what could go wrong
The Ok Go show Thursday night at Logan Square Auditorium was amazing, as usual. Every time I see those boys they have a new fun part added to show, and this time was no dissapointment. I also went to the instore the next day, and have a few pictures.
aliste and I arrived at the venue somewhat later than we originally planned due to traffic, so we weren't able to eat beforehand. There was already a small crowd of people all gathered in a bunch around the entrance with no clear line. Eventually a real line was formed, and we were not horribly far back, but not exactly close to the front either. There were a lot of young people there; Ok Go's fanbase has become dominated by 14-16 year old girls, and this show was jam packed with them (and their mothers). One family even had to really young girls, but as it turns out the mother was Dan's cousin. We were pretty hungry, having not eaten dinner, and so while we were waiting we got an order of freshly-cooked fries from the grill/diner on the corner. While eating said fries, aliste suddenly says "it's BOB!" and sure enough, there he was in all his curmudgeonly glory: They Might Be Giants' tour manager, apparently acting tour manager for Ok Go as well. A little while later Dan came out and talked to some people (mostly his cousin's family) and made his way back to the bus, graciously stopping to take some pictures with the squealing fans in line. Tim came out then, walking purposefully toward the bus with nod to the fans, who were squealing considerably more. Finally Damian came out and broke into a run, as a girl a bit in front of us shrieked and claimed her heart stopped. At that point aliste figured we probably wouldn't want to be caught up in the middle of all these crazy girls up front. Unfortunately it didn't look as if the venue was going to have a balcony, so we didn't quite know what position we were going to take.
As it turns out, when we got in we got a spot in the front row extreme stage right, and avoided most (but not all) of the crazy teeny-boppers. There were two openers, much to our chagrin; the first band, Quit Your Day Job, was from Sweden and was absolutely ridiculous, and not in a good way. Their "music" was just barely tolerable, but what was not tolerable was the stripping. No joke, the keyboardist had stripped down to his underwear by the end of the show, and aliste were praying he wasn't going any further. It was frightening. The second band, the French Kicks, were not able to be judged by aliste, as they happened to set up a large amp and monitor right in front of us. It was loud enough to be painful, and all we could hear was the bass and keyboard. aliste eventually couldn't take it anymore and retreated, but I stuck it out (the band before the Long Winters had been far more painful, so) to hold our spots.
Finally it was time for Ok Go to set up. We were a little concerned because they seemed to be running late and we knew that since it was an all ages show they'd have to abide by the city of Chicago's curfew at 10:30pm. Apparently they didn't care about abiding by it, though, since it was probably 10:15pm by the time Ok Go got onstage, and they played until 11:30pm. On the way out we asked one of the guys working at the venue if there had been a curfew tonight and he said their had, and that all he knew is that they were over it. Heh. Anyway, Ok Go's equiptment was all wrapped in white cloths (except one lone Guytron amp) and the mic stands were white, presumably to allow for the projector to project onto them as well as the screen behind them. All the techs were wearing orange jumpsuits, which they had changed into right before setting up for Ok Go. They had the dreaded smoke machine again, but thankfully it was stage left, and we rarely had to breathe it's horrible fumes. We also noticed there were cameras set up on the mics and streamer guns as well, ala the Flaming Lips' setup at Hedgepeth. There was also a confetti cannon, which never got fired off during the show.
Bob had put out quite a few small tambourines, and we immediately deduced that they would be given out. Sure enough, early in the show before one song they threw a bunch of them out into the audience. Being in the front row, though, we didn't get any at that point. During a couple covers, Damian of course went wild and spent some time out in the audience. He also talked about how he felt guilty for leaving Chicago and missed it, and he described LA in some not-so-flattering terms.
A new feature of the show was an "acoustic set", where they wheeled this giant circular platform out into the audience and then the entire band (except Dan? we couldn't really see well) went out there and played acoustic guitars and such. They were mic'd, so we could still hear them fine. They also had a few handheld spotlights, which they handed out to audience members around the platform to hold, including both cptmoll and our friend Sarah, who were standing back there. They played A Million Ways and What to Do, and then returned to the stage for another regular set. When they were getting set up out in the crowd aliste asked for and successfully received a tambourine from the stage, but they wouldn't give out any more.
During the last (played) song of the encore, Do What You Want, they had three of these crazy big fan-inflatable balloon streamer things, like the kind of thing you see at carnivals or used car lots. It was quite a spectacle, thats for sure. After that song a bunch of people started coming on stage and removing things, although Damian was ranting into the microphone about encores and other things. At this point I saw one last tambourine on the stage and as Dan walked passed I asked him for it. He gave it to me, and I was satisfied (I really wanted a tambourine!) I had been thinking that they might not do the Million Ways dance, since they had already played the song and I thought they might be getting tired of it. But then Damian introduced his backyard (projected on the screen behind him) and it became clear they were only breaking down the stage to make room to do the dance.
All in all an excellent show, though a far younger crowd then we are accustomed to dealing with. As it turns out they were doing an instore before the Friday show. We weren't going to the Friday show, but I decided to go to the instore because I wanted to get them to sign my tambourine.
We were extremely lucky we didn't go to the Friday show; it was freezing and raining all night, and would have been absolutely miserable waiting in that. And though I didn't have to wait for the show, I did have to deal with the CTA to get to the instore, which was not in the easiest location. It took me nearly two hours to get from Hyde Park to the Best Buy where it was located, and by the time I got there I was soaking wet and my feet were frozen solid (note to self: put away the Chucks until next spring). I got there really late, in time to see them play a song and a half and take some pictures. They were giving away one of the treadmills from the VMAs, the "G" one. The band all signed it after the set, too. And I got what I went for: my tambourine is now signed. Literally everyone was having them sign CDs or the new DVD, and I was the one anomoly in the crowd. When Tim (who was first to sign everything) saw it he smiled and said "nice", then Damian said told me "nice catch" (I didn't correct him, that I hadn't caught it at all). He said that he had forgotten to tell people to keep playing them throughout the show, and asked if I was going to that night's show. I explained that it was sold out, and he understood. :) I moved along then, since Bob was hurrying everyone along. Was it worth all the suffering in the rain? Probably not, but when I get set on doing something I don't let my own comfort get in the way of me doing it, heh. :P
Tonight: the Decemberists! Yay for our fall show schedule, which is disturbingly similar to our show schedule last year (Sufjan? check. Ok Go? check. The Decemberists? check. Doughty? check.)
aliste and I arrived at the venue somewhat later than we originally planned due to traffic, so we weren't able to eat beforehand. There was already a small crowd of people all gathered in a bunch around the entrance with no clear line. Eventually a real line was formed, and we were not horribly far back, but not exactly close to the front either. There were a lot of young people there; Ok Go's fanbase has become dominated by 14-16 year old girls, and this show was jam packed with them (and their mothers). One family even had to really young girls, but as it turns out the mother was Dan's cousin. We were pretty hungry, having not eaten dinner, and so while we were waiting we got an order of freshly-cooked fries from the grill/diner on the corner. While eating said fries, aliste suddenly says "it's BOB!" and sure enough, there he was in all his curmudgeonly glory: They Might Be Giants' tour manager, apparently acting tour manager for Ok Go as well. A little while later Dan came out and talked to some people (mostly his cousin's family) and made his way back to the bus, graciously stopping to take some pictures with the squealing fans in line. Tim came out then, walking purposefully toward the bus with nod to the fans, who were squealing considerably more. Finally Damian came out and broke into a run, as a girl a bit in front of us shrieked and claimed her heart stopped. At that point aliste figured we probably wouldn't want to be caught up in the middle of all these crazy girls up front. Unfortunately it didn't look as if the venue was going to have a balcony, so we didn't quite know what position we were going to take.
As it turns out, when we got in we got a spot in the front row extreme stage right, and avoided most (but not all) of the crazy teeny-boppers. There were two openers, much to our chagrin; the first band, Quit Your Day Job, was from Sweden and was absolutely ridiculous, and not in a good way. Their "music" was just barely tolerable, but what was not tolerable was the stripping. No joke, the keyboardist had stripped down to his underwear by the end of the show, and aliste were praying he wasn't going any further. It was frightening. The second band, the French Kicks, were not able to be judged by aliste, as they happened to set up a large amp and monitor right in front of us. It was loud enough to be painful, and all we could hear was the bass and keyboard. aliste eventually couldn't take it anymore and retreated, but I stuck it out (the band before the Long Winters had been far more painful, so) to hold our spots.
Finally it was time for Ok Go to set up. We were a little concerned because they seemed to be running late and we knew that since it was an all ages show they'd have to abide by the city of Chicago's curfew at 10:30pm. Apparently they didn't care about abiding by it, though, since it was probably 10:15pm by the time Ok Go got onstage, and they played until 11:30pm. On the way out we asked one of the guys working at the venue if there had been a curfew tonight and he said their had, and that all he knew is that they were over it. Heh. Anyway, Ok Go's equiptment was all wrapped in white cloths (except one lone Guytron amp) and the mic stands were white, presumably to allow for the projector to project onto them as well as the screen behind them. All the techs were wearing orange jumpsuits, which they had changed into right before setting up for Ok Go. They had the dreaded smoke machine again, but thankfully it was stage left, and we rarely had to breathe it's horrible fumes. We also noticed there were cameras set up on the mics and streamer guns as well, ala the Flaming Lips' setup at Hedgepeth. There was also a confetti cannon, which never got fired off during the show.
Bob had put out quite a few small tambourines, and we immediately deduced that they would be given out. Sure enough, early in the show before one song they threw a bunch of them out into the audience. Being in the front row, though, we didn't get any at that point. During a couple covers, Damian of course went wild and spent some time out in the audience. He also talked about how he felt guilty for leaving Chicago and missed it, and he described LA in some not-so-flattering terms.
A new feature of the show was an "acoustic set", where they wheeled this giant circular platform out into the audience and then the entire band (except Dan? we couldn't really see well) went out there and played acoustic guitars and such. They were mic'd, so we could still hear them fine. They also had a few handheld spotlights, which they handed out to audience members around the platform to hold, including both cptmoll and our friend Sarah, who were standing back there. They played A Million Ways and What to Do, and then returned to the stage for another regular set. When they were getting set up out in the crowd aliste asked for and successfully received a tambourine from the stage, but they wouldn't give out any more.
During the last (played) song of the encore, Do What You Want, they had three of these crazy big fan-inflatable balloon streamer things, like the kind of thing you see at carnivals or used car lots. It was quite a spectacle, thats for sure. After that song a bunch of people started coming on stage and removing things, although Damian was ranting into the microphone about encores and other things. At this point I saw one last tambourine on the stage and as Dan walked passed I asked him for it. He gave it to me, and I was satisfied (I really wanted a tambourine!) I had been thinking that they might not do the Million Ways dance, since they had already played the song and I thought they might be getting tired of it. But then Damian introduced his backyard (projected on the screen behind him) and it became clear they were only breaking down the stage to make room to do the dance.
All in all an excellent show, though a far younger crowd then we are accustomed to dealing with. As it turns out they were doing an instore before the Friday show. We weren't going to the Friday show, but I decided to go to the instore because I wanted to get them to sign my tambourine.
We were extremely lucky we didn't go to the Friday show; it was freezing and raining all night, and would have been absolutely miserable waiting in that. And though I didn't have to wait for the show, I did have to deal with the CTA to get to the instore, which was not in the easiest location. It took me nearly two hours to get from Hyde Park to the Best Buy where it was located, and by the time I got there I was soaking wet and my feet were frozen solid (note to self: put away the Chucks until next spring). I got there really late, in time to see them play a song and a half and take some pictures. They were giving away one of the treadmills from the VMAs, the "G" one. The band all signed it after the set, too. And I got what I went for: my tambourine is now signed. Literally everyone was having them sign CDs or the new DVD, and I was the one anomoly in the crowd. When Tim (who was first to sign everything) saw it he smiled and said "nice", then Damian said told me "nice catch" (I didn't correct him, that I hadn't caught it at all). He said that he had forgotten to tell people to keep playing them throughout the show, and asked if I was going to that night's show. I explained that it was sold out, and he understood. :) I moved along then, since Bob was hurrying everyone along. Was it worth all the suffering in the rain? Probably not, but when I get set on doing something I don't let my own comfort get in the way of me doing it, heh. :P
Tonight: the Decemberists! Yay for our fall show schedule, which is disturbingly similar to our show schedule last year (Sufjan? check. Ok Go? check. The Decemberists? check. Doughty? check.)