In the event that you are not throwing an awesome party for New Year's Eve, or attending same, I recommend going to see They Might Be Giants. Their show is an awesome party by definition.
I actually did manage to get some sleep between getting home from work and leaving for South Street, so there was no point at which I was feeling old and tired and regretted my decision to go to a concert that started at 11:30 and had an opening act. Parking on South Street on NYE was atrocious, but that's like saying the people with Jersey license plates were operating their vehicles in a reckless and stupid fashion; it's just obvious. I circled the TLA for five or ten minutes and then lucked into a good spot a block away. Driving a Civic has its advantages (small parking spaces), and having parked in Chicago gives me perspective on parking that some might not have (didn't even have to hit one bumper to fit in this spot).
There was a line down the block and into an alley, causing one attendee to inquire, "Isn't this show general admission?" It was, but the fans love TMBG so much, it's nothing to stand in the cold in an alley. Sure, we could have been drinking in a bar nearby, not freezing, and still gotten in easily enough, but it's about the music, man.
If your tastes in music run to fat long-haired guys with accordions, I recommend you check out the opening act: Corn Mo. He only played three songs, but that got TMBG onstage in time to count down to the new year, so I dig it. He was a hoot. Good voice, sang a song about the Hava Na Gila Monster, and I do appreciate good accordion.
Then it began. You should know that the first show I went to, 18 or so years back, was They Might Be Giants at the Trocadero. Seeing them today, hearing them play songs from that time, and songs from the last 18 years, and songs released in the last year, was fantastic. It's great that they're still playing, and it may be great that I'm still seeing them in concert. There's something about being there.
They played with an eight-piece band - both Johns, Dan on guitar, Danny on bass, Marty on drums, and three horns (I want to say Stan, Dan and Mike, but please don't quote me). They opened with Particle Man, SEXXY, Buried Alive and Wicked Little Critta. They declared the new album will be titled "Here Comes Science" and will feature a song following up on one of their hits: "Why Does The Sun Really Shine? (The Sun Is A Miasma of Incandescent Plasma)" They dropped balloons on us at midnight and fired cannons loaded with confetti at us during one of the lulls in Older. They made fun of a drunk woman. They played two encores.
Awesome time. Great show. Thanks to Chuck who provided me with the hookup on tickets (couldn't use them, but now I have souvenirs), and thanks to Malcolm for being generous with this complete stranger. Thanks to Jen for providing the means to record the titles of the first five songs (the iPod Touch, woot!). Thanks to that ass in the Nissan Murano who almost killed me and the drivers of two other cars by making a left turn across a lane of moving traffic on Market Street in Center City. Thanks to TMBG for being awesome.
--10:17 AM, Holland, PA
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