Shows/2019-03-13
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Links:
Setlist:
- The Communists Have The Music
- Damn Good Times
- Ana Ng
- New York City
- Why Does The Sun Shine?
- The Famous Polka
- Your Racist Friend
- Birdhouse In Your Soul
- Spy
- Older
- Doctor Worm
On the setlist but not played:
They Might Be Giants
— with Paul and Storm, Tune-Yards, Jill Sobule, Jonathan Coulton opening —
JoCo Cruise in San Juan, PR
March 13, 2019 at 11:00 PM
Fan Recaps and Comments:
This show was originally scheduled to take place from 9:30 PM to 11 PM at Bahía Urbana in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Due to heavy rain occurring minutes before TMBG was set to take the stage, the outdoor show was canceled at 9:38 PM. TMBG's crew and JoCo Cruise staff then quickly relocated and set up most of the band's equipment on the Main Stage of the JoCo Cruise's MS Oosterdam.
Shortly after, a stripped-down version of the show took place on the boat from 11:12 PM to 11:53 PM, featuring Mark Pender on trumpet and John Linnell playing only accordion (as his keyboard had not been set up). The show's reduced length was largely due to Linnell and Pender being given temporary guest passes via customs to board the ship, which expired at midnight and would have incurred a large fee if violated.
CapitalQ on the concert relocation, from Episode 6 of 9 Secret Eps:
- Jonathan Coulton came out and announced that because all of the equipment was rental and it's being exposed to the elements right now, the local companies aren't going to allow the concert to go on because they don't want electrical problems. At this point, the rain is so heavy that you can't even imagine how the band is going to be able to play without being extremely bothered.
- I hear mumblings that they're going to try to move the concert onto the boat... which seems like it would be a Herculean feat. We're kind of holding our breath a bit, and there's this mass exodus back to the ship, where literally thousands of people who are now drenched and soaked are marching back. Because we're about 10 minutes by foot from the boat, and then you have to go through security to get back on the boat, you have to go through customs... I'm running ahead, because if the show's going to be on the boat I want to get a good spot on the boat. I think I see Marty and some of TMBG's crew guys and JoCo cruise guys are wheeling equipment very quickly towards the boat, trying to make sure it stays dry.
- As we get on the boat, there are fireworks going off behind us, because as it turns out--the cruise had a fireworks display scheduled to coincide with the They Might Be Giants set. It was supposed to be like the big cap at the end of the night, and instead it's dark out, it's pouring, and there's fireworks. There's also talk of how, because John Linnell was not on the ship the entire week, there might be problems getting him on the boat because of customs. It turns out, if I remember correctly, that there would be a $10,000 fine to the ship if Linnell was still on the boat after midnight. Linnell and Mark Pender, who they brought along to play trumpet--maybe $10,000 each.
- At this point it's like 10pm, it's a 10 story ship, and the venue can be accessed from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd decks. I watched them setting up, bring their instruments onstage, but clearly something's about to happen. Then they announce over the loudspeaker "Alright, everybody go to the main stage for the They Might Be Giants concert. They're not going to play a full set, but they are going to play." The room fills up!
- At 11:53 PM there were hand signals from the side of the stage, like "you guys have got to go", and Flansburgh said "Alright goodbye everybody thank you for coming!" and rushed off. They got Linnell safely off the boat. But it was a fantastic concert, so high energy. And they managed to move their show half a mile over in the span of an hour thanks to an amazing crew.