TMBG vs. McSweeney's at UCLA April 24
K. S.
way too late. I know, I know, I was warned about the "McSweeney's" portion,
but really, the "readings" part went on way too long. Its a three hour
night.
There were many who were there for the readings exclusively. I was really
shocked how many people were exiting during the "music" portion that arrived
2 hours deep into the show. Yeah, the band was there at the start: "Older"
and a song about Tim McSweeney. The band then sat patiently while the
artists read The band did embellish the readings at points. Kinda cool.
The band would do a song or two between readings. The readings were the
main point of the show. Not great news for a fidgity Giants fan.
The first was a woman, Sarah ? (vowel?), who I believe I saw in "Gigantic."
I couldn't see her face from my seat, but I recognized the voice. She was
very good. Very funny. Very interesting. I really liked her. The band did
an acoustic song after her first segment about how things could be worse.
"Gallows Hill and Andersonville, It could be worse"
But then, after the song, she went on. She was funny, but leave us wanting
more. She was still funny, but that was the first point where things seemed
to go on too long for me.
After Sarah finished, the band performed "She Thinks She's Edith Head."
Sarah then, very humorously commenting on the next readers accent and the
English in general, introduced (here goes on spelling, why didn't I get a
program) Zadie Smitts.
This person was very well spoken and when the band embellished, her cadence
worked well with the bands nearly continuos playing of "Bangs." Her story
being about her relationship (affair) with a woman who had irresistible
bangs. This went on for nearly 20 minutes. Then the band, very predictably,
played the song "Bangs." My ADD really getting to my wife at this point.
Then came on Mr. Eggers. I'm sorry, but unlike the woman who had me then
kinda lost me at one point or another, Eggers never had me. His stuff
seemed smug and very self aware. "I'm Clever in a hip underground way"
kinda bullshit. His delivery being different from his speaking voice. His
gestures and voice sometimes echoing George Carlin. But his story was blunt
and crass relying on shock and situation familiarity for laughs. Boring. The
guy went on for about a half hour. It was brutal. The band did do a Smiths
song behind him. Three cheers to the man and all his accomplishments and
guts, but I wanted to pull my ears off my head by the time of the merciful
intermission.
After the intermission, the band played 50 minutes:
Bed Bed Bed
Supertaster
Birdhouse
Clap your Hands
James K Polk
THe SUn
Man its Loud in Here
Dead
In the MIddle
Dr Worm
Drink
spin the dial variety (Free Fallin with Tom Petty being a highlight)
Particle Man
New York
-Encore-
Violin (complete with crowd "booing"Wave as instructed by Linnell)
Fingertips (great one at that)
DigitalSquid inc
it before I saw that someone else had posted about it. However, I must say
that I did quite enjoy all of the readings and wish there had been more than
just three McSweeney's authors there tonight. My report:
It turned out that I had a pretty sucky seat for the McSweeney's portion of the
show, which was surprising seeing as how I had bought my ticket over eight
months in advance:
- Space Krickets Intro
- TMBG - Older
- TMBG - The Ballad of Timothy McSweeney
- John Flansburgh introduces Dave Eggers
- Eggers/Flansburgh discuss the origins of the project/show
- Eggers introduces Sarah Vowell
- Vowell - an amusing account of her trip to Salem
- TMBG - It Could Be Worse
- Vowell - a piece about the Cocoa bean
- TMBG - She Thinks She's Edith Head
- Vowell introduces Zadie Smith
- Smith - "The Girl with Bangs"
- TMBG - Bangs
- Smith Introduces Eggers
- Eggers - "Mrs. Gunderson" f/TMBG covering the Allen Parsons Project and the
Smiths
- Intermission
TMBG then played an abbreviated rock set, at the beginning of which Flans
invited everyone to stand, allowing me the opportunity to rush the stage and
snag a spot right up in front of Linnell's keyboard for the rest of the show.
At the end of the show, I snagged Linnell's setlist with ease and had Flans
autograph it at the signing in the lobby after the show. I also asked him
about the possibility of a Sapphire Bullets show in Anaheim, and he told me
they were only doing it in San Francisco and Oregon.
TMBG's closing set:
Bed Bed Bed / John Lee Supertaster / Birdhouse in Your Soul / Clap Your Hands /
James K. Polk / Why Does the Sun Shine? / Man, It's So Loud in Here / Dead / In
the Middle, In the Middle, In the Middle / Dr. Worm / Drink / Spin the Dial
(featuring "Free Falling" and "Going to the Chapel") / Particle Man / New York
City // Violin / Fingertips
All in all, a pretty great show. My terrible seat was made up for by the spot
right up against the stage I managed to get for the second half and the signed
setlist I walked away with. Looking forward to Saturday.
Shane
> I'd love to know what others thought, but I have to say way too little TMBG,
> way too late. I know, I know, I was warned about the "McSweeney's" portion,
> but really, the "readings" part went on way too long. Its a three hour
> night.
by my count, you got about twice as much tmbg in the "music only" portion
of the night than i got in chicago:
http://www.tmbg.net/shows/102602.html
(i had a great time, though, because i enjoyed the readings quite a bit)
-shane
Nathan Mulac DeHoff
>Sarah then, very humorously commenting on the next readers accent and the
>English in general, introduced (here goes on spelling, why didn't I get a
>program) Zadie Smitts.
I think her last name is actually Smith.
>Then came on Mr. Eggers. I'm sorry, but unlike the woman who had me then
>kinda lost me at one point or another, Eggers never had me. His stuff
>seemed smug and very self aware. "I'm Clever in a hip underground way"
>kinda bullshit.
Y'know, I've never read anything by Eggers (that I can recall, anyway), but I
kind of got the impression that his writing would be like that. Thanks for
confirming my previously largely unfounded suspicions. <g> (Well, I guess the
fact that he wrote something called "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius"
or whatever helped to clue me in.)
>The band did do a Smiths
>song behind him.
Which song?
Nathan
Dinne...@tmbg.org
http://www.geocities.com/fablesto/
"And the silver chauffeur says it's all in your head, when you're 24 karat
dead." --They Might Be Giants
jessie
>
> >Then came on Mr. Eggers. I'm sorry, but unlike the woman who had me
> >then kinda lost me at one point or another, Eggers never had me.
> >His stuff seemed smug and very self aware. "I'm Clever in a hip
> >underground way" kinda bullshit.
>
> Y'know, I've never read anything by Eggers (that I can recall,
> anyway), but I kind of got the impression that his writing would be
> like that. Thanks for confirming my previously largely unfounded
> suspicions. <g> (Well, I guess the fact that he wrote something
> called "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" or whatever helped
> to clue me in.)
>
oh! don't write him off before you read the book. it's maybe my
favourite book ever. I don't know what he's like with public speaking,
but "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" is really fucking funny.
His new book, "You Shall Know Our Velocity" is meant to be more
serious, and it's pretty good, but Heartbreaking is far, far better.
please read it before you pass judgements.
K. S.
"Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <jinn...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030425140812...@mb-m13.aol.com...
>>
> >The band did do a Smiths
> >song behind him.
>
> Which song?
When I Wonder
Jordan QUSAK
> >song behind him.
>
> Which song?
>>When I Wonder>>
Well I Wonder!
Wow WEIRD... This is one of the last Smiths songs Id expect them to do... Not
one of the most melodic, really somber.... man i had a mini obsession with this
song for like a week 2 months ago
Jordan
K. S.
"Jordan QUSAK" <hallo...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030426125205...@mb-m15.aol.com...
> > >The band did do a Smiths
> > >song behind him.
> >
> > Which song?
>
> >>When I Wonder>>
>
> Well I Wonder!
>
wonder....
Adam
> of the night than i got in chicago:
> -shane
And about 50% more than I did in Minnesota. Consider yourself lucky.
Adam
Self-pitying, Embittered, Morose Wisconsin Man
Adam
Lots of people love him, but I can't stomach him or his overwritten,
smarmy, self-important, ruthlessly manipulative stuff. Bleagh. By
all means read him for yourself, but approach at your own risk.
K. S.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson
Factotum by Charles Bukowski
Dems funny books.
"jessie" <poison...@runbox.com> wrote in message
news:Usenet.haoctsdd@localhost...
Elliot Harmon
>
> oh! don't write him off before you read the book. it's maybe my
> favourite book ever. I don't know what he's like with public speaking,
> but "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" is really fucking funny.
> His new book, "You Shall Know Our Velocity" is meant to be more
> serious, and it's pretty good, but Heartbreaking is far, far better.
> please read it before you pass judgements.
>
Agreed. Actually, I haven't read /Heartbreaking.../ yet, but YSKOV was
one of the most emotional reads of my life.
The thing about Eggars' writing is that it's unabashedly aware of its
own weaknesses. His writing speaks to those who think of writing as a
lifestyle, rather than one single product for which we praise only
certain individuals.
Speaking of such, why generally so much bitterness on this group about
the McSweeney's shows? I, for one, would have killed to go to one of
them (I was busy when they came to Minneapolis) and hear all the writers
along with my favorite band. The McSweeney's/TMBG issue was one of my
favorite reading experiences ever. I know from past experience that TMBG
fans are, by and large, people who treat art as more lifestyle than
product. You all have guitars and typewriters in your basements, guys.
Why would you not want to spend an evening listening to people who share
that with you?
--
Elliot Harmon
http://elliot.superharmonbros.com
"It should not escape our notice that the most massive tyrannies of our
century have been established by men who intended to create an earthly
paradise." -Francis Canavan
Michael Byron Baer
K. S. <hitwi...@REMOVEearthlink.net> wrote:
>
>Sarah then, very humorously commenting on the next readers accent and the
>English in general, introduced (here goes on spelling, why didn't I get a
>program) Zadie Smitts.
Does anyone know where I could get an audio or text copy of this story,
outside of paying $40 for an out of print copy of McSweeney's on eBay? It was
quite good when she told it up here.
Michael
Nathan Mulac DeHoff
>Speaking of such, why generally so much bitterness on this group about
>the McSweeney's shows?
Well, because some people were expecting a TMBG show, and got a McSweeney's
show with some TMBG thrown in. I'm not speaking from personal experience,
since I didn't go to any of those shows, but I can understand how people felt.
There was some decent stuff in McSweeney's, and I would have liked to hear some
of TMBG's songs from that project done live, but I'm just not the kind of
person that goes to poetry or prose readings. They're not my cup of tea.
>I know from past experience that TMBG
>fans are, by and large, people who treat art as more lifestyle than
>product.
Whatever THAT means...
Elliot Harmon
>>I know from past experience that TMBG
>>fans are, by and large, people who treat art as more lifestyle than
>>product.
>
>
> Whatever THAT means...
Maybe I was speaking too obliquely there. It's the difference between
remembering a really great album and remembering a really great solo or
riff. The former implies that art can be packed into a single, static
container. The latter implies that the artist ought to be constantly
creating, constantly reworking. Like They Might Be Giants do.
Dave Eggars and his ilk very much fall into the "art as lifestyle"
category. Read his writing and you'll see what I mean. /You Shall Know
Our Velocity/ is the product of a man spending months writing, not the
product of a man saying, "Hey. I know. I'll write a novel." It has more
loose ends than you can count on one hand, because that's not really the
point. Think of it as the literary equivalent of TMBG's stuff onstage
with the radio. It doesn't always work perfectly. It's not a single,
digestible product in the way in which, say, a Tom Clancy novel or a
Britney Spears song is.
Oh, by the way, the title /A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius/ is
totally part of the joke. In the book, he goes into detail on how he had
next to nothing to do with naming it.
--
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