I'm not much of a natural dancer but I've got a friend who's a natural dancer

So today I'm totally exhausted. M and I went out to see They Might Be Giants last night at one of my two favorite venues and it was AWESOME. We parked downtown, since parking is free in the evenings and walked the few blocks to the show. (Yeah...I learned that lesson a little late, but no more parking in the ridiculously expensive garage and wasting money that could be better spent on alcohol.) There was a long line of concert-goers waiting for the doors to open, so we sat at Starbucks across the street, where we people watched and discussed the nature of hipsters and scenesters and theorized about why some people equivocate (wtf?) equate "trendy" with true coolness. As we were sitting there talking, John Linnell walked right past our table and into the Starbucks - I guess to place an order to be delivered, because he didn't come out with anything. It really caught me off guard, and I'm not the kind of person to go chasing someone down to gush at them about how totally genius they are...even if it is true. I got a little bit of flack from M about this, but I'm not very easily starstruck (I've met Mr. T, so color me jaded), and kind of shy when I want to be. I was just content with just being able to have a kind of neat story to tell. And so I have. So after consuming our beverages, we mosied through the gate where there was now no line at all. I bought a t-shirt and we ran into someone M knows and waited for the concert to actually start. The opening act was pretty good - very upbeat and synth-heavy, and they were from Belfast so their accents were lovely. They were selling their own stuff at the merch table, and we love when bands do that. The show itself was great. It was a 14 and up gig, so it was an older crowd than at some of the shows we've been to and we really didn't see many kids there. (TMBG are touring mostly in support of their children's album Here Come the ABCs, which is number one on Amazon's children's album sales chart - this was one of the few shows that weren't "family events" on the tour schedule.) Since this was an adult crowd there was drinking...and partaking of other kinds, of course. Quite openly, in fact. John Flansburgh made a point to mention the "smell eminating from stage right" more than once. He also credited the "northern ingenuity and southern charm" of the tent over the courtyard stage. They played all of the songs I was hoping they would, plus a few that weren't very expected. And, of course, there was the confetti cannon! One of the lowlights was the drunken jerk who originally was in front of us but left to get more beer and then groused to the girl with him that they'd lost their spot (yeeesh, idiot - what are you, a concert newb?) and then later, attempted to heckle from the back of the crowd. He apparently didn't approve of the band playing a couple of children's songs and shouted about them being "p*$$ies" when they asked the people in the front by the stage to please not throw anything, even if it was done with good intentions. That earned the bastige the stank eye from both M and me. Otherwise, everyone was cool and just there to have a good time. There were two encores. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) was the final song of the night. I bought another shirt and the two children's CDs for my son. Well...okay, they're really for me. After the show M and I hung around for a while being hassled by homeless people and drunk waiters as I vainely hoped to catch the band for autographs. John L. walked right past us going out to the tour bus parked across the street without stopping (which I figured would happen), and by the time we were ready to leave John F. hadn't emerged. I was a little disappointed, but figure maybe next time I'll be lucky. We trekked back to the car and ended up at the diner by my house for a very late dinner just in time to be caught in a torrential downpour when we were ready to leave. At least the weather held out until after the show, but it wasn't supposed to rain yesterday and M and I got soaked running to my car. All in all, it was a really good time. At some point I'll edit this post to add some of the pictures I took, and maybe a song or two if I feel motivated.


Up next: drunken movie marathon at my house at the end of the month. On tap: midori, sangria, and enough snacks to make us burst (or potentially sick). On the marquee: Shaun of the Dead, Identity, Idiocracy for sure, and if we have time (and are still coherent enough) maybe Pulp Fiction.