Good things have always come out of Seattle, but this time it’s personal. First it was the bequeathment of fine footwear by Receptionista, to me. More recently an awesome mix CD arrived in the mail from the stellar Starbody. I popped it in several times over the weekend but I finally listened to it from start to finish in one sitting, while making our Sunday evening meal…and it ended just as the food was ready to be served (clocking in at 78 minutes of music, and prep time). That was the relaxing bit. The chaotic portion of the stickyhot and humid weekend commenced with Friday night’s They Might Be Giants show, battling Basilica Block Party traffic to get to the venue. Somehow we arrived just moments before the first band got going. TMBG’s opening acts have always been quite the grab bag. You never know what you’re going to get (in this case, the tickets listed the openers TBA). So when the first act took to the stage I couldn’t get past the strangeness of it…of seeing one of Buffy’s Big Bads, ok, maybe little Bads, doing something so out of character. It was Adam Busch, the actor who played Warren. I knew he was in some band, but couldn’t remember what they were called. Apparently it’s Common Rotation. At times amusing, at times annoying, their set passed by quickly…probably because I was so discombobulated. They were followed up by the indescribable Corn Mo. This is closest to doing the experience justice:
“If you take a little bit of Tiny Tim, Weird Al, Nikki Sixx, Night Ranger, and a heaping tablespoon of Jonathan Richman, you will come up with a shake full of Corn Mo. He played with a crash cymbal and an accordian, that’s it. A towering vision of long hair, mutton chops, and 80’s metal attitude. It was a sight to behold, and his voice was as powerful as a Meat Loaf epic ballad.”
Yeah. And naturally TMBG were wonderful, as usual (I’ve still got Robot Parade stuck in my head). So much so that I had to see them again. I took the little man to Orchestra Hall the next morning for the free family-friendly performance. Little did I know that other families had shown up before 8am to stake out their spots for the 11am show. We showed up around 10:50am, pushed our way through the crowd, and lucked into a spot next to friends. Sadly the little man didn’t seem very enthused, save for two highlights. 1) a shower of confetti and 2) John Linnell singing Mop! Mop! Mop!. The next day’s visit to the Children’s Museum, with our most excellent neighbors, was much more to his liking.
