When Eggy brought its Waiting Game Tour to Atlanta, GA’s Terminal West on Halloween night, the quartet marked the occasion with a night of friendly competition dubbed “The Waiting Game Show.” The performance co-opted elements from a long list of board games, playground bouts, and childhood contests to engage the crowd and dictate the direction of the band’s improvisational pursuits in real time.
While guitarist/vocalist Jake Brownstein (dressed as Candyland’s Mr. Mint), bassist/vocalist Mike Goodman (dressed as Candyland’s King Candy), keyboardist/vocalist Dani Battat (dressed as Clue’s Colonel Mustard), and drummer/vocalist Alex Bailey (dressed as Twister) played just eight total songs over the course of two sets and an encore, the setlist mainly served as a rough framework for their gamified jamming throughout the night.
Throughout the night, Sean, a member of the crew dressed as a referee, played a character named Mr. Silly Putty, the official proctor of The Waiting Game Show. As the performance went on, Mr. Silly Putty would join the band onstage to help guide the direction of the music either by drawing from a deck of customized cards featuring classic childhood games or spinning a wheel labeled with various abstract phrases like “Riot Skank,” “Major Metal,” “Island Time,” and “K-Hole.” The themes on the wheel were sourced from both the band/crew and fans, making for an engaging and collaborative improvisational experiment.
After opening the show with “One Stop Shop” and “A Moment’s Notice”, Eggy dove into the “game show” concept during a 25-minute “Smile” with a Battat-led round of Simon Says (featuring musical and physical commands for both the band and crowd) and a Musical Chairs segment during which the band members rotated instruments several times. A game night-appropriate cover debut, The Who’s “Pinball Wizard”, brought the first set to a close with help from a wheel-dictated “Major Metal” jam.
The extended “Wayless” that opened set two featured a Pin the Tail on the Donkey jam during which the band’s members improvised while blindfolded for 15 minutes. The nearly 30-minute extrapolation of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “Southern Cross” that followed came complete with a Bop It jam (during which Bailey guided the band through a series of commands from the popular handheld game) and a “K-Hole” segment prompted by the spinning wheel at center stage.
Related: On Tour With Eggy: Waiting Game [Feature]
During the set-closing rendition of recently debuted Eggy original “Woah There”, the band opened the Waiting Game Show floodgates with a Staring Contest between Brownstein and Mr. Silly Putty (Brownstein won), a round of the Silent Game between the band and the crowd (the band won), a Freeze Gopher competition (during which the band and crowd had to freeze when instructed), and an onstage Truth or Dare session (including a completed dare for Bailey to play drums with his feet). The winding jam also touched on traces of the Grateful Dead’s “China Cat Sunflower” and tested out a “Zoo On Acid” sonic motif at the behest of the wheel.
For the show’s big finale—an encore take on bowling-focused Eggy staple “12 Pounds of Pain”—Battat challenged Mr. Silly Putty to a game of giant Jenga while Goodman, Bailey, and Brownstein a provided suspenseful soundtrack. Battat emerged victorious, eventually altering the song’s apt lyrical refrain (“ain’t nobody been better at this game”) to “ain’t no Putty been better at Jenga.”
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Watch a full, crowd-shot video of Eggy’s “The Waiting Game Show” Halloween performance in Atlanta below. Listen to a soundboard recording of the performance via nugs.net here. Scroll down to view the full, annotated setlist and a selection of photos from the night.
After completing the Waiting Game Tour in support of the band’s new LP a few nights after the Atlanta Halloween showdown, Eggy will now look forward to its two-night headlining debut at Port Chester, NY’s The Capitol Theatre alongside Dogs In A Pile on November 29th and 30th. For a full list of upcoming Eggy tour dates, head here.
Eggy – “The Waiting Game Show” Halloween – Atlanta, GA – Full Show – 10/31/24
[Video: Cosmic Hippo]
Setlist [via thecarton.net]: Eggy | Terminal West | Atlanta, GA | 10/31/24
Set One: One Stop Shop > A Moments Notice, Smile [1], Pinball Wizard [2]
Set Two: Wayless [3], Southern Cross [4], Woah There [5]
Encore: 12 Pounds of Pain [6]
Footnotes:
[1] With Introduction to Mr. Silly Putty over Smile Swing groove; Simon Says and Musical Chairs were played
[2] Debut, The Who cover; Major Metal wheel spin
[3] With Pin The Tail Blindfold Jam; unfinished
[4] Crosby, Stills and Nash cover; with K Hole Wheel Spin and Bop It Jam
[5] With Staring Contest, Silent Game, Freeze Gopher, Truth or Dare, Zoo On Acid wheel spin, and China Cat Sunflower (Grateful Dead) teases
[6] with Jenga Jam, This Is Halloween and China Cat Sunflower teases; lyrics changed to “No Putty been better at Jenga”
“The Waiting Game Show” Notes:
For their Halloween show, Eggy embraced a theme called “The Waiting Game Show.” Sean, a member of the crew, took on the role of a character named “Mr. Silly Putty,” dressed in a referee outfit. Throughout the night, Mr. Silly Putty would join the band on stage to help decide the next childhood game or theme for each jam. The selection process involved either drawing from a deck of cards featuring classic childhood games or spinning a wheel with various keywords that guided the jam’s theme. These themes were crowdsourced from both the band/crew and fans, creating an engaging, collaborative experience that kept everyone guessing and involved. Jake’s costume was Mr. Mint from Candy Land, Mike’s was King Candy also from Candy Land, Dani’s was Colonel Mustard from Clue, and Alex was Twister Man. Color Green opened the show.
-Simon Says: Dani guided the band and the crowd through a game of Simon Says, which included musical and physical demands.
-Musical Chairs: The band switched instruments multiple times
-Pin The Tail: The band put on blindfolds and improvised for about 15 minutes
-Bop It: Alex guided the jam through a series of commands from the game “Bop It”
-Staring Contest: Jake and Silly Putty had a staring contest, Jake won.
-Silent Game: The band played the silent game with the crowd, the band won.
-Freeze Gopher: Jake commanded both the band and the audience to stop moving when he said “Freeze Gopher” and to continue moving, or playing instruments, when he said “Unfreeze”
-Truth Or Dare: Different members played truth or dare with each other. Included a dare for Alex to play drums with his feet. It was interesting.
-Jenga Jam: Dani and Silly Putty played a full game of Jenga with Jake, Alex and Mike providing a suspenseful soundtrack to the game. Dani won.
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