Robots obey what the children say
Dec. 9th, 2006 04:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vovatI just recently got back from seeing They Might Be Giants at the World Cafe Live. It was a kids' show, done as part of the Peanut Butter and Jams series. I've been to a few TMBG kids' performances now, and I'm always surprised by how many actual kids are there. I guess the fanbase has begun reproducing, which is kind of a scary thought.
The set started with "Fibber Island," which I don't think I've heard live before, but don't quote me on that. "E Eats Everything" was announced as TMBG's national anthem. And here I thought "Clap Your Hands" was their national anthem! Was the change passed by both houses of Congress (i.e., the House of Martydan and the House of Johns)? "Why Does The Sun Shine?" was fast but not very loud. It actually kind of sounded like a march. The only non-element to be listed as a gas on the Sun was wood; but the nuclear reactions were between Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Sno-Caps, Italian Ices, the Ford Taurus, the Cadillac Escalade, and some nonsense.
Robin Goldwasser showed up to perform "In The Middle, In The Middle, In The Middle," and then again for the Deeply Felt Puppet Theater. I think the other two puppeteers might have been fellow Last Car members Amy Miles and Chris Anderson, but I couldn't tell for sure. Whoever they were, they also stood behind Robin during "Middle," playing the part of her Safety Patrol. The puppet-accompanied songs were "Robot Parade," "I Love To Sing," and the Monkees' theme, the latter being sung by the monkey puppet as "Hey hey, I'm a monkey." Other unusual vocalists were TMBG's own Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller. Danny sang "Where Do They Make Balloons?", and forgot the "New York has tall buildings" line. Marty, of course, performed "Alphabet Lost And Found," and really got into it, doing hand motions, running around the stage, and ending it by falling down.
The last song of the show was "Robot Parade," for the second time. Why they thought that one needed to be in there twice is beyond me, but there you go. I did like the introduction to it, where John Flansburgh and a plant in the audience had a conversation in digitally distorted voices. It was a pretty good set, but, well, isn't TMBG supposed to be putting out another children's album next year? Don't you think that, if that's the case, they'd be previewing songs from it by now? They really should stop with their optimistic release dates. Why don't they just say their next album is coming out in 2010, so when it inevitably comes out before then, everyone will say, "Hey, it's out early!" Or would that just encourage them to procrastinate?
There were actually two shows, but I made a New Year's resolution that I wouldn't go to any more two-TMBG-shows-in-a-row deals.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bethje did stay for the second one, and she confimed my suspicion that it would be almost identical. She did say that there were more adults at the second show, and that Peanut M&M's and the Ford Explorer were among the agents that caused nuclear reactions on the Sun the second time around.
I guess that's all I have to say about that show. Next week in Brooklyn!
The set started with "Fibber Island," which I don't think I've heard live before, but don't quote me on that. "E Eats Everything" was announced as TMBG's national anthem. And here I thought "Clap Your Hands" was their national anthem! Was the change passed by both houses of Congress (i.e., the House of Martydan and the House of Johns)? "Why Does The Sun Shine?" was fast but not very loud. It actually kind of sounded like a march. The only non-element to be listed as a gas on the Sun was wood; but the nuclear reactions were between Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Sno-Caps, Italian Ices, the Ford Taurus, the Cadillac Escalade, and some nonsense.
Robin Goldwasser showed up to perform "In The Middle, In The Middle, In The Middle," and then again for the Deeply Felt Puppet Theater. I think the other two puppeteers might have been fellow Last Car members Amy Miles and Chris Anderson, but I couldn't tell for sure. Whoever they were, they also stood behind Robin during "Middle," playing the part of her Safety Patrol. The puppet-accompanied songs were "Robot Parade," "I Love To Sing," and the Monkees' theme, the latter being sung by the monkey puppet as "Hey hey, I'm a monkey." Other unusual vocalists were TMBG's own Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller. Danny sang "Where Do They Make Balloons?", and forgot the "New York has tall buildings" line. Marty, of course, performed "Alphabet Lost And Found," and really got into it, doing hand motions, running around the stage, and ending it by falling down.
The last song of the show was "Robot Parade," for the second time. Why they thought that one needed to be in there twice is beyond me, but there you go. I did like the introduction to it, where John Flansburgh and a plant in the audience had a conversation in digitally distorted voices. It was a pretty good set, but, well, isn't TMBG supposed to be putting out another children's album next year? Don't you think that, if that's the case, they'd be previewing songs from it by now? They really should stop with their optimistic release dates. Why don't they just say their next album is coming out in 2010, so when it inevitably comes out before then, everyone will say, "Hey, it's out early!" Or would that just encourage them to procrastinate?
There were actually two shows, but I made a New Year's resolution that I wouldn't go to any more two-TMBG-shows-in-a-row deals.
bethje did stay for the second one, and she confimed my suspicion that it would be almost identical. She did say that there were more adults at the second show, and that Peanut M&M's and the Ford Explorer were among the agents that caused nuclear reactions on the Sun the second time around.I guess that's all I have to say about that show. Next week in Brooklyn!
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Date: 2006-12-10 02:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-10 03:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-11 01:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-10 06:13 am (UTC)also i miss chris anderson.
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Date: 2006-12-10 03:50 pm (UTC)Yes, but you can never really go home again, can you?
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Date: 2006-12-10 06:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-10 03:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-10 11:40 am (UTC)While I liked the show, the ones for the kids really aren't my thing. I took my daughter, but she was getting upset because some kid kept kicking her in the back while doing what appeared to be gymnastics behind us, lol!
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Date: 2006-12-10 03:58 pm (UTC)I took my daughter, but she was getting upset because some kid kept kicking her in the back while doing what appeared to be gymnastics behind us, lol!
I guess that's what they call being educated at the School of Hard Knocks. {g} I didn't go to any rock concerts when I was a kid, but I suppose I'm more than making it up now.
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Date: 2006-12-10 08:19 pm (UTC)Heh. The sad thing is that 2010 might be accurate.
Next week in Brooklyn!
Yay! Maybe we'll actually meet. Are you going to the later show?
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Date: 2006-12-11 04:35 pm (UTC)When State Songs was released in 1999, Linnell said that he had started writing the songs on it in 1988, so I guessed that maybe the next volume would be out in 2010. I'm now guessing that, if it ever comes out at all, it won't be for some time after that.
I guess it's kind of silly to complain at this point, since we got both Here Come the ABCs and Venue Songs in 2005, and TMBG has rarely released albums with less than a two-year gap in between. I just wish the Johns (especially Flansy) would stop announcing release dates that they can't keep. Shouldn't they know by now how long it takes to make an album? (Actually, though, from what I've heard, it's the Dust Brothers who are to blame for the holdup on the upcoming non-kids' album.)
Are you going to the later show?
Yeah, I've had enough of children's shows for the time being. {g}