Fact #134359
When:
Short story:
The B-52s, They Might Be Giants, Ziggy Marley, and The Cramps play in X-Fest III at The Aztec Bowl, San Diego, California, USA.Full article:
Review from The San Diego Union : The first band to take the stage, They Might Be Giants, has a sound that might best be described as a strangulated cat crossed with a 1950s sitcom theme song. This isn't, by the way, as bad as it sounds.
But there's the definite impression that They Might Be Giants (the band actually consists of only two men, both named John) has a taste for odd for odd's sake. The first hint of this was their choice of instrumentation, which included accordion, out-of-tune horns, a marching bass drum and a metronome.
The oddness of their instrumentation pales next to the "Two Johns" themselves, who delighted in just being strange. Probably no other band in the world which would poke fun at pop conventions by screaming "Awesome guitar solo, awesome guitar solo, awesome guitar solo" during the part of a song where most bands would actually put such solos.
They Might Be Giants also got the audience to simulate a car crash in two parts, to square dance (during "Cow Town," the highlight of their set), and to act as a fist-waving timekeeper for a song. The crowd took these, and They Might Be Giants, for what they were: silly fun.
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But there's the definite impression that They Might Be Giants (the band actually consists of only two men, both named John) has a taste for odd for odd's sake. The first hint of this was their choice of instrumentation, which included accordion, out-of-tune horns, a marching bass drum and a metronome.
The oddness of their instrumentation pales next to the "Two Johns" themselves, who delighted in just being strange. Probably no other band in the world which would poke fun at pop conventions by screaming "Awesome guitar solo, awesome guitar solo, awesome guitar solo" during the part of a song where most bands would actually put such solos.
They Might Be Giants also got the audience to simulate a car crash in two parts, to square dance (during "Cow Town," the highlight of their set), and to act as a fist-waving timekeeper for a song. The crowd took these, and They Might Be Giants, for what they were: silly fun.