Happy Birthday, John Linnell!!

gen-ius

Noun
1. Exceptional intellectual or creative power or other natural ability.
2. A person who is exceptionally intelligent or creative, either generally or in some particular respect: "musical genius."


art-ist

Noun
1. One, such as a painter, sculptor, or writer, who is able by virtue of imagination and talent or skill to create works of aesthetic value, especially in the fine arts.
2. A person whose works show exceptional creative ability or skill.


po-et

Noun
1. A writer of poems.
2. One who is especially gifted in the perception and expression of the beautiful or lyrical.


Consider, for a minute, these definitions. These are all words I would use to describe John Linnell, who celebrates his birthday today. And he embodies all of them with a quiet, unassuming humility. I am quite certain, if you presented him with these terms, you would receive a shy, "aww, shucks" kind of shrug. And yet, with a careful combination of words and notes, that on the surface seems almost careless, but in actuality are thoughtful brilliance, he breathes life into songs that are tiny little masterpieces. One minute he is busting your gut with a deadpanned tune about flaming heads, and the next he is reaching into the depths of your very soul, grabbing on and pulling out emotions and thoughts you didn't even know you had, much less thought to put into words. And put the man on a stage and he can win over an entire crowd in an instant, while simultaneously making each audience member feel like he is singing to them and only them, in turn.

I love words. I love the stories you can tell with them, the various emotions you can evoke by mixing them in different combinations. And I don't know anyone who has more skill at manipulating them and getting them to do his bidding than John Linnell. And that he is equally skilled with musical notes and creates melodies that can make you dance, or make you weep, puts him in a class above all others in my book. I am in complete and total awe of the man.

So it is with utmost respect and adoration that I would like to wish Mr. Linnell a happy birthday. May the world (and myself) he privilege to many more years of whatever feats of brilliance fall out of that beautiful mind of yours. Thank you for sharing your talents with us mortals.

A Special Message for TMBG

Click the picture for a larger image! Much thanks to everyone who participated :-) You guys rock!

Happy Birthday, Flansy!

John Flansburgh is living proof that some people only improve with age. With each album the band releases, I am more and more impressed with Flans' songwriting. Join Us contained not just one but two  Flans-written songs that quickly shot onto my Top 25 list and at least two more that are easily in my Top 100. And Too Tall Girl from Nanobots is one of the most brilliantly delightful songs I have experienced.

As a showman, Flans is at the top of his game, driving what is, arguably (though I may be biased), the liveliest, funniest, most thoroughly entertaining show in live music today. He rocks out so hard on a nightly basis, that I often get tired just watching him. The energy he pours into every show is electric and a huge part of what makes the shows so fun. Not to mention his impressive ability to make absolutely anything funny, when stated into a microphone with a robot vocal effect. ;-)

And as the driving force behind the band's social media presence, Flans provides a personal connection between the band and the fans that is all too rare. It never ceases to amaze me that when I have a question, rather than just idly wonder and debate with other fans, I can pose it to Flans on Tumblr and have an answer in a matter of days. The time and attention Flans devotes to the fans is invaluable and I for one am continuously grateful for it.

With all that being said, please join me in wishing a very happy birthday to Mr. Flansburgh. I sincerely hope he is celebrating with a lot of cake and a big glass of wine. Here's to another brilliant year in the life of one of my very favorite people. Can't wait to see what comes next!

Sweet Sixteen

March 22, 2013 - The Paramount - Huntington, NY

Last stop of the trip and finally got the majority of my crew assembled all in one place. We made the assumption that Huntington would follow typical NY area patterns and require very early line up to beat the crowds. We seem to have over estimated a bit though, as pretty much no one besides us showed up for most of the time we waited. But it gave us plenty of time to get cupcakes and crepes and hot chocolate with gelato in it from the local shops. Huntington definitely doesn't skimp on the quality eating establishments. The venue also kept us entertained with a playlist of TMBG songs piped out under their marque. Sure, it would have been nice if they weren't the same eight songs on random repeat for all seven hours we were there, but it was still nice to have something to listen to.

There was some confusion about the time the doors opened. We were originally told 7 but it turned out to be 8. Which meant we were all lined up to watch the arrival of the 30 or so teenage girls in extremely short skirts, ridiculously high heels and way too much make-up. We were a bit perplexed since they definitely didn't look like typical TMBG fans. But we were told they were all there for a Sweet Sixteen birthday party. The oddest part was that they were all seated in the balcony inside the venue when we got in and most of them only seemed to stay for the opening act. I don't know if the party was just booked regardless of who was playing at the venue, or they really were only there for the opener, but it was really odd. Maybe there was another room where the rest of them were hanging out? It definitely added an interesting flavor to the night.

The Paramount was another of those venues with the super tall stages. Not quite as high as The Pageant, but high enough to make me feel like I had shrunk when standing next to it. Apparently, the fans of Long Island aren't too concerned about arriving early, as the room was barely occupied when we first went in, but it did eventually fill up. Unfortunately, the additional crowd also brought yet another drunk fan (or a pair of them really) to the front, who got the TMBG set off to the wrong start by spilling a full beer all over the stage and floor where we were standing. Why do these people keep ending up where I'm standing? Am I like a drunk magnet or something?

The Moon Hooch guys totally threw me off tonight by switching sides of the stage. Not sure why. Maybe they were just looking for a change of pace, or maybe there was more room on one side than the other for horns. Who knows. But it meant Mike was in front of me, even though I was on the left side of the stage. Her entertained Becky with a personal sax performance, down on his knees on the edge of the stage in front of her. One of the things I appreciate about these guys is that they are really dynamic performers, not just standing in one spot to play their instruments. They move around the stage, interact with each other and the audience. It makes the show even more entertaining.

TMBG setlist: You're On Fire - James K. Polk - Memo to Human Resources - Don't Let's Start - Call You Mom - Cloisonné - Puppet Head - Doctor Worm - The Famous Polka - Drink! - The Guitar - Insect Hospital - He's Loco - Nanobots - Withered Hope - Dr. Evil - Can't Keep Johnny Down - Birdhouse In Your Soul - Battle for the Planet of the Apes - Why Does The Sun Shine? - When Will You Die - Damn Good Times Encore - The Mesopotamians - New York City - Ana Ng Encore - Tesla - Istanbul

After Polk, Flans gave a shout out to the 1% in the balcony and asked them how the hors d'oeuvres were up in their rarified air. He also mentioned how much they enjoyed playing venues with recently installed steel stairs and fire exits.

I was very excited to hear Don't Let's Start in the set, if only because it was something I hadn't heard yet this tour. I always expect a certain amount of repetition when I follow a tour but I was surprised at how little they changed things up on this run.

Marty turned in another whopper performance of Call You Mom and I had organized most of the front row to bow down to him in praise when he finished. Sadly, I don't think he even noticed.

Introducing Danny on the keyboard, Flans teased him about his five minute commute to this show.

Danny really outdid himself on the Doctor Worm leap this time, executing a flying split legged vault that cleared Marty's head and was beautifully back lit by a well timed strobe flash that looked epic, but was less than ideal for most of the photo attempts.

Rebecca got the Famous Polka guitar playing honors this time. It's nice to be home again where my friends fill up the front row and get picked to show off their skills :-)

Flans split up the Drink! call backs between the balcony and the floor and personally, I think the results were a bit disastrous. We just couldn't get the timing right on the floor. Flans still said it was great after the song, but I think he was just being nice. I'd call it a humorously bad attempt.

Flans gave both Danny and Marty a solo during The Guitar, since they are both local Long Island natives.

The Avatars asked us to scream. But then said they couldn't hear us because they have no ears. "All we hear is silence. Beautiful, peaceful silence. And all we see is '70s style cable television. Channel J. Beautiful, late-night cable television." Blue talked about their collaboration with Sir Axel Rose again. He said they were only one verse into their song because he is a perfectionist. And that they had one syllable of the second verse done and all he could say was that it was awesome. They claimed that He's Loco is the B-side that Axel let them have on their single.

The end of the Avatar set led straight into the Nanobots intro. The Johns had a brief discussion about how much He's Loco sounds like Emotional Rescue. "I feel like rock ended with Emotional Rescue," said Flans (already in robot voice). "And something beautiful started," said Linnell.

Linnell: "Hey, I've got a question for you....Robot Flansburgh."

Flans: "What's the question, John?"

Linnell: "I think you know what the question is."

Flans: "No, nothing's changed. No, John. I've always talked this way. It's the vocal nodes."

Linnell: "Three weeks on the road. This is what happens."

Flans: "Two weeks ago, the band and the crew of They Might Be Giants had a conclave. You might not have heard about bands having conclaves. But everybody went into the back lounge of our tour bus and discussed who would become Pope Robot the First. It was a long discussion. Some people thought Pope Robot the First should come from the crew, to bring more diversity. But ultimately, when the white smoke emerged from the back lounge, it was decided that I would become Pope Robot the First. I named myself Pope Robot the First after Pope Robot Zero. We'd like to dedicate this next song to Pope Robot Zero. It's off our brand new album Nanobots. Laaa. That's my first note. I like to sing it pretty. Very, very pretty. Hit it, Marty!"

Robin joined the band again for Dr. Evil, once again without introduction. I think she actually got a full fledged version of The Theme from Dallas to play her off this time though.

This was a very emotional performance of Birdhouse for me, as it coincided with the final Song of the Day post for that very song. Needless to say, I danced pretty hard. Also, I have consistently forgotten to mention this, and I can't be sure they even did it in Huntington, but for quite a few of these last shows, when it came to the guitar solo, Flans and Dan would stand side by side with their guitars facing each other and bend down so that the necks faced the crowd. Then as they started the solo they would rush to the front of the stage raising their guitars as they went to present themselves to the crowd. It was adorable and awesome every single time.

For the first time in about a week, we got to battle people versus apes again. Flans delivered some friendly teasing to a woman in the balcony who did not get out of the way of his flashlight in a timely fashion. He also once again failed to deliver the all important instruction that the people should not chant while the apes were chanting and vice versa. Which led to Danny having to shush the people from the stage when the apes started and then count us off when to start chanting again. Despite this oversight, the people still one. Go team!

Tonight's 123 Band Intro included Linnell doing some combo vocal/Kaoss Pad effects, Dan playing his guitar with only chords and the toggle switch, and Marty "demonstrating why we don't need stage security" with another semi-threatening drum-cam pose.

Have I mentioned yet, that Flans has started shouting something new at the end of When Will You Die? Cause he has. I just can't figure out what it is. Sounds like "Shhhhhh-a" but I am sure it's an actual word.

They took what seemed like an extra long break before the encores. Maybe that was just me. I know I've said it before, but love hearing New York City played in/near New York City. The crowd just gets so excited.

The final Istanbul was bouncy and energetic and everything that said the boys were very, very glad to be home.

Very nearly got crushed in the rush to get stickers from Flans. People are animals when it comes to getting free stuff. We stuck around the front to help a little girl get a drumstick from Marty (success!) and I picked up my setlist, despite a crush of hands reaching for it. We really are getting exceptionally good at that game. The setlist is a rather entertaining one. It has a little cartoon drawing of a pile of skulls on it that is labeled "Long Island Satanic Cult." I'll get it scanned with the others eventually.

Afterward, I got Marty to sign my Nanobots CD with his snazzy red Sharpie. "You good?" he asked me. In my head I'm thinking, well, the tour is over, I'm sick, I've gotta drive home and go back to work tomorrow. But we get to do it all again in only 10 days, with an even longer run for me, and the first show is in my town, on my birthday. So yeah, Marty. I'm good :-)

Pictures from the show are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mynameisbluecanary/sets/72157633064366279/

Infallible

March 21, 2013 - Tarrytown Music Hall - Tarrytown, NY

I have fond memories of my last visit to Tarrytown for a show in 2009. And it was also nice to finally be close enough to home base to have most of my crew join me at the show again. The fact that this was a seated show meant there wasn't a need to stand in line for hours on end, but it worked out well for me since Pittsburgh to Tarrytown was pretty much my longest between-shows drive of the trip. I still got there several hours early and was intending to go sit in a coffee shop and work on getting caught up on recaps. I ran into Mike and the sound guy from Moon Hooch on my way into the coffee shop and had a nice chat. I recommended the Chinese food restaurant next to the venue for their dinner and they later told me it was delicious :-)

I ended up running into Heather and Jim, who had also arrived early, in the coffee shop and ended up not having to spend solitary hours waiting for the show. We went to get Chinese food ourselves, and I attempted to relive my nerve wracking experience accidentally eating with half the band in that very same restaurant four years earlier, though sadly, none of them joined us on this occasion. We did see Dan heading off to dinner with his family, and you will have to excuse me for pointing out how stinking cute his little girl is again. And she's getting so BIG. That was definitely the cutie patootie moment of my day.

Our seats in the theater were in the middle of the second row. There was much debate over how best to extract ourselves from them, should Flans issue the cattle call to the front, and "up and over" the front row, seemed to be the easiest solution. Unfortunately, for me, the fever portion of my illness hit me very hard during the Moon Hooch set and I wasn't able to enjoy it as much as I otherwise might have. At least that was one benefit of sitting down; I wasn't also trying to stand and hold a stage position while my body was revolting against me. Thankfully, the cold medicine kicked in by the time the Giants went on.

TMBG setlist: Damn Good Times - You're On Fire - Memo To Human Resources - Call You Mom - James K. Polk - Circular Karate Chop - Cloisonné - Puppet Head - Doctor Worm - The Famous Polka - Drink! - Where Your Eyes Don't Go - Insect Hospital - He's Loco - Lost My Mind - Nanobots - Withered Hope - Dr. Evil - Can't Keep Johnny Down - Birdhouse In Your Soul - Why Does The Sun Shine? - 123 Band Intro - When Will You Die Encore - Tesla - Istanbul Encore 2 - Mammal - The Mesopotamians - New York City

Maybe I am just not remembering it, but it seemed like this show had much less banter and just stuck to the music than some of the other shows on this tour. Maybe the seats really put a damper on the chit chat. I'm not sure. Linnell commented on how far away we all were before Call You Mom. And after that song, Flans finally said he couldn't deal with how weird it was to have everyone sitting down and asked us all to stand up and come forward. I did indeed go up and over the front row, and to a spot on the left side. Danny gave me a look when I got up there that I couldn't quite interpret. It was either amusement at my method for reaching the stage, or just a general comment on the chaos Flans had created, but it was amusing no matter what.

Continuing the trend of ending up next to most disruptive fan in the crowd, I ended up next to a very, VERY enthusiastic girl, who went from mildly annoying to down right obnoxious over the course of the show. I can appreciate being excited to see your favorite band as much as anyone, and I can even tolerate the shouted requests and the excited screaming and yelling, but when you are boosting yourself up on stage so your boyfriend can take pictures of you "with" the band, you are taking it a little too far. I'm not even sure she realized just how close she came to getting booted out too, as Brunett was on the move to remove her, when she finally got down.

Danny forgot to participate in the bow after James K. Polk, until he looked around and realized everyone else was down and suddenly dropped. The boys were teasing him about it after. It was amusing.

My friend Amanda got the guitar solo on The Famous Polka. Flans finally solved his problem of losing his guitar pick too, as he has started keeping a couple taped to the back of the head of his guitar for easy access. Very clever Flans.

The Avatars did the bit about Axel Rose being knighted by Dennis Rodman again, but this time the third person was "Kim some guy." I think maybe Flans realized he got the name wrong the day before, but still couldn't remember what the right name was. "Sir Axel Rose, ladies and gentlemen, because, it's like what Jerry Lewis said..." And then there was silence. That was the joke. "It's a lot like what Jerry Lewis said," replied Green. "Think about it. That's a thinker," said Blue. Green started to introduce the song, but Blue interrupted to point out that Axel Rose is a perfectionist and it takes him 10-20 years to complete a song. "Collaborating with him on even a syllable is not only an honor, it's like what Jerry Lewis said."

The Nanobots sound effect sounded really odd to me at both this show and the one the following day. I think I was just at a funny angle on the stage and I could hear Flans himself more than the mic effect, so it lost some of the robotic aspect. Still pretty funny though.

Linnell played the chords to Everybody Conga on the keyboard as he responded to Flans' greeting.

Linnell: "What is it Robot Flansburgh?" *said in rhythm with the chords he was playing*

Flans: "I am no longer to be referred to as Robot Flansburgh."

Linnell: "Oh."

Flans: "Because after a two week long conclave in the back lounge of They Might Be Giants touring vehicle, finally the white smoke has emerged and I am now Pope Robot the First. Infallible. Even in this portion of the show. I need a bouncy, bouncy B, John. I might be infallible but if I don't know what note I'm gonna sing, man, oh man, is this song gonna blow."

Linnell: "It will blow infallible."

Flans: "Yes. I'd like to dedicate this next song to Pope Robot Zero. He will always be in our hearts."

Linnell: "We will always have his fans." *some people in the audience next to me 'woo'd'* "Those people. The people who 'woo'd'"

Robin came out to sing Dr. Evil with no introduction. She had been standing off on the side of the stage with Jon Carter for several songs, singing along, which was cute. She was very stylishly dressed I must say, though mostly obscured by the keyboard from where I was standing. After she finished Marty and Danny played a bass and drum only version of the The Theme from Dallas as exit music for her. Flans seemed very entertained by this, and gave them a shout out for this effort. I thought it sounded pretty cool.

The crowd went kind of nuts for Birdhouse. I mean, they always do, but it seemed like this crowd went a little more nuts than some of the recent ones. It was neat.

Flans actually did the real nuclear reaction of the sun, during Why Does the Sun Shine? At the first show in Columbia, he had had a cheat sheet that said "Hydrogen, Carbon, etc, etc" stuck to his pedal board. I wonder if it was still there?

For the 123 Intro, Linnell played what sounded like a bit of a lovely classical piece. It was more intense piano playing than I am used to from him and I was impressed. Dan played a bit of a song, that I should probably recognize but didn't, but it prompted Linnell to cup his hands over his mouth and "woo" from the back of the stage.

It is a shame, that while Marty was doing his thing during the intro, that the majority of the crowd could not see the performance that Brunett put on, trying to get the drum cam working. He was fiddling with it and cajoling it and talking to it, saying "come on, come on" clearing in a panicked rush to make it work, less Marty turn around for a pose at the end of his solo only to me met with a black screen. And, by god, he got it going just in time. I wanted to give him a big cheer, he looked so relieved. And then when Marty did turn around for his pose, he was entirely too high to have his face visible on the camera, and Brunett was directing him to move lower to be properly visible as he shook his fist at the screen.

The Johns delivered some nicknames to the crowd. The funniest part of this, was that, after the nick names, Flans turned the flashlight on Jim, who had ear plugs in that were attached to plastic chords, and accused him of listening to the radio. Priceless.

The encore seemed a little subdued. After Flans nixed any fake endings on Istanbul, I briefly wondered if they were going to come back for a second at all. But they did, and played Mammal again! Yay! Flans talked about their upcoming tour stops and encouraged people to come to the Huntington show the next day.

And that was about it. I apologize, but I think the fever and illness really dampened my ability to remember details from this one. I was really just trying to concentrate on enjoying it despite feeling like death warmed over.

I didn't take nearly as many photos as I usually do at this one, but those I did are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mynameisbluecanary/sets/72157633054993039/

The Electric Banana, It Ain't

March 20, 2013 - Mr. Small's Theatre - Millvale, PA

It's been a while since I have visited Mr. Small's and they have done some renovations. Where I remember waiting for the show in a rainy courtyard last time, that entire area has been enclosed now, in some sort of partially finished construction. This year we spent much of our waiting time hanging out on the steps of the old church that has become this rock venue. And the rest crammed into a tiny walled area outside the new construction. My companions were a mix of old friends and acquaintances and new ones, as I got close enough to home to be joined by some of the regular crowd.

We were early enough to hear the whole soundcheck. They ran through the venue song again, as well as Your Racist Friend. They were also doing Dr. Evil, and I briefly thought Robin was there. Until I realized, that it was one of the Johns singing Robin's part. And doing a terrible job of it. By the time they got to the high note at the end it was truly horrific. I couldn't even begin to say which of them it was butchering this poor song. But on the second run through it was definitely Linnell. Fortunately, the second go round, they didn't get to the end. They also sound checked Mammal, which I was very excited about, as I have only heard that played twice, and only at Apollo 18 shows. But I wasn't about to get my hopes up for hearing it outside soundcheck, as I have had that experience too many times before.

After a long and chilly wait, we were finally admitted into the sanctuary of Mr. Small's. Keeping with my alternating pattern, I went for the left side of the stage at this show. I am quite a fan of Mr. Small's. The restored church makes an awesome rock venue. My only wish was that is had been a bit warmer inside. By this point in the tour I had succumbed to tour plague, aka some vicious version of sinus infection/cold, and while we waited for the show to start, it seemed like there was constantly a door open, blowing cold air right on me. Not a pleasant feeling.

The Moon Hooch boys experienced a shake up at this show, in the form of equipment failure. Mid way through one of the songs, the battery on the mic on Mike's sax crapped out. He smoothly crossed the stage and lowered the mic that was in front of Wenzl and started playing into it. It took me a minute to realize what had happened. But they made it work. And then as they transitioned into the next song, Wenzl reached into his bag, which was sitting on the stage, pulled out some batteries still in the charger and handed them to Mike. He then started the next song, while Mike changed the batteries in his mic pack. And within a minute they were back up and running. "Good save" became the phrase of the night after that point. Maybe I am crazy, but I always enjoy watching shows where something goes wrong and the performers are able to go with the flow and make it work and find their way back out of it, without making a big deal of it. And these guys still knocked it out of the park.

TMBG setlist: You're On Fire - James K. Polk - Memo To Human Resources - Celebration - You're Racist Friend - They'll Need A Crane - Cloisonné - Drink! - Doctor Worm - The Famous Polka - Whistling In The Dark - Circular Karate Chop - Where Your Eyes Don't Go - Insect Hospital - He's Loco - Lost My Mind - Pittsburgh - S-E-X-X-Y - Withered Hope - Nanobots - Puppet Head - Birdhouse In Your Soul - 123 Band Intro - Damn Good Times - When Will You Die Encore - Tesla - Can't Keep Johnny Down Encore 2 - Mammal - The Mesopotamians - New York City Encore 3 - Istanbul

Following their bow a the end of James K. Polk, the Johns had a discussion about how to end their final show. Linnell suggested just mashing his face into the keyboard (though he called in an organ) to signal that the show was over. They also discussed the controversy within the band over the proper way to pronounce Nanobots. Linnell claimed that different regions of the country pronounce it differently. Flans said that "this side of the stage pronounces it differently." "The western side of the stage pronounces it Naanobots." Then Linnell asked, "How are yinz doing?" "I can't believe you went ethnic," replied Flans. "People love the yinz," said Linnell. "Everyone loves the yinz." "That's pandering, John," accused Flansburgh. And Linnell had to agree. Flans said they had a new album out, "with tons of songs on it that we're not gonna play right now." And then they played Memo to Human Resources. I am sorry to say it, but damn, am I sick of that song.

They did in fact play Your Racist Friend, after doing it at soundcheck, which was exciting for me, as they had played virtually the same setlist for days in a row prior to this point. Before Cloisonné, Flans pointed out the "pointing stick" on the end of the bass clarinet again, and talked about how One Eyed Joe had learned his lesson about getting too close to it. I ended up accidentally getting a very intense picture of Danny staring straight into my camera while he was playing the keyboard. I didn't realize it until I looked at the picture afterward and was extremely startled.



In his introduction to Drink!, Flans encouraged us to use our whole bodies as vessels, "like a giant iron lung of volume," to chant the call backs. Also, "This next song features the acoustic guitar stylings of Mr. Dan Milller. You might remember him in the music store, playing that Heart song. Something about that A minor chord." Dan then took the cue to play the riff from said Heart song. I don't know Heart, well enough, but I think, from later comments that it was Magic Man? Maybe?

After many, many, attempts at capturing the Doctor Worm leap shot, I finally came as close to getting it as I have ever been at this show. It still isn't absolutely 100% what I want, but it is pretty damn close. Danny checked in with me after they finished the song, to see how he had done and I had to report that it was pretty damn good.



Flans talked about their iPhone app prior to Circular Karate Chop, and said that it played a different song everyday, which was great because you never have to hear the same song twice, because you hate that song. Then Flans asked Linnell to talk for a bit, and he said sure but he needed a topic. The audience suggested some, but Linnell said they were no good. Then he and Flans pretended to be soliciting for improve topics. "We need a felony." "An occupation, a mind altering drug, a way of having a tragic accident." "A story line." "An idea." "A punchline." "We need something funny to happen. Can someone help us with that?" "Just shout out any three things that are funny." "We need a plot. We a script actually. We need an entire double spaced typed....."

The Avatars had a pretty entertaining monologue tonight.

Green: "You have a human hand Blue Avatar."

Blue" "I have emotional problems. Deep troubling emotional problems."

Green: "Those two things go together. Once you introduce the human hand, emotional problems follow."

Blue: "I'm tugging on my neck in a nervous, nervous way."

Green: "How's that Bell's Palsy coming along?"

Blue: "That's not funny man."

Green: "No, I was concerned. I'm asking out of friendship and concern."

Blue: "You don't even like me."

Green: "I don't even know you, man."

At this point Blue got distracted by the fact that there was a shadow of a microphone on their camera screen, and it looked like he was singing into it on their video feed. He became rather obsessed with this fact.

Green: "I'm the green one. He's the blue one."

Blue: "I'm the one with the microphone."

Green: "He's got the microphone. I got the loud voice. Hey!"

Blue: "He doesn't need a microphone."

Green: "No microphone!"

Blue: "And he doesn't need a light because he's lit from within."

Then the puppets did some more of the cable TV Channel J schtick they were doing at the start of the tour.

Blue: "Mystery puppets!"

Green: "Hours and hours of puppet dancing!"

Blue: "It feels wrong, because it is."

Green: "Because the budget is so looooow."

Blue: "I'm dancing just for you, baby. I'm a puppet. I'm _your_ puppet. Where's my microphone? Oh, here's my microphone."

They talked about their new collaboration with Sire Axel Rose, who was recently knighted in a ceremony with Dennis Rodman and Seung Yong-il (spelling questionable on that as research shows that Blue seems to have made up the person with bits of several notable names, unless I am totally missing something.) They claimed that Rodman and Seung Yong-il, had knighted Axel with a crown and then he had immediately sent them some lyrics. They expressed their wish that someone was blogging this news as it was very important. In this performance of He's Loco, Green substituted Wild Wild West with Contagion. "Gwyneth Paltrow, people!" The boys also did a nice instrumental version of He's Loco as the Avatar exit music, that I appreciated. When he got back to his microphone, Flans commented that it smelled like wool.

Lost My Mind managed to stay in the setlist tonight. Yay! After they finished it, Danny pointed out to Linnell that they hadn't yet done the venue song. Linnell suggested this to Flans, who got rather confused, asking if they wanted to do it now. Danny told him that he was just pointing out that it wasn't on the setlist at all. "Touché," said Linnell. "You win this time, Danny," said Flans, who then agreed to do the song now.

But first, (or maybe it was just after, I'm not sure) there was a lengthy discussion of The Electric Banana and Johnny Banana himself. Flans confirmed with the crowd that The Electric Banana was, in fact, no longer open. He then told a story about seeing the list of venues they were playing at, the first time they were booked at the Banana and questioning their booking agent about playing at a place called The Electric Banana. Someone else that was there at the time advised him that the guy who ran the place, Johnny Banana, was a real tyrant, but they would be fine as long as Johnny wasn't drinking. And when they arrived at the venue, he was chugging alcohol straight from the bottle from the moment they walked in the door. Some people off to my left, kept indicating that Johnny Banana was there, at the show, but whether or not they were being serious, I do not know.

I have a note on my setlist that says "Fireproof" but I have no memory of what it is referring to. I have a sense that Flans was calling one of the boys "fireproof" but I can't remember which one or in what context. Maybe someone else who was there can remember?

This is how tonight's Robot Flans exchange went:

Linnell: "How's it going Robot Flansburgh?"

Flans: "I don't know. It seems like something's on fire. There's an awful lot of smoke. I think something's burning. Somebody's burning a hot dog or something."

Linnell: "Probably."

Flans: "Seem like, maybe, actually it smells like two hot dogs are burning. Or maybe a hot dog and a hamburger."

Linnell: "Yeah, I'm smelling that, now."

Flans: "People don't know it, but I am infallible."

Linnell: "That's true."

Flans: "Damn right, it's true."

Linnell: "I guess you've recently acquired robotal infallibility. Thanks to your being crowned Pope Robot the First. Perhaps you read it in the news. I think there was a big story about that."

Flans: "Bow down, people. Yes. It's a very a very elaborate ceremony. You take one or two hot dogs or a hot dog and a hamburger and you burn them, and when the smoke turns white a whole new robot pope can be named. I gave myself the name Robot Pope One, in honor of Robot Pope Zero."

Linnell: "He mysteriously disappeared."

Flans: "There was some kind of hot dog/hamburger burning accident, in which Pope Robot Zero perished."

Linnell: "We'll never know what happened."

Flans: "Some people say it was poisoning. The hamburger was poisoned. But I just think it was very burned. It was the smoke. La, la, la, la, la."

Linnell: "So would you like to sing a song with us, Robot Flansburgh Pope?"

Flans: "I would love to sing a song. I want to sing the song Nanobots. What, what, what, what note?"

Linnell: "What's the matter?"

Flans: "Is it a B?"

Linnell: "You're cool. You're infallible. In fact, the great thing about this song is, if we screw it up, it's still infallible. Cause it's ex cathedra. You get what I'm saying? No mistakes. It can't be a mistake."

Flans: "I love Nancy Sinatra just as much as anybody, but I'm not gonna screw this up."

There was some nostalgia talk about cassettes and CDs surrounding Puppet Head.

Another classic 123 Band Intro. Dan was going to do his bit laying his guitar on the floor again, but Flans suggested he play some more of the Heart song instead, which he did. And Marty had some more fun with his drum cam, this time posing with his fist in the camera.

I got very distracted in the encore by a woman to my left attempting to make a request by holding her phone out to the stage for the band to read. As if they were going to be able to read something on her phone. I was a bit glad they didn't acknowledge the request, given how annoying she was. And also amused that she was requesting a song that had been in the set, every single night prior to this one, but was taken out at this show.

When they came back for the second encore, Flans played a couple of chords from The Guitar and apparently confused Linnell, as to what they were playing next. But Flans said he was just checking his sound. So Linnell announced that they were going to play a song they hadn't played in a long time and they'd see how it went. And they actually played Mammal!! I was so excited! They don't surprise me with songs very often any more, but it's always nice when they do. Especially one of my favorites.

When they returned for the final encore, all I could hear at first was Dan starting the intro to Istanbul. At first I couldn't figure out where it was coming from, until I realized that Dan had gone up to the balcony in the very back of the house and was playing from way up there. God, I love it when he does that. Makes for some seriously epic rock star moments. He did eventually return to the stage for the end of the song, in time to do a couple of fun fake endings where Flans was teetering on the drum riser, looking like he was just on the verge of toppling off. Once again, they managed not to rock the quite hard enough to roll down the hill, but it was close!



The rest of the pictures are available on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mynameisbluecanary/sets/72157633045821147/

Dear Mom, I'm On Drugs Now

March 19, 2013 - The Majestic Theatre - Detroit, MI

One of the hardest parts of traveling the country, going to shows is trying to anticipate how early the fans in any particular city will arrive at a venue to line up. In some cities, arriving four hours early will still not get you at the front of the line. In others, you can show up an hour early and be first in line. And there doesn't seem to be an awful lot of rhyme or reason to determine which are which. Whether because of the weather, or just the habits of the residents of this city, Detroit fell into the later category. I arrived at the venue about an hour and half before doors and there wasn't a soul in line. I couldn't even quite tell where the door to the venue was. But there was a cafe attached to the theater so I figured I would go in and grab something to eat quickly, instead of standing out in the cold alone.

The odd thing about the cafe was that it had a door leading directly into the theater so I could clearly hear soundcheck while sitting at my table, and it got louder any time someone opened the door. The band was running through the Pittsburgh venue song when I arrived, in anticipation of the following day's show. They wrapped it up shortly after I sat down in the cafe, so I didn't get to hear very much. The most awkward part, was that Dan came walking right through the cafe later while I was eating my sandwich, and I tried very hard to look inconspicuous.

I was nervous about not being able to see the line and actually finishing my meal in time to line up, but I needn't have been. 45 minutes before doors and I was still the second person in line. But I timed it perfectly as another 20 or so people showed up in the next 15 minutes. Perhaps everyone was just as reluctant as I was to spend more time outside than necessary. Because it was bitterly cold. 28 degrees with 23 mile an hour winds resulting in "feels like 15" conditions. Seriously unpleasant. Thank goodness I had stopped and bought new boots earlier in the day, after the frozen feet situation in Chicago. The Moon Hooch guys walked out past us while we were waiting, and the saxophonist, Mike, who had introduced himself to me in Cleveland waved at me.

Finally, nearly 15 minutes later than the posted time, they let us inside to thaw. I chose a spot on the right with a good view across the stage. Moon Hooch put on another very well received show for the people of Detroit. And I do believe Mike was having a little fun with me from the stage during one of the songs. Nothing makes you feel quite as "inside" the show experience as sharing a little "in-joke" with someone on stage. I am the first to admit I am totally spoiled in this regard, but it is oh, so much fun.

TMBG setlist: You're On Fire - James K. Polk - Memo To Human Resources - Celebration - Call You Mom - The Guitar - Fingertips - Cloisonné - Drink! - Doctor Worm - The Famous Polka - Whistling In The Dark - Circular Karate Chop - Lost My Mind - They'll Need A Crane - Insect Hospital - He's Loco - Judy Is Your Viet Nam - S-E-X-X-Y - Nanobots - Birdhouse In Your Soul - Puppet Head - 123 Band Intro - Ana Ng - Damn Good Times - When Will You Die Encore - Tesla - Can't Keep Johnny Down Encore 2 - The Mesopotamians - New York City - Istanbul

After James K. Polk, Flans started a discussion about their group bow and how they were finally perfecting it so that they all stood up at the same time. He said they were trying to invoke the Beatles at Shea Stadium vibe. Flans explained that the trick was to look at the other guys out of the corner of your eye so you could all snap back up at the same time. Linnell said you didn't want to be the one guy still bowing after everyone else was done so that someone else had to say to you "Hey, we're finished." Flans said that was what used to happen. "Not to us. To the Beatles. Mostly George." A bunch of people in the audience made "awwww" noises at Flans teasing George. Flans responded, "Hey, he was in the fucking Beatles."

Marty, who was towering above the stage on an ultra tall drum riser, absolutely wrecked his shit on Call You Mom. No, I mean he literally wrecked his shit. Midway through the bit near the end where he just goes insane, he not only managed to knock over the mic pointed at his floor tom, he also hit one of the cymbals with such force that he made the wing nut on top of it come unscrewed and go shooting off across the stage. It was insane. This was the second time in my life I have seen Marty actually break the drums from playing so hard, and both times it has left me awed and stunned. God damn, that man can play.

After Fingertips, Flans recounted a memory of playing in Detroit in August once, when they had opened every window in the venue. Flans declared it to be "the biggest show business mistake since Bat Day at Yankee Stadium. A little bat humor." He then admitted that that joke was "a thinker" and that he was still thinking about it.

Flans: "So recently we've stopped fucking around and started drinking a little more coffee before we go onstage and the thing about it is, it makes the shows go great, but we feel terrible. But that's the price we pay for The Big D, ladies and gentlemen. Bringing entertainment to you people. This song features every member of the band, including Mr. Marty Beller, on the drums, people. Marty actually requested a six foot riser, but it was unavailable." Marty shrugged at this, as if to say "what can ya do?" "This song also has the bass clarinet stylings of Mr. John Linnell, ladies and gentlemen. But we'd like to remind you, don't get to close as the bass clarinet is equipped with a poking stick at the end of it. Don't make the mistake that the Louisville audience made." I love how the Louisville audience has been the brunt of so many jokes during the remainder of the tour. That must have been quite a show.

Flans joked, as Dan tested out his acoustic for Drink!, that the "beautiful, beautiful acoustic guitar" was "almost wasted on a show like this." Flans gave us our chanting instructions saying that "mandatory audience participation is both a privilege and a responsibility." Flans joked about not singing in the monster voice because we wouldn't be able to talk at work tomorrow. Then he chastised a woman at the back of the room for yelling stuff at him while he was trying to talk. "Lady, lady, lady. I'm in the middle of instruction the audience how to do a portion of the show, and you're busting out the crazy Chardonnay talk so early, so early in the evening."

Flans had us do a soundcheck, but was not impressed. "I know it's a bit early in the evening to start comparing Detroit to other cities, so I am going to turn this microphone around and then all the way back to myself. We're going to have a little rewind on that, folks." He had us try it again and then declared it very good. His last instruction was that while the song was super quiet, that did not mean we were to be super quiet.

Danny managed to get some pretty serious height on his leap off of the super tall drum riser during Doctor Worm, and while the picture I took is crap, it is entertaining in that I also managed to catch Flans jumping up into the air.

Flans chose a fan in the middle of the front row to play his guitar on The Famous Polka, instead of the right side of the stage as he has been doing. This person was so good at it, that Flans actually stayed down and played all the chords for the rest of the song while the fan did the strumming, until the song was over. It was, by far, the coolest instance of this game I have seen to date and sounded awesome. Go, random Detroit TMBG fan!!

The Johns talked about Nanobots before Circular Karate Chop and Linnell announced that they had learned some of the new songs, as if this was a major accomplishment. He added that they had done some rehearsing and that there had been some fights. Flans chimed in: "It's got all sorts of songs on it: quiet songs, loud songs, sassy songs, kind songs."

Flans asked Linnell how his day had been and Linnell answered that it was "pretty mellow." "I took an Ambien and slept for 18 hours straight," said Flans. "Well I guess your day was more mellow then," replied Linnell. Flans continued. "I didn't realize how powerful that drug was. I was like 'I'm having a little trouble sleeping' and I woke up and found all my emails had been answered." "It's convenient," said Linnell. "All my dreams and all my emails have been answered," said Flans. Then, pretending to type an email, "'Dear Mom, I'm on drugs now. Don't worry about me.' Send."

Flans informed us that Cicular Karate Chop was in the key of F, for people who were performing in the audience. He declared that this was one half step above the people's key. "It's for the slightly high people."

After this song, Flans interrupted the band and told them that while the next song was great, he wanted to do a different song first. He wanted to play Lost My Mind. I thought this was kind of funny as it is the Nanobots song they have played but have been playing the least on this tour. I wonder if Flans just keeps forgetting about it when he is making setlists and he only just remembered it now.

I can no longer remember the specifics, but at some point in the later section of the show, they returned to the conversation about Flans being on Ambien, and Linnell was describing this whole scenario where Flans was standing in the median of the highway in his pajamas sleepwalking on Ambien. What I can't remember is what he was doing out there in the scenario, which is a shame because I remember it being really funny, and that as I was writing down my note to remind myself, I purposefully didn't write the whole quote because I was sure I would remember it. Doh.

The Avatars did much of the same material they have been doing the last week. While pretending to be having sound issues, Green made a bunch of gagging-like noises then, with long pauses in between, "expensive.......150,000......dollars.......wasted......set-up." They joked about not knowing what city they were broadcasting to, and hoping they were right about it being Detroit, because otherwise people would be angry. "Good thing we don't have ears." Then they talked about their new album with Sir Axel Rose, and there was a brief appearance by the Supreme Court. They were initially facing away from the camera with just their cardboard back visible and then when Linnell turned them around, they were too low. Blue informed them that they needed to be higher in order to be visible in the camera, and they apologized and said that they hadn't rehearsed. The Court declared their typical ruling about the Avatars rocking. Then Green told them "get out of here, you knuckle heads." The Avatars then went on about how you couldn't make that shit up. "No, you shouldn't. You wouldn't. You couldn't." Green has started changing up the DVD that he owns at the end of He's Loco too. I believe at this performance it was Inception.

The ever entertaining Robot Flansburgh routine, continued with some more hilarious comedy gold.

Linnell addressed Flans, then corrected himself: "Or should I say, Pope Robot the First."

Flansburgh: "That is correct, John. I am now, no longer Robot Flansburgh. I am Pope Robot the First."

Linnell: "Tell us how that happened."

Flansburgh: "Super fucked up story."

Linnell: "I know right."

Flansburgh: "Kinda long but I'll try to sum it up. See, there was this other robot, Pope Robot Zero. He was cool, but he got metal fatigue. So he had to be replaced. The crew and the band of They Might Be Giants convened for two long weeks in the back lounge of the bus. For days and days, black smoke emerged from the back lounge of the bus as the decision was being made, as to who would be the next Pope Robot. Then finally, three days ago, the white smoke emerged from the back of the bus. At first there was some miscommunication and it appeared that Chong had been named Pope Robot the First. But it appears, it appears that is was because the VHS player was the only machine working and Up In Smoke was the only tape. You'd think if you got bus built in 2009, you'd at least have a DVD player in there somewhere. Wrong. Just Up In Smoke, VHS. It gets all scratchy during the good part, which is really short. But no, it twas I, Robot Flans, who has been named Pope Robot One. And I am infallible. Even this part of the show which seems terribly long, and slightly outdated even though its less than three days old, still works like a charm."

Personally, I love that they can manage to keep this routine funny over and over and over again. Also funny, it the fact that Flans can just not seem to get the order of the lyrics right in the backing vocals near the end. Yellow bots, marching bots, wind them up, ask them a question, all of these lyrics get mixed up all willy nilly and I think he just kind of hopes no one notices. Well, I notice, Flans. But I think its cute, so its okay.

For the 123 Band Intro this time, I thought it was Dan who had the best one. He laid his guitar flat on the stage and knelt down in front of it. Then he proceeded to play it more like a piano that a guitar, plucking at strings and sliding his fingers on it. It looked and sounded super cool. Danny's was also neat, as he picked up one of Marty's drum sticks and used it to play his bass, tapping it up and down on the strings. Of course, Marty always gets to have the last laugh in this game, and he has a super good time doing this whole rhythm that involves leaving over to press his elbow into the top of one of the drums while he plays it and then whipping back around to the drums on the other side, before leaning his elbow down again. And he always finishes it with some fun sound effects on the electronic drum pad, before just losing his mind all over the drums at the very end. And tonight his post-solo pose for the drum-cam was a splayed arm bow in front of the camera. It was not quite as epic as Cleveland but it was still really cool.

Danny ran into some technical difficulties in Damn Good Times, right at the point at which the songs gets quiet and becomes just Flans singing with Danny playing the repeated bass note and Marty tapping out a rhythm on the drum. Sounding panicked, Danny yelled across the stage to Dan, who turned to him in confusion saying "What?" Danny frantically indicated that he was unable to play. Dan calmly began playing the repeated note for him on the guitar, nodding at him like "don't sweat, I got your back." When Danny got up and running again and the song continued, he said "thank you" to Dan with such sincerity, you'd think he had saved his ass in a much more significant way. I thought the entire exchange was rather adorable, I have to admit.

I believe this was the one night when, though the flashlight was on the stage, it was never used. They didn't do the ape battle or the nick name segment. Not sure why exactly. Either they just forgot or they felt like they were running long.

Flans was plugging their playing cards that they have available at the merch stand. He talked about how they are called the "devil's prayer book" and how he and Marty had been getting deep into the devil's prayer book during the tour, I believe in reference to their poker games. Linnell added that his grandmother actually had called playing cards the devil's prayer book.

Unfortunately, this show started a trend that would continue for the next several shows, of some seriously fucked up audience member appearing at the stage at the end of the show and being really irritating. Not sure why the drug/stoned people seem to gravitate towards where I am standing when they do this, but I sure wish they would stop.

This was one of the livelier Istanbul performances I have seen this tour, mostly because Danny suddenly started behaving like he was on a pogo stick. He was bouncing around for much of the song, but during the fake endings he was just hopping round and round and round in circles in front of the strobe light creating a totally psychedelic effect. I can not imagine how he managed to walk straight when he was done. If it were me, I would have crashed into the drum riser walking off the stage. And he managed to do it while still playing bass. Now that's talent I can appreciate.

Detroit pictures are available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mynameisbluecanary/sets/72157633042482258/