They Might Be Giants + Facebook = Love

Back in September, Justin Ellis wrote about two college-bound, to-be roommates meeting each other on Facebook before moving in together. I have a similar story to share, and it involves a girl who lives down the hall from the two mentioned in Justin's story. This story is about how I met her (and yes, it does involve music).

It was the summer, and I was single and college-bound. It was a very exciting state to be in. There were a lot of new possibilities open for me, and I had no idea what to expect, but I was thrilled nevertheless.

In my excitement, I joined a group on Facebook for upcoming Freshmen at the University of Southern Maine. I started to befriend people within the group, hoping to build new friendships for the school year and beyond. Out of all the people I befriended on Facebook, there was one girl who stood out from the rest.

Her name was Stephanie. She was really cute, and she seemed to be really computer/internet savvy (I like a girl who knows how to use a computer!). We didn't really talk initially until she changed her Facebook status to something that was calling out my name. Her status said she was requesting for some They Might Be Giants songs. Being the TMBG connoisseur that I am, I made sure to be the first one to send her some songs. This is when we started talking.

At first, we were just communicating through Facebook, but then she gained the courage to instant message me (she was already on my buddy list; I was just too shy). We started talking on a daily basis for hours and hours. We'd talking about Harry Potter, They Might Be Giants, cool articles we found on Digg.com, and more. There was always something to talk about, and that was a good sign for the both of us.

In the middle of August, I saw that They Might Be Giants were coming up to Boston in October. Even though I saw Them back in May, I had to see Them again. I just HAD to. Being the extremely shy and subtle chum that I am, I started talking to Stephanie about it. I never directly asked her if she wanted to go with me, but it was pretty much inferred. Even though we didn't know how we would be together in person, we went ahead and bought tickets for the show. It was a great risk, but we were both willing to take it.

It didn't take too long until we started hanging out on the first day of school. Remarkably so, we got along so well. The chemistry we felt in the online world was more than real. It only took until the second week of September when we started going out. It was a match made in heaven.

So it didn't take too long until October 19th came, the day of the They Might Be Giants concert. I planned out the trip down to Boston, and it worked out wonderfully. We went to Faneuil Hall, Boston Commons, and the Prudential Building to name a places.

To top off this wonderful trip and this wonderful relationship, the They Might Be Giants concert was incredible. The Roxy was packed to the brim with TMBG fans, and they were treated quite well throughout the night.

They Might Be Giants played some of their big hits including "Don't Lets Start", "Particle Man", "Doctor Worm", and "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)". They also played a lot of new songs including "I'm Impressed" and "The Mesopotamians" from The Else and "Damn Good Times" from The Spine.

I had a very emotional experience when the Velcro Horns, TMBG's horn group, came out to play "Mr. Me" with the band. Two of my biggest TMBG dreams were fulfilled at the same time. I always wanted to see the Velcro Horns play with TMBG, and I always wanted to see TMBG play "Mr. Me" live, because it's one of my favorite songs. Other songs with the Velcro Horns included "Museum of Idiots" (another song I really wanted to hear with the Velcro Horns) and an amazing rendition of "Withered Hope" with mirror balls and bombastic horn playing.

After the encore, fans stayed around, demanding for more. The show had to end early that night, because The Roxy was holding a disco a little later. The TMBG fans didn't care. Stephanie and I didn't care. We demanded more, and then, as if it was an ode to old-school TMBG performances, John Linnell and and John Flansburgh came out alone, accordion and guitar respectively, and they played "Maybe I Know", a cover of a Leslie Gore song. The final performance was extremely intimate and quiet. It was a very special and unique way to end a great show.

The risk I took with Stephanie way back in August was worth it after all. A part inside of me knew that it was going to be. I'm really thankful for Facebook and They Might Be Giants, because I'm not quite sure how we would have met otherwise. Yesterday marked our two month anniversary. Oh, how music can be such a wonderful thing to us, sometimes more than we can ever imagine.