Tallahassee to Atlanta for TMBG
Its been forever since They Might Be Giants came to Tallahassee. I found out in December that they would finally be making an appearance in March. I wanted to take my kids, who are fans of the three kids CD/DVDs they have put out. I found out the minimum age was (I think) fourteen to get in.
I knew they did kids shows from time to time, so I looked at their other shows going on around the same time and located a kids show in Atlanta the following weekend.
So the Tallahassee show as a lot of fun. It was kind of weird seeing the crowd. I first saw TMBG when I was in middle school, and I dont think there were too many people older than I am now at that show. This time there where only a few people who looked like they where probably in high school.They even played the one song I was looking forward to, which is Shes An Angel.
They played a good number of music off of their kids album. It was a good marker to see who was a parent in the crowd, as only few people could be seen singing along.
Another really great thing about this concert is that both Kim and I were able to go ... TOGETHER. It was awesome. we never get time together to do anything thats just fun for the two of us. I love going places with my kids, but it is nice for just Kim and I to do something awesome together every one in a while.
The following Friday I got my Vanagon cleared out, and most of our stuff packed for the trip. I packed enough food so that we would have to stop along the way either.
One rather scary thing about this trip was that I had never driven my Vanagon more than around sixty miles outside of Tallahassee. I was planning on driving there and back in the same day, an almost 600 mile trip.
We took the US27 route to avoid Interstates, and perhaps see some cool small towns.
The morning was cold, and the bus has no heat, so I packed lots of blankets, which Aurora said didnt make her warm enough. I had the car DVD player setup as well, and we started the trip with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Athenas pick.The van ran great on the way there, and the girls ate the sandwiches and apples I packed for them. We made it the whole way stopping only for gas, and odd looks at the van from the locals.
The van ran great the whole time, and was actually able to maintain speeds up to 70mph, when not going up a hill, which is pretty good for one of these vehicles.
We arrived twenty minutes before the show started, to the discovery that the show was soled out. I felt pretty dumb. Reminder to self, dont drive the kids six hours away for a show you dont already have tickets for. The lady at the box office told us to come back when the show started to see if there was availability. Indeed there was and we had entry.
The security guy made me go back to my car to leave the camera. Note number two, keep camera in pocket when trying to get it into a show. Other parents didnt have their camera on display upon entry and where snapping photos of their children and the band the whole time.
They Might Be Giants where much more into this show than the one in Tallahassee. There was a lot more energy on stage. It was really cool to see a packed room with children and their parents singing and dancing along to TMBG. As a function of parents who get their kids into good music, it was obvious most of the parents there where pretty awesome parents, which is something I cant say for most places I go to take my kids for childrens events.
Aurora was tired and sat down for the whole show. Athena spent most of the times either dancing, or in my arms watching the band. Towards the end of the show Athena made a friend and danced with her.
The kids favorite part started during the song bed. At the end of the line "and so directly to bed I go" a canon shot out papier-m�ch� over the audience. The kids where really thrilled to catch the falling pieces of paper. This happened a few more times throughout the show.
A sock puppet, called "The Avatars of They Might Be Giants" did a show and sang a couple of songs, which the kids thought was pretty funny too.After the show Flansburgh handed out stickers, which we all three got, and I followed up with receiving a high-five from Flans.
Afterwards we grabbed some Greek food, and headed home. The DVD player seemed to have broke itself while we were at the show, so there where no movies, or any other entertainment, for the drive back.
Athena fell asleep first, and Aurora went out only later on in the night. We got home around 11:30pm, and I was quite famished from the day.
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