Reply To: JoCo – Pontiac, MI 7/10/2008 – Who’s in?
I’m tired, gimme a break D:
We left around 6:30, aimlessly drove around Pontiac for about ten minutes (Very few of the streets were actually labeled) and eventually found the venue, though we were still pretty early. Stood outside for half an hour and sat inside for an hour. I had no idea the show started at 9, probably should have checked that first but at least we got good seats (second row, woo). Yeah, long wait but I forgot all about it when Paul and Storm finally came in.
They started off by miming and lip-synching to the song playing over the stereo (Fountains of Wayne – Hat and Feet, says Google). Then when the sound guy shut it off, they actually sang/played it for a little while. Great start, got a nice reaction. During Opening Band a girl tossed them a black thong which Paul briefly wore as an eyepatch, heh.
Count to Ten, Nugget Man (with JoCo), A Better Version of You, Live, and Mother’s Day Song followed, after which they went into some commercial jingles. Fresh Step Kitty Litter, Twister, Domino’s Pizza, Kleenex, Cheetos, and Olive Garden are the ones I remember, probably not in that order, and they ended with Pillsbury Cookie Dough. Afterward they finished up with the “If ___ were ____” songs (sans James Taylor in a well and Leon Redbone), Nun Fight and (naturally) The Captain’s Wife’s Lament, which (naturally) came complete with pre-emptive “arr”ers.
Throughout their set, some clipboards were passed around, offering a prize to a randomly-selected person who added their name to the list. A woman in the first row won a copy of Gumbo Pants and the last of the weirdly-named snacks P&S had been giving out (“Pull-n-Peel”). During the intermission I bought a totally awesome fromage t-shirt, and shortly afterward, JoCo returned.
Songs from his set I remember: The Future Soon, IKEA, Still Alive, Baby Got Back (w/ P&S), Code Monkey (P&S), My Monkey (P&S + Tenori-on), Birdhouse in Your Soul (P&S), I Feel Fantastic (P&S), Creepy Doll (P&S), I Crush Everything, Shop Vac, Mr. Fancy Pants (with Rickroll), Mandelbrot Set, Skullcrusher Mountain, and finally Re: Your Brains (feat. some highly enthusiastic undead and at least one pirate zombie). I might have left out one or two, and these are probably in the wrong order, so if someone can correct me, please do.
He made a quip about leaving to go wait for the elevator, during which I tried to get an autograph, but he broke away for an encore of First of May and Sweet Caroline with Paul and Storm. Show was finally over after that. I managed to catch up to them as they left the stage and ended up with a picture I will treasure forever (despite the darkness). Got JoCo to sign my Monster Mayhem shirt too. All three of them complimented my taste in t-shirts, either Paul or Storm mentioned that it was one of his favorite designs. Really nice group.
And after that, a forty-minute drive back home. Woo. Totally worth it.
Also, my five minutes of glory: After Code Monkey, I ran to the front and tossed a sock monkey with a tiny, novelty can of Mountain Dew tied to its paw. They all got a kick out of it and made it into a running gag of sorts (JoCo mentioned something about not getting another one after “My Monkey”). Storm balanced it against a glass of beer and on top of his microphone stand during the encore.
So yeah, all in all, great show. I really hope they come back to Michigan sometime, the room was packed and it seemed like it turned out better than they were expecting. No video and no other pics, sorry. Most turned out too dark (and some ended up partly obscured by the head of the guy in front of us– if you’re here, approximately a third of your head has been immortalized on film. Congrats, I think).
Almost forgot: Everyone I dragged along loved it.