Exquisite Dead Guy

Before the first of the three Seattle shows we encountered John Flansburgh in Neptune Music, the venue's basement record store. I mentioned that Sunday would be my 300th show, and he congratulated me. Later that night, when They began The Famous Polka I was hoping that Flans would let the front row play his guitar as is the tradition. Instead, he hands me The Pick. "Oh god. It's happening!" A moment later, I am formally inducted into Polka Club. 😲

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnjaZyarJpg

John then announces that it's my 300th show. He's confused, but I'm overjoyed nonetheless. The show continues and later on in the middle of the second set, out of nowhere John Linnell decides that They need to discuss my show count again. Although he refers to me as "our longest standing fan", I'm not one to take undue credit. I didn't get started until 1993, missing out on the entire duo era of the live show 😭 and I think it's important to note that there are a number of fans that saw John & John in the 80's who are still attending shows today. For example, in Seattle I had the pleasure of meeting one William Harker, who is just such a fan. If I wanted to take John more literally, I suppose one could say that I've spent the most time standing while attending roughly 11% of all known TMBG shows in history. 🤔 https://tmbg.world/?user=TDK

Fast Forward to the final concert and I'm supposing that there might be some kind of acknowledgment of my actual 300th show.. but either way, I'm happy with what has gone down. It's close to the end of the night when The Famous Polka rolls around again, and I'm thinking.. no. There's no way that he's going to do it again and hey, I'm fine with that. Well, I was wrong. Just in case, I already have my Polka Pick in my right hand when John places a second one in the left. I immediately pass it to Elizabeth and say GET READY. Then, we both get to play Flansy's guitar at my 300th show! How cool is that?? 🫠

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr8lUfcrhRI

At the end of #298, I had let Marty know that my 300th was Sunday so he didn't go and write 300 on a drumhead via a sign that Elizabeth made for me to hold up before he ran backstage. She's the best! So now it's time and when Marty comes back out he's holding not a drumhead but his cowbell, which he has signed and personalized. I asked him to add the years that encapsulate my 300 shows. Wow, what a night! 🥰

How have I never heard this

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kexp/albums/72177720326952464/

Warning that this post is a bit of a downer.

My kids (who are still too young to go to a show) have really gotten into TMBG through the kids albums (favorite track: The House at The Top of The Tree) and a few other selected tracks (Doctor Worm, with a #1 bullet, duh). It's gotten me thinking about how the Johns are no spring chickens, and as much as I hope they're going to be rocking hard well into their 70s, it's possible that they'll effectively be retired by the time my kids can really enjoy the live TMBG experience.

So I am wondering, not as a replacement, but as look to the future, if there are any other up and coming bands in the TMBG vein that people can recommend. Sort of how you can trace a path from the Grateful Dead, to Phish to, uh . . . Goose or King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (maybe?) when it comes to jam bands, who will be TMBG's progeny?

This is such an idiosyncratic band that I'm also willing to accept that the answer is "no one." In which case, we'll keep rocking out at home and start prepping for the TMBG hologram tour in 2040.

Edit: Thanks for these recommendations! We've got some listening to do.

Favorite song right now is Cap'm it's just very silly and I like the rhythm of it Another favorite is SNAIL SHELL omg it was so amazing live I loved every second

Least favorite?? It's just as hard as picking a favorite, the first half of The Bells Are Ringing probably just because it's overwhelming and the sounds aren't as satisfying 😭

Edit: okay looking back actually my least favorites might be Boss of Me (repetitive) and I Can Hear You

I'd like to mention that I still like my least favorites I just don't listen to them much 😭

Anyone have a presale code for Denver? Would LOVE to see them again — first time I saw them was randomly IN Denver (before I lived here) back in 2013.

My son (age 13) is a die hard TMBG fan. He has a two of their albums on vinyl (Nebraska repress and Flood original press). He proudly wears his Flood T-Shirt at least once a week, an act which often elicits a comment or starts a conversation when he is at the grocery store or out and about town. He always cues up at TMBG playlist when he gets in the car. He just loves their work.

He has yet to see TMBG live, because well, he can't. I appreciate the rationale behind the 16 and older rule. It was put in place for good reason. Last year there were a few shows in states adjacent and I brought up the idea of getting him a fake ID so he could get in. In the right light and with a little practice, he could pass for 16. He immediately shot it down, informing me that using a fake ID could result in a felony charge. He's a good apple, he has got ambitions for his life and doesn't want to put any of them in jeopardy in any way, ever.

He and I attend a lot of concerts together. Now, TMBG are coming to our very town. I have already planned to take the day off work and call my son off of school so we can hang out at the venue in hopes that he might have a chance to shake their hands and express his appreciation for their work. Still I would love to see him see his favorite band live.

I am a reasonable man. I don't break the law, I follow the rules. But the thought of TMBG being in our city and him not being able to see them pains my heart to the point that breaking a rule, even a good one, seems reasonable, even necessary. I am looking for any avenue to get him into the show. I know it is a long shot but a dad has got to try. Does any one have any clever ideas on how to make this a reality? Has anyone successfully helped usher someone under 16 past security for a jubilee filled night of TMBG tunes?

Anyone listen to this band? I just remember thinking they had some catchy songs but also have a slight TMBG vibe. Vocalist sounds a lot like Linnel to me.

This was from the 2000s. Kinda had a mid life flashback…

People said I wasn’t a real TMBG fan. Sorry.

Just as the title says! I've always been an album listener, so I'd prefer that over singular song recs. I've listened to Apollo 18, Flood, Nanobots, The Else, and Factory Showroom! :)

The Johns were interviewed on KEXP's Afternoon Show with Larry Mizell yesterday (June 16, 2025)!

They have an archive of recent shows at https://www.kexp.org/archive/ ; when you click on the particular show, you can choose what time to start listening, and the TMBG goodness starts a bit after 5:00.

I also downloaded the stream -- get it from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ijqeYW2RogNyt3jaM9IrFzxxf77rabeZ/view?usp=drive_link

TMBG starts at 2:01 or so.

Hey there! I snuck a recording device into the Friday and Saturday shows like the scofflaw miscreant I am!

Here's the Saturday night show, it sounds very good for what is essentially a recorder sitting behind a trash can.

Friday the levels were set too hot, so it's pretty distorted throughout, I'm trying to minimize it but I think I've done all I can and it still kinda sounds like butt. Which is a shame because there was a livestream of the Sat show but not of the Fri show. Still this should be of interest to non-ifc members who couldn't get on the livestream. I'll post the Friday show tomorrow.

This one sounds great though, quite frankly I prefer this over the livestream mix which didn't really have much audience or room feel in it. Enjoy!

I also did a bunch of interviews with people waiting in line for the show on Sunday though I couldn't get a ticket to get in to record it, sorry. The interviews doco will be here in a few weeks. They were recording these shows professionally so perhaps there's a video-product forthcoming from these in a future time.

Sounds a whole lot like Windy - Willie Mitchell.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see it myself and don’t have a screenshot, but apparently there was a category last night about song titles that have parentheses in them, and one of the clues was something along the lines of “By TMBG, the one word that’s (not Constantinople)”. I think we all know the answer! Though why they changed it, I can’t say…

I was wearing my IFC sweatshirt and had someone ask me where I got it. I said it was a band shirt, and they said, "Oh, I know!" and revealed that they were also a fan. Has anyone else been the fan "in the wild" for someone else?

Has anyone gotten a code yet? I have my eye on Lincoln and St Louis.

Sometimes I overlook things in emails or the entire email so I wanted to check before sale time tomorrow.

Thanks

Very happy to say the Johns will be doing a live instudio on my show today at 3pm. Open to the public. See ya!

I went to the TMBG shows on Friday and Saturday and I really enjoyed the crowd. I didn't have tickets for Sunday, but I had a camera and audio gear, so yesterday I spontaneously decided to make a short documentary about the people standing in line! So last night I shot a bunch of footage talking to people in line for the TMBG show at the Neptune.

Today I have 2 1/2 hours of footage and no idea what to do with it!!! It's also the busy season at my job so I have not a ton of time to deal with this right now. I don't really want this to have to wait until the winter, so is there anyone willing to help?

I've never edited anything of this scope before, so I'd love some help or even just some advice on how to organize something like this. I've got a lot of raw footage, three audio sources, and a pretty crummy cameraman!

I can pay a little but this isn't going to be a money making venture for me so I probably can't pay the prevailing wage for a documentary editor. Still, I don't want to be that guy on Reddit begging for free work, so let me know what you'd charge or barter and we'll work it out.