So it began with a long drive, which included spilling soup on my lap, as well as as many TMBG tapes as we could find. The car ride included myself, and some others as well: Emma, Scott, and Wesley. Scott's dad was driving. Of course, it was necessary to burst into "New York City" when passing Co-Op City, though I don't remember if we did that or not. Anyway, I brough my tape of "Lincoln", and I think Scott had "Factory Showroom" on tape. We listened to those. We neared Long Island and the Vanderbilt. The level of excitement rose considerably.
Yes, it was a long drive. We arrived at a bowling alley down the street from the Vanderbilt, and wondered why no one was there for the concert, until we realized that it was a bowling alley. Eventually, though, we found our venue. At approximately 6:30 pm, we were standing in line. And we were actually considerably close to the front! It was amazing. I was surrounded by people like me. People wearing their TMBG Unlimited fleeces. People wearing TMBG shirts and hats...talking about my favourite band! Anyway, we all thought that the gates were supposed to open at 7:30 but they didn't open till 8. That was okay, though. The line in back of us was tremendously long. I met, briefly, TDK, whom I'd talked to a bit online in the past. Finally, around 8, the doors opened and we headed in. The place was big. Very big. I guess it serves as a hotel, too. The bathrooms were pretty amazing. hehe. Amazingly enough, we had gotten there so early that we were in the second row!! It was standing, but that was okay, because we were able to get really close to the stage. We were on Linnell's side. I was freaking out considerably after seeing Linnell's accordion. Linnell's accordion. Who wouldn't freak out? :) Anyway, we were talking to some people in front of us a little bit. They were huuuge giantheads, and had been to many TMBG concerts and it was fun to hear their stories.
Then came the music. There were two opening bands. It was insane. The first was Mike Viola. He played acoustic guitar, and wasn't the greatest, but he was funny. The next one, Josh Joplin, also played acoustic guitar. I didn't like him much, though much of the audience seemed to. He didn't write any songs of his own, it seemed. He covered other people's songs. He even covered Madonna! We wanted our They.
Finally, at about 11, i believe, music began to play. It sounded like "Your Mom's Alright", i think, "Santa Claus", although i'm not sure, and then "Shoehorn with Teeth", which EVERYONE sang along to. And then...and then...They Might Be Giants came onto the stage. That moment was probably the most amazing moment of my life. They Might Be Giants are my gods, more or less, and to see them....it was amazing. They opened with "New York City", and then went into "James K Polk" in which the presidential love cannon was fired, and confetti rained down onto our heads. I got a piece, which i still have now. I don't remember all of the songs, nor any of them in order, but here's some (besides the first two i've already mentioned)
THIS IS THE ENTIRE, IN ORDER, CORRECT, SET LIST THANKS TO TMBG.NET:
New York City
James K Polk
Why Does the Sun Shine?
She's Actual Size
Cyclops Rock
Shoehorn With Teeth
Older
Twistin'
Subliminal
Drink
Letterbox
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
S~E~X~X~Y
Fingertips
Maybe I Know
Don't Let's Start
Birdhouse in Your Soul
The Guitar
Boss of Me
Particle Man
Doctor Worm
Frankenstein
Spy/Mr. Tambourine Man
She's An Angel