Well, I wanted to get this recap done earlier, but I totally needed a nap after my 14 hours of traveling since yesterday morning. Now, though, I'm rested and ready to write. So, yeah. Last night was probably my favorite show ever, for so many reasons. If you've got a couple of hours to kill, read on. This is gonna be long.

As usual, we got to the venue crazy early. The excitement began when, as we pulled into the parking lot, Marty walked past the car. I pointed at him through the windshield and dorkily yelled, very excitedly, "There's Marty!" and Jackie was like, "well, yeah." I guess I should warn you now that I did a lot of extremely dorky things last night, but most of them brought me happiness, so I'm not going to apologize for any of them.

Anyway, we parked and then as we were getting out of the car Danny came out of the bus, ready for a walk around the block. He stopped and stared at us, then he waved at me. Heh. I'm famous. He was wearing his red pants, but we both observed that they seem to be getting rather faded. Soon instead of yelling "red pants!" we'll be calling for the "mauve pants!!"

We strolled around for a bit and got something to eat, and when we went back to the car to stow our leftovers, a car pulled up behind the venue and Dan emerged. He didn't see us though, and just went straight inside. And we went back around to the front of the Pageant to wait for opening. Oh, I should mention that since it was Flansburgh's birthday, I had brought along a (fake) cupcake for him that I made. (Here's a pic. It's chocolate-colored.) I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to get it to him, though—I didn't really want to pitch it onto the stage during the show and have him mistake my offering for a projectile weapon. It wasn't until we had settled down outside the bar that I realized I could have asked Dan to take it to Flans for me. But it was too late for that, so I figured I'd have to find another way.

Anyway the bar opened. We were the first ones in line, so we got two of the coveted "first entry winner" passes. Then we settled in to wait. I had some grading to do, which was helpful for passing the time. TMBG had their soundcheck while we were waiting, but the bar was piping music in really loudly so we couldn't really make out what TMBG were playing. At one point I heard something that seemed unfamiliar so I went over to the entry door into the venue to see if I could hear better. It turned out to be Linnell extemporizing something like, "What's going on, Brian Speiser?" over and over again. Hee.

When I finished my work I took it back out to the car so I wouldn't have to hang on to it inside during the show. I also took the precaution of bringing the cupcake with me, just in case I saw somebody out back who might agree to deliver it to the birthday boy. And when I'd put my folder away in the car, whom should I see out back heading toward the bus but Flansy himself. This was exciting but also nerve-wracking, because I didn't want to come off as a pushy creep by forcing my cupcake on him. Nonetheless I yelled out "Flans!"

He didn't respond and went into the bus, and then I noticed that Linnell was outside too. Knowing that he usually shuns the public, I thought it probably wouldn't be much use to accost him, but I figured I had nothing to lose if he ignored me, so I said, much more tentatively, "Linnell?"

To my utter shock he stopped and turned around, looking slightly inquisitive, so I approached, holding the cupcake out. He came closer and we met at the metal barrier marking off the area around the tour bus. And I asked him if he'd take the cupcake to Flans. He was totally sweet through our whole (brief) conversation. He said he would, and took it from me, and examined it curiously. Since I was flustered, I just said the first thing that came into my mind, which was, "It's not edible." (Keep in mind that he was already holding the obviously fake cupcake in his hand at this point.) My statement seemed to amuse him, and he responded, rather playfully, "Oh, so I can't eat it?" Heh. I'm dumb. Then he asked me if I had knit it myself, and I said I had crocheted it, and he told me it was really cute. (Aww! No, Linnell, you're really cute. Hee.) And he again said he'd take it to Flans and I thanked him and ran off giddily.

As I told Jackie when I got back inside, that one little incident had already made the whole trip worthwhile. And the concert hadn't even started yet. The rest of the wait passed pretty quickly and soon we were inside. There was a guy handing out foam hands to people coming in. I already have one I got a couple years ago, so I wasn't planning on taking another, but then I realized that these new ones are yellow (the other hand I have is orange) so I grabbed one after all.

We got into our usual places (front, stage right) and here I had an amusing encounter: a guy asked me if I'm aliste and after some confusion we determined that I am. It turned out this was the guy that I assaulted after the St Louis show last year. He seemed (justifiably, really) to be still carrying a grudge about that incident, but we had a nice chat with him and his friend and I think everything was cool between us by the end of the night.

There was a whole line of people with the foam hands along the barrier, and I had the idea that we should each write a letter on our hands in order to read "HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLANSBURGH" across the whole front row, but it didn't really look like there were enough people and I'm not sure we could have gotten the coordination. Or, in retrospect, enough Sharpie ink. Anyway, instead of the big production number I would have liked, I opted just to write happy birthday on my single foam hand (it ended up looking like this). Then I spent basically the rest of the wait time poking things with the foam finger.

So then Michael Leviton came on. He was rather sweet. During his first song his microphone stand was too loose and the mic went sliding down; afterwards he said, "Did you see that? The mic fell down and I thought I was getting taller really fast." He also told us a delightful story about the origins of the song "Boring Island." The crowd was quite nice to him although there was one obnoxious screaming girl right behind us; I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or was just really drunk (or was just really obnoxious).

His set was pretty short and then there was another wait. Guitar tech Andy Lala came out and played guitar hero on Dan's Strat. I noticed that instead of his usual red Gibson, Flans had brought along a baby blue (powder blue?) Telecaster, and—whoa! an acoustic (a Martin). As far as I recall, I've only seen Flans play an acoustic at an instore before. Then finally the lights went down and the show was on.

John and John were definitely in fine form, talking a lot and having a good time. Flans especially came out and jumped around like he'd just mainlined three Red Bulls. They played the first three songs in rapid succession (I have a scan of the setlist here) and then Flans introduced Why Did You Grow a Beard?, talking a bit about the podcasts. Beard hadn't particularly grabbed me in the recording, but it was pretty fun live. After that they went straight into Polk. They've brought the confetti cannon firing back to its classic "expansionist" spot.

Next Flans asked everyone in the audience who had a cell phone to turn it on and hold it up in their left hands to provide illumination for this new song Careful What You Pack. This one was kind of mellow and melancholy. I couldn't really hear the words very well but I think it was kind of sad.

Then Linnell started playing Happy Birthday on the keyboard and Marty added some punchy punctuation, and Lala emerged from the wings with a cake. Flans seemed quite surprised, but he blew out the candles and we all cheered. He got them all in one try! (I wonder if his wish was, "I wish these guys hadn't put me on the spot like this.") And Linnell wished him a "happy 39th birthday!" Flans noted that there was a toy sports car as decoration: "And now, you are eight." Then he admitted that he'd been scared when the rest of them started playing that music, because he had no idea what it was. Linnell also suggested that they do a birthday toast, but had only coffee to toast with, not champagne.

Back to the show. Linnell said he didn't know what they were doing because they'd skipped something on the setlist and he didn't know if they wanted to go back and do it or not. Eventually they decided to play the skipped song, Fingertips. Pretty standard except after "Aren't you the guy that hit me in the eye," Linnell pointed straight at somebody in the audience and went on, "Yes! You're the guy that hit me in the eye!" Dan finished off with his usual blazing solo and Flans took a moment to praise his playing: "It's like his fingers are at war with the strings! Who's playing who? 'Keep on making notes, strings, 'cause I'm gonna keep on poking at you!'" (Demonstrating with very odd gestures around his guitar.) Meanwhile Dan was laughing at him.

Linnell told us the next song was produced by the Dust Brothers and Flans pointed out that it's on an album that they're not currently promoting. "What better time to play this song we barely know how to play for people who don't want to hear it?" To which Linnell replied, in a very stagey, emphatic voice, "We think that you'll bee very interested in this next song, which is about a bee!" Oh, Linnell, you're so silly. He went on, still in his wacky voice, "Are you ready, guys? 'Cause I can't keep up this weird voice for much longer!" So they played Bee of the Bird of the Moth. Also a pretty mellow one, rather dreamy.

After that Flans told us that the band had re-committed to playing songs from the first album, and then went off into this long tangent about watching metal month on VH1 on the tour bus. He seemed pretty obsessed with C.C. DeVille, reminding us that he was the guy from Poison, which band is "much better than Cinderella, not so good as the Crüe." He did however profess his admiration for C.C.'s ability to throw his guitar entirely around his body and make it come back up the other side. "You gotta commit yourself to wrecking a lot of guitars if you want to do that." And Linnell opined, "I think Dan Miller knows how to do that, actually." Oh, don't I wish.

Then they finally went on to the next song, Number Three. Neat. After that Dan put on his acoustic (Flans already had his) and Flans pointed out that there were now two acoustic guitars onstage. Unprecedented! And We Want a Rock sounded rather exquisite with the two acoustics.

Linnell announced that they were going to play the very first song off their very first album, then said that if it were possible, they would play the one before that, but that would be crazy, so they would just have to settle for the first one.
JF: Well, sometimes you gotta make compromises.
JL: That's right. In fact, all the time. That's what we're all about up here.
JF: Yell it out. Yeah!
JL: Gettin' the money, gettin' paid.
JF: Next tour we'll have a giant phone that rolls down the center of the stage and we're just gonna crawl inside it and call it the Phoning It In Tour.
JL: That's right. [pretending to hold a phone to his ear] "Hello, Audience? It's They Might Be Giants. We're calling you up."
JF: "And after the show, be sure to check out our ringtones. We like phoning it in. Ringtones! Check out our blog! Where we plug our ringtones! Just call 555-SUCKER. Ringtones!"

We're the Replacements was pretty wonderful too. After a special salute to all the people drunk on Bacardi and/or appletinis, Flans enquired about the possibility of all-night riverboat gambling and promised that that was where they'd be after the show. Then, We Live in a Dump. Oh wow, this was my favorite of the new ones. It's just adorable, and there's some really cute, peculiar backup vocals. Big thumbs up. "We should wear garbage man outfits," Linnell suggested afterwards. "And use fake English accents," Flans added, prompting Linnell to repeat the word "dump" with a fake English accent. I dunno. It was hilarious at the time.

Then Flans did his intro to Drink! The whole time he was rambling on about it, Dan and Linnell were looking at each other like, "what on earth is he talking about?"

After that, a band intro song called This Damn Band. Very lounge-y. Linnell sang it and some of the lyrics were, "this damn band, they're blowing your mind..." Then Flans introduced the band members and everybody got a solo. Marty went crazy on it as only he can do. And they finished off the main set with Purple Toupee which was fantastic, and sexed up with some screamy guitar at the end.

During the first encore Flans did some more thanks, and thanked the band again. Of course the audience clapped, and then Flans turned around and saw Danny clapping and chided him for clapping for himself. But Danny gestured toward the other two guys and Flans was like, "Oh, I see, you're clapping for them. The two-thirds clap." But he still called Danny a "self-clapper."

They opened the second encore with Alphabet of Nations. Flans was really going to town with the echo effect on his vocal. It was like a damn monster truck rally. Another special appearance of the St Louis venue song, and they closed out with Istanbul. The Dan Miller solo intro is back! And even more gorgeous than ever. A beautiful ending to the night.

Then it was over and the band departed, I assume to eat some cake before going off to lose their money on the riverboats. I had already promised not to knock over or otherwise strike out at anyone this time, but I wasn't sure what my chances of getting a setlist were without violence; I mean, it's so often worked for me in the past (well, that, or saying "please"). Anyway Lala came out and people started calling out to him. My chosen tactic was to hold up my Flansy birthday hand. He saw it and laughed, and then he brought me a setlist. "I love Andy Lala!" I declared.

After another minute or so Marty came along to meet the people. He saw me, recognized me, and came over to give me a high-five (he was making eye contact with me at that moment so I knew he meant it for me), but as I reached out another hand swooped in between and stole the high-five away—just like when I snatched the setlist away from that other guy last year! Funny how that happens. Then everybody started slapping Marty's hand and I was like, "Hey, I want to touch Marty!" Finally I got to and we decided to go out by the bus to see if any of the guys were out there, since none of the others were inside the venue.

Out back there was a small crowd at the barrier near the bus. I'm not sure if Flans had already come out at the moment we arrived, but he was definitely there later to meet the fans. I also wanted to say hi to Dan if I could. Dan did eventually appear, fiddling with his cell phone. So I went up to the barrier and called out to him, and he put away his phone and came over to greet us. He held out his arms for a hug, which was awfully sweet, and then he kissed me on the cheek, which was totally unexpected. Oh my god, I thought, Dan Miller just kissed me! Oh wait, no—I actually said that out loud. Um, awkward! But he was pretty cool about it and was just like, "eh, we've seen each other so many times." Then he gave Jackie a kiss as well. He's seen her a bunch of times too. He was pretty stubbly. I don't know if he just hadn't shaved in a couple days, or whether he's still trying to grow that moustache he was working on last July...I sure hope it's not the latter. Maybe I should send him an anonymous letter: Dear Mr Miller, Please shave. Not just for smooching the girls, but just...please do it. Love, A Concerned Fan. He'd never know it was from me.

Anyway, we chatted just a bit. I asked him if they were recording the shows on this tour, and he said they are recording them, they're just not planning on selling them. "Because of the new songs?" I asked, and he confirmed that was why. But he added that they might put out a compilation since they're playing all these neat old tunes they haven't done in a while. So, I don't know, a bit disappointing, but understandable.

Finally we worked our way through the crowd to see Flans. I showed him the hand I'd made for him (as I suspected, he hadn't seen it during the show—he tends not to look at the front row) and he asked me if I wanted him to sign it. "No," I said, "I just wanted you to see it." So he said, "Well, thank you" and he shook my hand and smiled at me. Flans is a sweetheart.

Then, back on the road! Got to bed at about 4am, then three more hours of driving for me today to get back home. And that's why I needed a nap before I could write this. But all in all, a pretty perfect outing. I can't think of much else that could top everything that happened last night. Thanks, guys!

Check out pictures and stuff if you like, if only to see Flansy playing acoustic guitar. Wackiness!