They Might Be Giants, I Might Be Old

Every time I go to a general admission show I get stuck behind the Wall of Dude. The Wall of Dude is four to six guys, all about six feet tall, who stand shoulder to shoulder and do not move for the entire show. It does not matter where I am standing when the show starts. Somehow the Wall of Dude finds me, every time. Last night’s TMBG show at the Recher was no exception.

Fortunately, the conga line broke out relatively early in the evening. I grabbed on and got moving, but the floor was too crowded, and the conga line terminated at stage right. It was disappointing – what is wrong with people? When They Might Be Giants plays “No One Knows My Plan,” you do not just stand there, you fucking conga. That is the rule. However, once the conga line fell apart, I was fifteen feet from the stage with a much better view for the rest of the show, and I was in a pile of the conga people, so at least they were dancing. Sort of. This is what made me feel kind of out of touch.

The first time I felt my age for the night was when I didn’t get carded. For the past couple of years I have been kidding myself that the reason I do not get carded anymore is that I am with Scott and he is REALLY old, but with him or not, I have not been carded since my mid twenties, except for the brief time I had braces. I know it is ridiculous. I know I do not look nineteen years old, but I feel nineteen, and I am really immature.

So, old: Kids today, they just don’t know how to be ridiculous. I have seen TMBG at least six times over the past twenty years (Philly 1992, Boston 1994, Lancaster 1996, Chicago 2004, and Baltimore 2007 and 2010), and what I have always loved about their shows is the singular experience of being squished in with a thousand new friends, and jumping up and down for two solid hours because that is all you can do at their shows, just jump and be thoroughly silly. Once I was close to the stage, there were kids around me -and yes, I was separated from Scott at this point, and surrounded by people young enough that they could have been my kids, and no, I did not care one bit about being the crazy old lady having a hyperspaz- and the kids were into it, but it was not the frenzy of unbridled goofiness I remember. The occasional bursts of confetti helped, but once the confetti settled to the floor, it was just me jumping around like an idiot behind a girl who smelled like Pantene and farts and did little more than shift from left to right for an hour.

This is not to say the crowd wasn’t into it and wasn’t fun. It is still a geekier, sillier, more obsessive crowd than one finds at an average rock show, and TMBG put on a hell of a show. Highlights:

1. Opening with a song about the periodic table of the elements.
2. We were in sock puppet prison! I wish I could find decent video of the Avatars of They. It was hilarious. This one isn’t great, but it gives an idea of the silliness.
3. Don’t Let’s Start, Turn Around, Hearing Aid, Memo to Human Resources, Dr. Worm, and of course Istanbul, and Birdhouse in Your Soul.
4. Both Johns cursing on stage. If you’ve been to Their shows, you know this is a rarity. Flansburgh saying, “We are fucking psyched,” may be one of my favorite moments from any show, ever.
5. The trumpet / euphonium player was just amazing.

6. There was a girl near me who reminded me of me. She barely made it into the 14 and up age bracket for the show. Her hair wasn’t quite right, she was wearing a plaid sundress with a sweatshirt and green chuck taylors, and bouncing around with her equally off kilter friends. It made me smile.
7. Watching a kid who could not possibly have been alive in 1990 all energized and grinning as he bought a copy of Flood.
8. I wore my awesome flame sneakers.
9. All these years later, the songs off of Lincoln still rock.
10. Confetti! So much confetti! It was awesome during the show, and when I got home I got to relive the whole thing. Taking off my sweater sent confetti flying out from under the collar, inside my bra, everywhere. Happy new year!