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Satellite Ballroom, Charlottesville VA, 3/16/08 (with THRILLING ROCK PHOTOGRAPHY!)

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The Mirthful Interloper

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Mar 21, 2008, 6:00:05 AM3/21/08

This was my fourth TMBG show, and my second show on the "The Else"
tour. I was a little disappointed in the lack of energy the crowd seemed
to bring, although perhaps the fact that this show was in a small
college town rather than Raleigh or Charlotte had something to do with
it. At the Neighborhood Theatre show in Charlotte last October, we were
standing next to an insane, most likely coked-up woman who was dancing
wildly throughout the set. She seemed ridiculous at the time, but you
look at things differently when you're thrust into the role of having to
carry the energy for the entire crowd yourself.

This was also the first concert where me and my sister and my friend
weren't directly in front of the stage. We arrived slightly late, and
the squatters were already posted up ten feet deep by the time we got
in. My sister got greedy before the show began and tried to wedge her
way closer to the stage, and we ended ended up getting logjammed
uncomfortably at the left side of the venue for most of the show.

Oppenheimer was scheduled to play but couldn't make it, so Corn Mo
gamely stepped in and rocked the joint. Last time I saw him was with
only an accordian and a bass drum, so I was blown away with his piano
chops.

For all their talk about trying to escape being pigeonholed as a
"novelty act", they still open with WDTSS, Alphabet of Nations, and
Twisting. Amazingly, the only tracks they played off The Else were
"Upside Down Frown" and "Withered Hope", which could very well be my two
*least* favorite. Far be it from me to tell the Johns how to sequence
their concert, but songs like "Climbing the Walls" or "Shadow
Government" would have added some much-needed weight to the concert.
"Memo" and "Boss of Me" feel especially insubstantial in live
performance.

There was too little audience participation in the Johns' show, and the
they introduced it too late, although things warmed up in the second
half of the concert (the one-two punch of Birdhouse/Damn Good Times
helped.) Maybe the Johns have spoiled me, but I miss things like "the
wave" and "spin the dial" that they had in earlier shows. During 'Drink'
I was one of about three people in the audience with their drinks in
their hand, which led me to the depressing realization that I was at
least 10 years older than the average age of this crowd.

There was a funny part where the audience was clapping along to
"Older", and Linnell was having difficulty finding where to enter. Also,
my voice should show up on the board recordings, as I jumped the gun
while singing along to the "...is still marching on" lyric.

Also, there were technical difficulties between the main set and the
first (and only) encore, which resulted in about a ten minute delay.
Some girls at the front of the stage tried to rouse the audience in a
sing-along, which didn't catch on. I tried again with "Cowtown", but had
no better luck.

On the plus side, I didn't spend the entire show fucking with my camera
like I did at the Neighborhood Theatre. I did get some decent shots with
my camera, even though the color has been inexplicably wonky on it for
the last few months, and a far superior digital camera arrived Fed Ex
*the next day*. We ended up staying way too late, as my sister insisted
on stalking out the Johns in the parking, waiting for them to emerge
from the bus, which they never did.

Anyway, here is the promised THRILLING ROCK PHOTOGRAPHY!

http://shorterlink.com/?EYYPA2

In addition to wonky color, my photos also seem to have vertical lines.
On request, I'll also post my photos from the Neighborhood Theatre.

--
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krafft-ebing | http://www.myspace.com/craftybeing O RLY?

The Mirthful Interloper

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Mar 21, 2008, 6:02:40 AM3/21/08

Iff'n you don't have a MySpace account to log into, here are direct links to the images:

Bibliophilia

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Apr 4, 2008, 10:09:24 AM4/4/08

On Mar 21, 6:00 am, The Mirthful Interloper <tagut...@earthlink.net>
wrote:

> This was my fourth TMBG show, and my second show on the "The Else"
> tour. I was a little disappointed in the lack of energy the crowd seemed
> to bring, although perhaps the fact that this show was in a small
> college town rather than Raleigh or Charlotte had something to do with
> it. At the Neighborhood Theatre show in Charlotte last October, we were
> standing next to an insane, most likely coked-up woman who was dancing
> wildly throughout the set. She seemed ridiculous at the time, but you
> look at things differently when you're thrust into the role of having to
> carry the energy for the entire crowd yourself.

Does this mean you didn't ever see Them at Starr Hill, which was the
former space They played in last time they were in Charlottesville?

How was the Satellite venue itself? I had plans to go, but my back
was out. I liked the crowds at Starr Hill, but the venue itself was
too cramped. (You kept waiting for the band to pop off the stage in a
shower of equipment, like someone opening the door to an overstuffed
closet? Plus, I got the sense there were issues with bringing
equipment up the front stairs.)

I thought the crowds in C'ville were okay, with a certain number of
underaged teens so excited I thought their heads would explode!

Did you feel the crowd wasn't making enough noise? Not enough
obnoxious drunks? (I love seeing Flans deal with the over-imbibed,
btw.)

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