They Might Be Giants - Live at Markthalle (November 28th, 1987)

They Might Be Giants - Live at Markthalle (November 28th, 1987) This recording is of a live show performed at Markthalle in Hamburg, Germany by They Might Be Giants. During the first song, John Linnell tore the strap on his accordion and had to head backstage to get it fixed, making John Flansburgh perform the first recorded live debut of Stormy Pinkness by himself. Linnell also forgot to plug his accordion into the amp during I've Got A Match, causing them to stop halfway and redo the song. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head 2:50 - Toddler Hiway 4:20 - Stormy Pinkness 8:19 - Purple Toupee 10:57 - The Famous Polka 13:53 - Hide Away Folk Family 17:50 - (She Was A) Hotel Detective 21:02 - Lie Still, Little Bottle 23:50 - I've Got A Match (Your Embrace And My Collapse) [FALSE START] 25:55 - I've Got A Match (Your Embrace And My Collapse) 28:39 - The World's Address 31:28 - Shoehorn With Teeth 33:09 - Mr. Me 35:39 - Kiss Me, Son Of God 38:19 - She's An Angel 41:26 - Cowtown 43:56 - Don't Let's Start -------------ENCORE #1------------- 47:53 - Number Three 50:06 - Pencil Rain 52:49 - Rhythm Section Want Ad -------------ENCORE #2------------- 56:26 - Alienation's For The Rich 59:06 - Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes -------------ENCORE #3------------- 1:02:20 - I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die 1:04:27 - 32 Footsteps Writeup from Musikexpress, Feb. 1988: "That sort of thing only happens to us in New York gigs where a lot goes wrong. On the other hand, these disastrous gigs are always the best," commented John Linnell, accordion-playing half of the New York duo of the evening. The audience had been asked into the foyer of the market hall - the only around 200 paying spectators would have gotten lost in the actual hall. There in the anteroom, however, it got really cozy, and when John Linnell tore the accordion strap after a few bars of the first piece, his partner John Flansburgh had the opportunity to bridge the compulsory break with a few quick jokes. The audience responded enthusiastically and the mood didn't improve when a Linnell song was cut off halfway because he realized he'd forgotten to plug the accordion into the amp. Singing, guitar and accordion were played live, the rest was played by roadie, mixer, technical advisor, fatherly friend and girl for everything Bill Krauss from the tape. Nevertheless, this peculiar mixture of sixties pop, country and hypermodern sample sounds seemed more exciting, livelier and less static than the usual rock music played live. Those who still didn't have enough after the various encores were referred to "Dial-a-Song", the telephone service of They Might Be Giants: On the US telephone number 718-387-6962, you can hear a different TMBG song every day, "Free if you call from your parents or your workplace," as John Flansburgh then suggested.