This time there really are pictures and mp3s and all the rest of it.

setlist:
intro ~ The Guitar (instrumental) / Bed Bed Bed / Istanbul (not Constantinople) / In the Middle, in the Middle, in the Middle / Stalk of Wheat / Violin / John Lee Supertaster / Four of Two / Particle Man / The Famous Polka / New York City / Clap Your Hands / Where Do They Make Balloons? / Robot Parade / Why Does the Sun Shine? / Doctor Worm // No! / Sleepwalkers

I had kinda thought the report on this kids show would pretty much be just a footnote to the rest of the road trip, since, though it was a perfectly fine show, it could hardly compare to the marvelousness of the First Avenue show the night before, but since I was persuaded to go on down to St Louis tomorrow—or rather, tonight (damn you, unsupervised!), I guess it's more of an interlude.

I couldn't fall asleep after the First Avenue show. I'm always wired up after a good show, and I was in an especially euphoric mood after this one, since it was so good. I dropped off eventually but then I kept waking up, and finally I looked at the clock and realized that we hadn't gotten our wake-up call. We tore out of there so fast...

...and arrived at Peavey Plaza at about 9:30. We weren't the first ones there, either. I mean particularly that we weren't the first adults with no children who were there waiting. TMBG's crew was there doing stuff, and after a bit various bandmembers started showing up. When Flans arrived he stood over to the side for a long, long while looking completely dazed, and then finally he disappeared and we didn't see him again until the show started. Marty got up onstage and started checking his drums. He checked them for a long time. We kept hearing a voice dimly over the PA issuing orders (coming from whoever was manning the soundboard) and at one point it said, "Marty, if you can hear me, wave." Marty did not wave. Then the voice said, "Marty, if you can hear me, take off your clothes." Sadly, Marty did not take off his clothes either.

Danny got up there and he and Marty checked together, and then Dan arrived and checked everything else: acoustic guitar (with some lovely fingerstyle), electric guitar, Linnell's keyboard, and all the mics. I hope he was getting paid overtime for that work. Then Danny came back to check a mic (thus signaling to us that he was going to sing Where Do They Make Balloons?, which was pretty exciting) and said, "Good morning. Good morning, uh..." He trailed off and after a few moments managed to finish, "...Minneapolis." Dan laughed at him. "It's too early to be talking," Danny defended himself.

This show was part of the "Marshall Field's 24 Hours of Music" so there were performances going on in other parts of the plaza throughout all of this. During the hour before TMBG started there was another children's act playing on another stage, the Teddy Bear Band. This band made me sad. You know that Simpsons episode where Maggie's watching TV and it's a parody of Barney and it goes, "two and two is four, two and two is four" over and over again? The Teddy Bear Band was like that, only they weren't doing it ironically. I think I recall zimbra1006 moaning, "I want to die," and I believe at one point I said, "children's music doesn't have to suck," but I'm not sure, 'cause I've tried to block that whole hour or so out of my memory.

They started way late, and surprised me by opening with The Guitar. But Flans explained that this was their soundcheck (since they hadn't been able to check the entire band together), so they just played it as an instrumental and everybody got a little solo moment, which was kind of nice. After that they launched into Bed Bed Bed. Thus they got the confetti out there early, but there was a pretty steady west wind blowing, so most of the confetti drifted over to stage right, leaving the children in the pit rather bereft. Flans addressed this inequity before the next song: "They Might Be Giants is all about fairness, unlike other rock bands. And because all the confetti landed on those people over there, Dan Miller is now going to perform an amazing, hypnotizing acoustic guitar solo standing directly behind these speaker columns. So even though you guys had a good time like a minute ago, the next couple of minutes will just be pure frustration for you."

Dan actually went to stand behind the speakers as directed, but Flans relented and called him back out so we could all watch his solo. Even though Dan's intro was shorter and less freaked-out at the end than usual, I was glad they did Istanbul today because they hadn't at the previous two shows I went to, and two shows in a row with no Istanbul solo makes me sad.

Linnell put his accordion on and they got ready to play Stalk of Wheat, but then he paused and pointed at a piece of confetti that had just drifted down.
JL: We're gonna wait for all the confetti to land before we start the next one. Here's a song which we wrote for grown-ups because it's about being old and sad. But we think the kids might get a kick out of that because they're still young and happy.

Flans did his long explanation of the wave and got them ready for their dress rehearsal.
JF: It's just like being at a sporting event, only there's no fighting. So here we go—there are people staring at me like this isn't about to happen.
JL: [carefully explaining] If you can get from a seated to a standing position in time, then please remain seated. For some of us, it may require standing first.
Flans declared himself impressed with the rehearsal:
JF: There are some people in this crowd who haven't stood since the nineties.
JL: You mean it's not the nineties anymore?

The feeling of this show was kind of weird for me, because though it was billed as a kids show it wasn't like any of the many other kids shows I've gone to. I mean, it was outdoors in this plaza and there were probably thousands of people there. And there was a pit of kids in the front but they really weren't doing much dancing. (Personally I think their parents had forced most of them up there so that they, the parents, could have an excuse themselves to get up close.) But the thing that really underlined the weirdness of it for me was the "mop" part of Violin. 'Cause at every other kids show I've been to, when Linnell says "mop," all of the children immediately start saying "mop" too. It's been irresistible. Yet this time I waited for it and it didn't happen. And I was like, "this is fucked up."

When Violin was over Linnell said, "I just wish you could all be right here to see that. It's a little bit terrifying." And Flans pointed out, "If they were all right here, that would be even more terrifying."

For Particle Man Flans said Marty would lay down the beat and then we should all clap along, even when the music stopped.
JF: Don't stop clapping.
JL: Don't stop clapping for the rest of the day!

Flans has been referring to Marty as "the next president of the United States" for a couple of shows now, and today he said, "Everybody thinks John and John are running for president, but that's not true. We're just here to stand behind our guy, Mr Marty Beller on the drums!"

Danny's performance of Where Do They Make Balloons? was particularly exciting for me, not because of the song (although that was good too), but because of his announcement beforehand that it was Marty's birthday. 'Cause, you see, it was my birthday too. Happy birthday to us! (and nathew too)
DW: Today's Marty's birthday.
JF: He's thirteen years old. And today he is a man.

The new version of Robot Parade is just delicious. During the "boom-shaka-laka-laka, BOOM BOOM BOOM" part Flans went over to Dan and was shouting the "BOOM BOOM BOOM" right into his face, making him laugh.

Before Doctor Worm Flans did his thanks:
JF: Kids, give your parents a round of applause for taking you out to such a great thing, and I don't mean us, I mean this event, this beautiful day.
JL: We keep our kids indoors, so we really appreciate that other parents don't.

Before the first song, Flans had pointed out that it was highly inappropriate to start off with a song about bed, so before the last song Linnell said, "Now I think we finally feel that it's bedtime, or at least naptime, and we're gonna lay our heads on the concrete and take a little nap. If we could get everyone in the whole plaza to go to sleep right now, it would be so...weird."

And that was it. I had thought that since it was a kids show John & John might make themselves available afterwards, but they disappeared. A bunch of people cornered Marty over by the side of the stage and I considered approaching him, but then I realized that once I said "it's my birthday today too" I'd have nothing left, and even that wasn't at all an interesting thing to say to him. Instead we went up the Nicollet Mall and visited Let It Be Records, and we had lunch at the Target cafe (earlier we'd passed by the nearby Target international headquarters and I'd hugged the big silver bull's-eye on the wall outside. I love Target) and then we got back on the road to Chicago. And six hours later I thought I was done with my TMBG traveling but I guess not. One more installment and then, I swear, it's all over.