Throbbing Monster

Dear Messrs. Collingwood & Schlesinger,
Please accept my most sincere apologies for the gross display of age-inappropriate enthusiasm displayed at last night's show. The two clearly mature, educated professional women who were hopping around like bunnies, screaming the words to every song (up to and including the relatively obscure "Maureen") were the divine watertiger and myself, and yes, we are both clearly old enough to know better. I realize that we were not, in fact, the only ones behaving in such an appalling manner: we met a delightful couple who were no less enthusiastic, and a surprising number of people brought their children, so you know they weren't kids either. Mine was far from the only silver head in the house; my delightful neighbor's far from the only thinning one. Thers was distracted all evening by a woman he was almost convinced was Ann Althouse. Nevertheless, I realize that our behavior was unseemly at best, and if it's any comfort, we will both be paying for it today with our calf and neck muscles.

Yours Sincerely,
NYMary.


AAAAAUUUUUUUGGGHHHH! Whatta show! The openers were a local Brooklyn band, April Smith and the Great Picture Show. Picture a cross between Chrissie Hynde and Katrina Leskanich, with just a soupcon of Jane Weidlin. This girl has a fabulous set of pipes, and her backup band is shit-hot. AND they're being produced by Schlesinger, so I think that bodes well. (Myspace here, though it lacks the one me & wt loved best: "Drop Dead Gorgeous.")

As to FOW themselves, they were exactly as funny, acerbic, and sharp as you'd think. The show was v. tight, and while they didn't actually play the promised "Dude Looks Like a Lady," Jody did manage the guitar solo from "My Sharona."

Setlist (and I checked this against a geek who got a stage one, so I'm pretty sure): Please Don't Rock Me Tonight; Denise; Mexican Wine; Someone to Love; No Better Place; Fire in the Canyon; Hackensack; Hey, Julie; Strapped for Cash (along with a funny story about a radio interviewer who was asking them for songs about the Mafia, but preferred "I Fought the Law" to theirs); Yolanda Hayes; a delightfully psychedelic version of Sick Day; It Must Be Summer; Stacy's Mom; Radiation Vibe; and Survival Car. Two Encores: the first was I-95; Valley Winter Song and Troubld Times (if possible, even more winsome live); the second Traffic & Weather, Maureen, and Sink to the Bottom.

A fabulous night. Thanks, guys. (I will figure out how to get these pics off my new phone: in the meantime, watertiger has a nice shot.)