They Might Be Giants

Lem, Wendell, L and I just saw They Might Be Giants in concert, at the Ventura Theater. Wow, what a great show. I had been worried that maybe I wouldn't like the concert, but it was great!

Opening Act: Oppenheimer. A weird duo, one on synth and guitar, the other vocals and drums. I liked their sound though I couldn't really hear the words well (a common problem for me if I don't know the song well), so I may go look for their CD.

Highlights: There's a ton of these. New York City was the second song they played, and is probably my favorite TMBG song. Loved hearing it in concert, as the sound is different and good. Ana Ng was the third song and is one of my favorites, and the concert version is absolutely terrific compared to the album one. They hit a ton of my favorite songs and a bunch I didn't know which were also good. Birdhouse in your Soul was played somewhere in the middle, and Lem immediately thought we should call up Mylanda and let him hear it, which I agreed was a great idea. Sadly, it was probably a bit late to be calling him up, ah well.

Dancing: Another song in the middle of the concert started, and I immediately had to dance. L gave me a look and asked what song it was. It took me a few seconds of thinking to actually place it: The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight). Totally great and it had most of the crowd moving to it. They brought in three brass players (sax, sliding trombone, horn?) and did a bunch of the songs with those - Mr. Me was the first. Later there was a great section of solos by each of the players, and it led into Istanbul, with the brass players taking the violin part that's in the album version. Really really good.

Interlude: Speaking with the Dead. Yep, in the middle of the concert, they took a phone call from a dead person, Vincent Price. There was a great song-ish lead-up to it, and the entire bit was hilarious and there's pretty much nothing else I can think to say about it that could convey it. The rest of the concert, they played off the Vincent Price phone call - and now, a song about Vincent Price, in his previous incarnation as James K. Polk! They played both Meet James Ensor and James K. Polk, which was pretty cool.

Favorite song of the evening: She's An Angel. Already either my favorite or 2nd favorite (with NYC being the other), hearing it in concert was another thing entirely. Wow.

Humor: In between songs there was a lot of great humor, just funny mannerisms, making fun of each other or other things, etc. I can't really describe it well, but half the time between the songs we were laughing.

Encores: They came out for an encore, and announced that there would be twenty-four more songs. They then played Fingertips, which is a sequence of twenty-one different really short songs (originally on the album Apollo 18) and which worked REALLY well. Then there was a song of their new album, and then they left the stage again. I hadn't been counting at that point, but I should have - I knew Fingertips was at least 18 or so songs, but it wasn't til I got back that I actually checked. So it was not a surprise when they came back on the stage for a second encore: Mr Tambourine Man, originally by Bob Dylan and the more well known version by the Byrds. Really crazy to hear their take on it, but I liked it (as I also really like the originals). Then they finished with Doctor Worm, which they said was their favorite song, and it had a confetti launch near the end. Very cool. :)

Great concert.