Dec 21: They Might Be Giants kids show in Philly 12/9/06 -- Updated
A couple Saturdays ago (December 9), Cyndi and I took our kids up to Philadelphia. Ostensibly, this was just your basic touristy site seeing trip. In reality, it was a surprise trip to see a kid-friendly They Might Be Giants concert.
We headed out around 10 a.m. and got to the venue, the World Cafe Live, at about 1. The concert was at 2, with doors opening at 1:30. We went in and Cyndi went to the will-call counter to pick up the tickets. The kids at this point were starting to wonder aloud why we were at this place; it wasn't the Liberty Bell after all. I just told them that this was our first stop and that we'd hit the Liberty Bell a little later. Once Cyndi had the tickets in hand, we took our place in the line that had formed. The kids continued to ask why we were here, but we continue to evade their questions. Finally, after about 10 minutes in line, and having seen about 20 people in TMBG shirts, Jake says "Hey, I think we're going to a concert!" After some more evasion, we confirm that yes, we're going to TMBG show.
After a few more minutes, they open the doors and we make our way down the stairs an into the concert hall. It's a pretty small place with a floor section, a bar at the back and a balcony above the bar. We, of course, head for the floor as close as we can get to the stage. A lady in a motorized wheelchair, who had been positioned dead center rolls over to us and asks if we want to take her place. She was concerned that she'd be blocking a bunch of kids' views. We eagerly agree and find ourselves front and center: the best seats in the house.
They Might Be Giants took the stage about 20 minutes later and began the show. It was a great show. They mainly played material from their two kids albums, 'No!' and 'Here Come the ABC's', but also threw in a couple kid-friendly tunes from some of their other albums.
For most of the show, we were just sitting on the floor, but occasionally they'd have everyone get up and jump around. Elise and Jake loved the show and were singing along with most of the songs. Claire was a little overwhelmed by it all and spent a lot of the time huddled in one of our laps or under the tables between the stage and the audience. By the end, though, even she seemed to be enjoying it. It took a little while afterwards for it to completely sink in for her. Afterwards, as we were driving around, we listened to some TMBG and she got very excited when we heard a song they had played.
I spent most of the show just enjoying it, but I also took my camera out on a couple occasions and took some pictures of the kids with the band behind them. It was pretty hard to set the exposure correctly due to a lot of flashing lights. I did end up with a few keepers, though. My favorites are from when I turned off the camera's flash and used only the stage lighting. A couple of them are below; the rest can be seen on my family photos site.
After the show, as we were walking back to our car, Cyndi nudges me and says "that guy looks like Gene Ween!" After we walk past him and get a good look (and debate it a little), I go and ask him if he is, in fact, Gene Ween (from the band Ween). As it turns out, it was! Ween had played there the night before and he had stuck around to take his son to see the TMBG show. How cool is that?
We then grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed for the Liberty Bell (the kids had gotten excited about it when they thought that's why we were going to Philly). Sadly, we got there right after it closed, so we started home, stopping for a quick visit at Cyndi's parents' house in Delaware.
Update 12/27/06: Cyndi found some pictures from this show on flickr with us in them: here, here, here and here. Also, here's one of Gene Ween.
A couple Saturdays ago (December 9), Cyndi and I took our kids up to Philadelphia. Ostensibly, this was just your basic touristy site seeing trip. In reality, it was a surprise trip to see a kid-friendly They Might Be Giants concert.
We headed out around 10 a.m. and got to the venue, the World Cafe Live, at about 1. The concert was at 2, with doors opening at 1:30. We went in and Cyndi went to the will-call counter to pick up the tickets. The kids at this point were starting to wonder aloud why we were at this place; it wasn't the Liberty Bell after all. I just told them that this was our first stop and that we'd hit the Liberty Bell a little later. Once Cyndi had the tickets in hand, we took our place in the line that had formed. The kids continued to ask why we were here, but we continue to evade their questions. Finally, after about 10 minutes in line, and having seen about 20 people in TMBG shirts, Jake says "Hey, I think we're going to a concert!" After some more evasion, we confirm that yes, we're going to TMBG show.
After a few more minutes, they open the doors and we make our way down the stairs an into the concert hall. It's a pretty small place with a floor section, a bar at the back and a balcony above the bar. We, of course, head for the floor as close as we can get to the stage. A lady in a motorized wheelchair, who had been positioned dead center rolls over to us and asks if we want to take her place. She was concerned that she'd be blocking a bunch of kids' views. We eagerly agree and find ourselves front and center: the best seats in the house.
They Might Be Giants took the stage about 20 minutes later and began the show. It was a great show. They mainly played material from their two kids albums, 'No!' and 'Here Come the ABC's', but also threw in a couple kid-friendly tunes from some of their other albums.
For most of the show, we were just sitting on the floor, but occasionally they'd have everyone get up and jump around. Elise and Jake loved the show and were singing along with most of the songs. Claire was a little overwhelmed by it all and spent a lot of the time huddled in one of our laps or under the tables between the stage and the audience. By the end, though, even she seemed to be enjoying it. It took a little while afterwards for it to completely sink in for her. Afterwards, as we were driving around, we listened to some TMBG and she got very excited when we heard a song they had played.
I spent most of the show just enjoying it, but I also took my camera out on a couple occasions and took some pictures of the kids with the band behind them. It was pretty hard to set the exposure correctly due to a lot of flashing lights. I did end up with a few keepers, though. My favorites are from when I turned off the camera's flash and used only the stage lighting. A couple of them are below; the rest can be seen on my family photos site.
After the show, as we were walking back to our car, Cyndi nudges me and says "that guy looks like Gene Ween!" After we walk past him and get a good look (and debate it a little), I go and ask him if he is, in fact, Gene Ween (from the band Ween). As it turns out, it was! Ween had played there the night before and he had stuck around to take his son to see the TMBG show. How cool is that?
We then grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed for the Liberty Bell (the kids had gotten excited about it when they thought that's why we were going to Philly). Sadly, we got there right after it closed, so we started home, stopping for a quick visit at Cyndi's parents' house in Delaware.
Update 12/27/06: Cyndi found some pictures from this show on flickr with us in them: here, here, here and here. Also, here's one of Gene Ween.
We headed out around 10 a.m. and got to the venue, the World Cafe Live, at about 1. The concert was at 2, with doors opening at 1:30. We went in and Cyndi went to the will-call counter to pick up the tickets. The kids at this point were starting to wonder aloud why we were at this place; it wasn't the Liberty Bell after all. I just told them that this was our first stop and that we'd hit the Liberty Bell a little later. Once Cyndi had the tickets in hand, we took our place in the line that had formed. The kids continued to ask why we were here, but we continue to evade their questions. Finally, after about 10 minutes in line, and having seen about 20 people in TMBG shirts, Jake says "Hey, I think we're going to a concert!" After some more evasion, we confirm that yes, we're going to TMBG show.
After a few more minutes, they open the doors and we make our way down the stairs an into the concert hall. It's a pretty small place with a floor section, a bar at the back and a balcony above the bar. We, of course, head for the floor as close as we can get to the stage. A lady in a motorized wheelchair, who had been positioned dead center rolls over to us and asks if we want to take her place. She was concerned that she'd be blocking a bunch of kids' views. We eagerly agree and find ourselves front and center: the best seats in the house.
They Might Be Giants took the stage about 20 minutes later and began the show. It was a great show. They mainly played material from their two kids albums, 'No!' and 'Here Come the ABC's', but also threw in a couple kid-friendly tunes from some of their other albums.
For most of the show, we were just sitting on the floor, but occasionally they'd have everyone get up and jump around. Elise and Jake loved the show and were singing along with most of the songs. Claire was a little overwhelmed by it all and spent a lot of the time huddled in one of our laps or under the tables between the stage and the audience. By the end, though, even she seemed to be enjoying it. It took a little while afterwards for it to completely sink in for her. Afterwards, as we were driving around, we listened to some TMBG and she got very excited when we heard a song they had played.
I spent most of the show just enjoying it, but I also took my camera out on a couple occasions and took some pictures of the kids with the band behind them. It was pretty hard to set the exposure correctly due to a lot of flashing lights. I did end up with a few keepers, though. My favorites are from when I turned off the camera's flash and used only the stage lighting. A couple of them are below; the rest can be seen on my family photos site.
After the show, as we were walking back to our car, Cyndi nudges me and says "that guy looks like Gene Ween!" After we walk past him and get a good look (and debate it a little), I go and ask him if he is, in fact, Gene Ween (from the band Ween). As it turns out, it was! Ween had played there the night before and he had stuck around to take his son to see the TMBG show. How cool is that?
We then grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed for the Liberty Bell (the kids had gotten excited about it when they thought that's why we were going to Philly). Sadly, we got there right after it closed, so we started home, stopping for a quick visit at Cyndi's parents' house in Delaware.
Update 12/27/06: Cyndi found some pictures from this show on flickr with us in them: here, here, here and here. Also, here's one of Gene Ween.
