They Might Be Giants

Cutler's - New Haven, CT.  June 14, 2002

Setlist
Robot Parade
Cyclops Rock
Violin
Bed Bed Bed
Older
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

Review
This was another extremely short show, but it was amazing. It was an in-store at this tiny record store right across the street from Yale. There was driving rain the entire time on the way there, and we were stuck in traffic for a very long time. Luckily, this wasn't a problem, because everyone else had been affected by the traffic, including They Might Be Giants, who were about a half hour late, I think. I went to this concert with Emma, but we met up with Chris there, and eventually, Rich, too.
   It was just the Johns. No Dans. No electric guitar, no keyboard. Just an accordion and an acoustic guitar. Cyclops Rock was very...interesting like this. Certainly very different, as they did some folk version of it. The amazing thing was that there was no rail, no stage, nothing. It was just the Johns standing in front of us, singing to us. There were not many people there, and they set up their own stuff. If someone said something during a quiet part of a song, or between songs, everyone would be able to hear it. (This happened once, with some stoned guy.) It was the most intimate show I've been to, and was an amazing experience.
   For Bed Bed Bed, Linnell had this little box that he would push buttons on that made fun noises. That was very entertaining, and...wow. What an awesome song live. I think Rich recorded it and you can find it on twistid. Violin was also pretty funny live, what with the mops and such.
   After the very short show, there was to be a signing. They were putting away their things before this, and Linnell was standing right next to us, so Emma and I took the initiative to say hello. We wished him a happy birthday as well. We were second in line to get our stuff signed, and we gave Flans a copy of the video we made for "Hearing Aid" which is really cool, and will be on twistid sometime soon hopefully. He seemed pretty enthusiastic about it, although I doubt they'd watch it...I asked Linnell if his son Henry liked No! and he said that, yeah, he was really into it. Yay, I talked to Linnell! I had never done that before. We left very early and had dinner and watched Fraggle Rock. All in all, a surreal experience, if not too short!