Stern Grove Stage and Grounds
We watched a free They Might Be Giants concert today at the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco.
Set List
- Alphabet of Nations
- We're The Replacements
- New York City (cub cover)
- Dr. Worm
- Asbury Park
- Meet the Elements
- Your Racist Friend
- Spider
- Birdhouse in Your Soul
- Withered Hope
- Meet James Ensor
- Upside Down Frown
- Ana Ng
- We Live In a Dump
- Letterbox
- Band recognition bits
- Damn Good Times
- Encore: She's An Angel
- The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)
- Particle Man
- Encore 2: The Mesopotamians
Notes
- I'm not sure about the setlist between "Alphabet Song of Nations" and "Asbury Park." I wrote down the rest so I am pretty confident about the rest. I know Dr. Worm was before Asbury Park.... That's all I got.
- Show lasted from ~3:15-~4:33 p.m.
- Lots of great lines between songs: (1) "Hearing lots of song requests we're not going to play"; (2) "We're from NYC and we brought this weather with us."; (3) Lots of riffing on how the good vibes in California threatens to tear apart their band--apparently being from NYC they find it very challenging; (4) "This song goes out to Nick, who has something very important to say to Kat, and the rest is between them" (wedding proposal?); (5) "We were planning to bring along the giant confetti cannon, but the airlines see 'cannon' on the manifest and they get twitchy."; (6) "I am already disoriented from all the secondary smoke blowing in from the crowd."; (7) "I've heard about bad lines of sight before, but imagine having hundred-year old conifers between you and the stage is new on me."; (8) "We're really big on Second Life and Friendster; we spend about 20 hours a day on Second Life."; (9) "If you have any questions, please go to our web site...depechemode.com...and we'll get back to you right away."; (10) "We'd like to thank Frank Riley for booking us here; all your favorite bands are booked by him; he's one influential dude."; (11) "This is the Bill Cosby theme from 1972" while introducing the band recognition bits; (12) "Let's have a love-in, people...."; (13) "Corporate sponsorship is a drag" while exhorting people to donate; (14) "EWOKS, EWOKS, EWOKS!" when coming out for their second encore--in reference to all of us in the trees on the hillside facing the stage; (15) "If you know someone who can help, they should help us."
- I have not been a TMBG fan, still not sure I am onboard fully, but they put on a very entertaining show. Well done.
- Stern Grove Recreational Park is an amazing place: the smell of eucalyptus; the cool air; the lush greens and towering trees; the beautiful wooden structures and rough-hewn stones. Five minutes after leaving heavily trafficked 19th Avenue behind, you'd never know you were in the middle of a major metropolitan city. Fantastic.
