danny needs a street team and by gosh, I am going to be one! It is the very least I can do. Honestly, I wish I could do more.<br />
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So, watch this space for more details and start saving your pennies for cool Kickstarter rewards. And if you know any kids or parents of kids, or people who are acquainted with kids, or people that just like fun, family friendly tunes, please tell them about the album! We can make this happen, people!Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-25384095241826928492013-11-08T16:40:00.001-05:002013-11-08T16:57:22.098-05:00Song of the Day - Day 858The band has released a new song! You know what that means?!!!<br />
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For one day only, Song of the Day is BACK!!</div>
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Today's song is...</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">100 Cars For Good</span></div>
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Okay, so it's an ad and as presented in this video, it is pretty repetitive. But the animation is really cute and the tune is surprisingly catchy. It's not gonna make any Top 25 lists, but hey, NEW SONG, right?! Woot!</div>
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Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-81729648470680748582013-10-03T11:34:00.000-04:002013-10-03T11:34:03.063-04:00Happy Birthday, Dan!Ready yourself for the traditional chant, cause it's Dan Miller's birthday, and you know what that means!<br />
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Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan!</div>
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A couple of weeks ago in Hartford, I approached Dan to ask him to sign my copy of Nanobots. I'd been carrying it around with me, on and off, for months, but every time I had run into him, I had either not had it with me or the moment just wasn't right. But this time it worked out. I asked and he said sure. The conversation went something like this. "You're missing," I explained, meaning his signature. "Am I the only one?" he asked. "Yeah," I said. "You're hard to find." "I'm not hard to find! I'm always around," he said. "Yeah, I just hate bugging you guys," I replied. "You're not bugging me. I just don't do the front of the stage thing. I wish I was like Marty and Danny, and I could do that, but I can't. It's just not me." "I totally understand that," I said.</div>
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And the thing is, I do. That just isn't Dan. And I would never expect it of him. </div>
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Several months ago, I was talking to a friend, and mentioned how much I appreciate the guys in the backing band. I believe my exact words were "As much as I love the Johns, and they drive the show, my heart really belongs to those three guys at the back of the stage." And the response I got made me a little sad. "I knew you were gaga for Danny and Marty, but I didn't realize you felt that way about Dan." </div>
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Upon reflection, it is true that I am more vocal about my affection for Danny and Marty. But it is not true that I don't feel the same way about Dan. In the very same way that you won't find Dan signing autographs for fans at the front of the stage, because it just doesn't come naturally to him, I don't tend to publicly gush about my fondess for him, as much as I do the other boys. Instead it is a quieter affection and respect, held more tightly in. But look a little closer and those feelings are dug deep. A picture of Dan is the background wallpaper on my phone. I carry one of his guitar picks in the pocket of each of my band hoodies. At the first show of every tour, nearly without excepetion, I pick the spot in front of Dan by the stage. And one of the absolute highlights of this year, which has already included 36 shows and enough memorable events to write a book, was the hug I got from Dan on the sidewalk in Omaha. Dan is every bit as important to me as the other boys, and I would never want anyone to believe otherwise, especially him.</div>
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If Marty is the heart of the band, then Dan is the soul. The vibrancy and life in his playing, as well as the awesome power house of his talent are wrapped into every piece of music the band produces. He is a giant among Giants and just plain one of the nicest people you will ever meet. And I am ridiculously fond of him.</div>
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So please join me in wishing Dan, a very happy birthday filled with family and friends and love and laughter. Lots and lots of laughter, because no one laughs with as much sheer joy as Dan. You're the best of the best, Dan. Rock on!</div>
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Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-80669989217743743302013-08-13T12:35:00.000-04:002013-08-13T12:35:41.762-04:00StatisticsWith a day off after the most recent shows, I spent some time updating the spreadsheet I keep of TMBG songs I have seen live. I hadn't updated it at all this year, so it needed some major revision. I must admit, I am somewhat fascinated by the statistics it reveals about songs I've seen most or least often. I can track which albums have been best represented in my live experience and which the least. Things like the rarest songs I've seen and the most common. And often, the results are pretty surprising (though occasionally not surprising at all). So I thought I would share some of the statistics I find most interesting.<br />
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<b>Total Number of Songs Heard Live: </b>201<br />
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<b>25 Most Frequently Heard Songs</b><br />
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1. Istanbul - 133<br />
2. Birdhouse In Your Soul - 114<br />
3. Doctor Worm - 109<br />
4. The Mesopotamians - 101<br />
5. Damn Good Times - 94<br />
6. Clap Your Hands - 90<br />
7. The Guitar - 77<br />
8. Alphabet Of Nations - 74<br />
9. Ana Ng - 70<br />
10. Cloisonné - 68<br />
11. New York City - 67<br />
12. Particle Man - 66<br />
13. When Will You Die - 66<br />
14. Fingertips - 57<br />
15. Drink! - 56<br />
16. Withered Hope - 56<br />
17. Can't Keep Johnny Down - 50<br />
18. James K. Polk - 50<br />
19. Why Does The Sun Shine? - 50<br />
20. Battle For The Planet Of The Apes - 49<br />
21. Dead - 49<br />
22. We Live In A Dump - 48<br />
23. Whistling In The Dark - 46<br />
24. Celebration - 45<br />
25. The Famous Polka - 44<br />
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<b>26 Songs Only Heard Once</b><br />
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Auld Lang Syne<br />
Charleston<br />
Columbia<br />
Contrecoup<br />
Everything Is Catching On Fire<br />
Hall Of Heads<br />
Horse With No Name<br />
I Can Hear You<br />
Live Free Or Die<br />
Metal Detector<br />
Mink Car<br />
Minneapolis<br />
Phone Calls From The Dead<br />
Raleigh<br />
Reptiles Eat With The Bones We Hear With<br />
Spine<br />
Spiraling Shape<br />
The Bells Are Ringings<br />
The Cap'm<br />
The Shadow Government<br />
Till My Head Falls Off<br />
To All The Girls I've Loved Before<br />
Token Back To Brooklyn<br />
Towson<br />
Tubthumping<br />
Violin<br />
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<b>Albums By Songs Heard Live</b><br />
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Flood - 19 of 19<br />
Apollo 18 - 38 of 38<br />
The Else - 11 of 13 (1 remaining has been performed)<br />
Factory Showroom - 11 of 13 (both remaining have been performed)<br />
Lincoln - 15 of 18 (all remaining have been performed)<br />
No! - 12 of 17 (none of the remaining have been performed)<br />
The Spine - 9 of 16 (4 of the remaining have been performed)<br />
Join Us - 11 of 18 (none of the remaining have been performed)<br />
Here Comes Science - 10 of 19 (none of the remaining have been performed)<br />
Mink Car - 5 of 17 (10 of the remaining have been performed)<br />
Long Tall Weekend - 3 of 15 (9 of the remaining have been performed)<br />
John Henry - 6 of 20 (all of the remaining have been performed)<br />
They Might Be Giants - 5 of 19 (all of the remaining have been performed)<br />
Here Comes the 123s - 9 of 24 (none of the remaining have been performed)<br />
Nanobots - 9 of 25 (1 of the remaining has been performed)<br />
Here Comes the ABCs - 3 of 23 (4 of the remaining have been performed)<br />
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For the record that puts John Henry, Mink Car and Long Tall Weekend at the top of the list of albums with songs that have been performed that I haven't seen. I'm not currently counting the Pink Album since I'm gonna see that whole thing twice in just a few months :-)<br />
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(There is no recorded setlist for my very first show, but, based on other songs being performed at similar shows at the time, there are two other songs from ABCs that I may have seen but can't confirm.)<br />
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<b>Venue Songs Heard Live</b><br />
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Asbury Park - 15 (3 times in original venue)<br />
Los Angeles - 11<br />
Albany - 4 (2 times in original venue)<br />
Pittsburgh - 4 (2 times in original venue)<br />
Asheville - 3 (all in original venue)<br />
Atlanta - 3 (all in original venue)<br />
Brooklyn - 3 (1 in original venue)<br />
Charlottesville - 3<br />
Dallas - 3<br />
Anaheim - 2<br />
Glasgow - 2<br />
Philadelphia - 2 (all in original venue)<br />
Vancouver - 2<br />
Charleston - 1 (original venue)<br />
Columbia - 1 (original venue)<br />
Minneapolis - 1 (original venue)<br />
Raleigh - 1 (original venue)<br />
Towson - 1 (original venue)<br />
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<b>Rarest Songs Heard</b><br />
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Reptiles Eat With The Bones We Hear With (only performance)<br />
Tubthumping (only performance)<br />
Token Back to Brooklyn (only performance)<br />
The Bells Are Ringing (1 of 2 performances)<br />
Live Free Or Die (1 of 3 performances)<br />
How Many Planets? (3 of 3 performances)<br />
Black Ops (3 of 3 performances)<br />
Three Might Be Duende (3 of 4 performances)<br />
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<b>Songs Heard At Soundcheck But Not Performed</b><br />
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You Don't Like Me<br />
9 Secret Steps<br />
Wearing A Raincoat<br />
Destination Moon<br />
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<b>Songs Performed Most Often That I Have Never Seen</b><br />
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Man, It's So Loud In Here - 164 times<br />
Sleeping in the Flowers - 144 times<br />
Exquisite Dead Guy - 139 times<br />
AKA Driver - 89 times<br />
Counterfeit Faker - 77 times<br />
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<b>Songs On The Dial-A-Song Collection I Have Yet To See</b><br />
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You might remember that I have a personal goal to someday see all the songs from the Dial-A-Song compilations performed live (since that was my first album). These are what remains.<br />
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Man, It's So Loud In Here<br />
Bangs<br />
Another First Kiss<br />
(She Was A) Hotel Detective (soon to vanish from the list!)<br />
I Should Be Allowed To Think<br />
Stormy Pinkness (yeah right! This is the one that is going to prevent me every reaching this goal)<br />
Exquisite Dead Guy<br />
Boat of Car (also soon to vanish from the list!)<br />
Number Three (this one too!)<br />
Nightgown Of The Sullen Moon (and if Stormy Pinkness doesn't do it this one will)<br />
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<b>Other Fun Stats</b><br />
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I have seen about 13% of the known performances of Istanbul and 11% of the performances of Birdhouse.<br />
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I've seen just about half of the performances of all performed songs from Join Us, Nanobots, Here Comes Science and Here Come the 123s.<br />
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I have seen the live premieres of about 34 songs.<br />
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And finally, for the super curious and/or bored, I am gonna post my whole spreadsheet as a page in the side bar so you can all go "wow, I can't believe you haven't seen _____" or "I am so jealous that you have seen ______" as the case may be.<br />
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<br />Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569946432616055080.post-55553509127932729302013-07-10T05:53:00.000-04:002013-10-03T02:21:09.780-04:00Happy Birthday, Marty!!!Happy birthday to the King of the Drums, Mr. Marty Beller!!! Let us shower him with birthday wishes fit for a king!<br>
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I think TMBG themselves said it best:</div>
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"The drummer is the heart of the band, the drummer is the soul of the band, the drummer is the core of the band, uh huh"</div>
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Marty really is the heart of this band. He's got larger than life talent, seemingly endless energy, and a dynamic and entertaining performance style, that are integral to everything I love about TMBG. I truly believe his creative input is one of the reasons the band's music just keeps getting better and better. Most of my favorite songs on Nanobots are the ones with the most unique and interesting rhythm tracks. And I've said it countless times before, but I will never, ever get tired of watching Marty play. I still watch every single performance of Call You Mom in absolute awe. And one of the stand-out elements on this year's tour was the inclusion of the Marty Cam, a feature that evolved into the perfect vehicle to allow Marty's talent and personality to truly shine, with just the right touch of humor, and one I enjoyed with delight.<br>
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No other member of the band puts in as much face time with the fans at a show as this guy. I can tell you, both from first hand experience and from witnessing interactions with countless fans, that the time Marty puts into high-fiving, signing memorabilia, and posing for photos, means the world to the fans. He is a class act and an absolute one in a million and I for one am honored to have been fortunate enough to witness so much of his awesome talent.<br>
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And on a personal note, I can not thank Marty enough for making me feel appreciated as a fan and a welcome presence in the audience, night after night. Following the band around the country on tour is one of my greatest joys. But for a long time, I worried that what for me was pure fun and a deep love of the band and their music, would get me labeled as "the crazy fan" and would eventually be seen as an annoyance. But through friendly words of welcome and encouragement, and small acts of kindness and appreciation, Marty and the other boys have helped me let go of that worry and relax and enjoy the shows feeling like I really belong there. And that means more to me than I could possibly say, as there is nowhere I feel happier and more at home than a TMBG show.</div>
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So please join me in wishing one of my favorite people a most wonderful and excellent birthday, and a splendid year ahead. Happy Birthday, Marty!! Thanks for keeping the beat. Thanks for being you. Rock on!<br>
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Here are a couple of my favorite Marty performances from the most recent tour and some of my favorite shots.<br>
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Blue Canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01170878246601658562noreply@blogger.com2