Scene 2: The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas

https://open.spotify.com/track/406AmpTyUGfwp27kRg6EjT?si=95df408167a645b1

This movie is all about dogs. Or maybe this trip is all about dogs. Idk. We saw a guy with a dog backpack in Harlem. To be clear, I mean a very small dog strapped to his back as he was riding his scooter around.

Darryl, the owner of Hotel Dylan, has four dogs. Three are Icelandic herding dogs. One is half and half some other dog breed that is super cool apparently. They are all awesome. Pjokker, Loki, Sharky, and the girl who’s name I can’t remember atm. I do love a herding dog. Self trained to be relatively quiet and chill and then chaotic only when they think it’s necessary. The most human of dogs.

We’re back to Woodstock proper for breakfast at Alba’s. Just found it at random on the map last night. Pancakes and eggs and lox and avocado toast are delicious! And the giant coffee has me revved up for the scheduled 23 mile bike ride around the reservoir nearby.

Your mileage may vary. Bike ride does not include the 8 mile round trip from breakfast. The rails to trails loop is a bit less complete than we were aware of. But we bike the entire north side of the reservoir, and it’s gorgeous. Beautiful lake on your left, easy trail to ride, trees are just coming into bloom and getting their leaves. And then LL points out the beautiful fog ahead. Oh, wait. That’s not fog. That’s actual rain. Well it won’t last long. Weather said 30% chance that will yield 0.15”.

So maybe upstate is using a different measuring stick than us. Because it freaking pours rain for the next 5 miles or more. Idk. I can’t see the mile markers on the trail for the water pouring into my eyes behind my sunglasses that I’m only wearing to keep the water out.

We reach the end of the trail which is still under construction even in the rain. Checking the map we find the road that bisects the lake though when we get back to it (7 miles from now) the intersection is fenced up so you can’t make the transfer from trail to road. Fair enough. At least it’s stopped raining finally. The sun is back out, and we’re almost beginning to dry out, although the fenderless bikes have ensured we are covered in mud.

We find a cut out to the main road near our hotel so we don’t need to bike on the scary part of the state road, and make our way back to the hotel. Serendipitously, we find a hose on the end of the building near our room so we can get the amazing amount of mud off our bikes and ourselves before going inside. Dogs and beers are waiting in the office. There’s a whole band setup in the window and a bar behind the check in desk. This is a great hangout area, but it’s lovely outside now. We drink our beers by the fire pits and admire the VW Camper in the grass. I’m guessing it’s from the 60’s. Looks a bit older than the one my folks had when I was a kid. The popup top is down so I can’t really see the sleeping setup on top, but it looks similar enough to where I spent plenty of time in the North Georgia mountains.

We debate our dinner options and end up at Santa Fe, the Mexican restaurant on the grounds of the hotel. We’re people watching, wondering who may be going to the show tonight. Apparently no one that we can tell, but there’s a steak quesadilla that is well deserved after 30+ miles of biking. We call a car and head to Bearsville.

And boy do they mean it. We see ACTUAL BEARS on the ride to the venue. Just hanging out in someone’s front yard. We are stunned. But so is the Uber driver. He’s never seen a bear around here. The producers must have thought we needed more excitement. This movie obviously needed a bear. Or two.

The theater is smaller than I realized. I was thinking the size of Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, which happens to be where I saw TMBG in high school, my only other time I’ve seen them. Variety seats about 1100; Bearsville seats about 500. The room feels smaller than this, however. Maybe 500 includes the bar area and the outside deck looking over the Saw Kill river. The bar is wild. You are standing at a normal height, but the bartenders’ area is sunk into the floor about three feet. It’s disconcerting at first. You feel drunk before you even start. I’m going to go stand in front of the stage now, thanks. The floor feels intimate, rather than cramped. There’s actually plenty of room for folks to dance and have some space. It’s lovely!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1fFLPvZOx234Qb6tq3VghX?si=D5QOLWBSRAicmzsV01NsFQ

The show is fantastic! No openers. John Flansburgh tells us that they are opening for themselves. Couldn’t be better. He announces that it’s Lincoln night. The first half of the show is mostly from that album. It’s one of my favorites. I told Leslie earlier that I’d be stoked to hear “Lie Still, Little Bottle.” Song five. This one is amazing. There’s a giant stick that Flans is holding over his head for most of this one. The spotlight is just on him, since the track is mostly vocals and bass. Thanks, Mr. Director! All the best parts of Lincoln are followed by a great mix of new album tracks and old hits.

I’m also going to give a big shoutout to @CapitalQ. They have posted amazing footage of multiple songs on YouTube. Here’s a link to their playlist of night one. It’s not every song, but it’s way more (and better!) video that anyone else in the crowd took.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0pOxFBIcKSUQ96Qmg3xhOWNTEWBWdE7M

About halfway through the second half of the show, John Linnell announces they’ve figured out how to play “Fingertips” live. Are you kidding me?! If you’re new to TMBG, this is a mix track from Apollo 18 that’s just a mix of bits of songs that never became full tracks. It’s amazing and holds a big piece of sixteen-year-old-me’s heart. And I’m so happy to hear it live! You know the show is winding down when you hear “BirdHouse in Your Soul.” I tend to skip this track when I listen to Flood as it can be overplayed, but wow, it’s wonderful to hear with the full band and the horns!! The horn section is really killing it tonight. You can tell how much fun they’re having, especially Dan Levine on trumpet. He is having a blast.

When I asked Leslie what song she hoped to hear tonight, she answered “Particle Man.” It’s second in the encores. These hits make the crowd feel so electric. We’re watching everyone enjoying it as much as we are watching the band. I can’t ask for better. “Doctor Worm” closes it out with the weird, nerdy vibes that make They Might Be Giants remarkable.

When we returned this afternoon to the hotel, there was a gift bag on our door. A few marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate, and a stick. The hotel has fire pits on Fridays and Saturdays. We are excited for our future smores! We wondered if there would still be fires burning when we got back from the show, but we live in a movie, so of course there are! We enjoy a couple beers and smores and tell stories as several people make their way back from the show as well. This scene is coming to an end. We get to do it all again tomorrow.