The 'They Might Be Giants' show on Friday night was a lot of fun.  We got there early, and in a giddy show of support, we each purchased a T-Shirt - me choosing a traditional white jobbie with cartoon figures of the Johns in their younger days, and Charles went with the new shirt sporting The Mesopotamians, which was also the first song they played.  In exchange for the bucks spent on the shirts, we got a free giant foam hand in the permanent position of #1, like what you would get at a baseball game, only this one said 'They Might Be Giants' on it.  We were irrationally pleased by their generous gift at the time, but now in the light of day I'm not really sure what to do with the thing.

They played at the Variety Playhouse in Little 5 Points, which was the perfect venue for them, and I do believe it was sold out.  I expected the crowd to be a happy and polite one, and they didn't disappoint in that regard, but I wasn't quite prepared for how many people seemed to be unfamiliar with the concept of hygiene.  Perhaps if TMBG wrote a song about cleanliness, they might try a little harder?  I mean, we are talking about some SERIOUSLY rank individuals.   I should not be able to smell someones hair from 3 feet away, nor do I want to smell someones smoky, skunky dragon pits every time they raise up their arms.   

We were lucky enough to get actual seats instead of standing, but as it turned out, the crowd stood for the entire show anyway, so we weren't able to use them once things got going.  Strangely, the couple who were sitting in front of us had been napping in their seats until showtime, and chose not to stand up, even when TMBG first came out.  When the rest of us clapped and cheered, they looked around with a pained expression like they couldn't believe we had all gathered in their bedroom and woken them so rudely from a sound sleep.  They tried their best to go back to sleep, slumping down in the seats and laying their heads on each other, but eventually the loud music and boisterous crowd ended up being too much for them, so they left, while giving all of us the dirty stink eye along the way.  Their exit meant more breathing room directly in front of me, so I was happy with their decision, but I have to wonder how they ended up at a concert when clearly all they wanted was a quiet place to catch some zzzz's.

The show was high energy, full of old and new songs.  I was surprised they didn't ever play "Don't Let's Start", not even as an encore, and I would have liked to have heard "Spider" or "Evil", but they did pull out some favorites, like "Birdhouse in Your Soul", "Istanbul (not Constantinople)" and "Doctor Worm", so I've got no complaints.  I don't know how in the world they remember the words to all 8,000 songs that they've written...the only explanation is that they're geniuses, which...duh.   

We are batting 1,000 for good seats lately: