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M O N D AY, F E B R U A RY 0 4 , 2 0 0 8Happy Days w They Might be GiantsAn odd but enjoyable double bill on Saturday. First, Fiona Shaw inBeckett's "Happy Days" at BAM. This was the penultimate performanceand very satisfying. Shaw -- who I don't think I've ever seen live, wasmarvelous. I've never read the play or seen it in performance. So I don'tknow about earlier dismissals of Winnie as a silly housewife, nor of thisproduction's leanings toward comedy. All I know is what I saw wasremarkable. Shaw is trapped up to her waist in the ground amidst ablasted, post-aocalyptic landscape. She has her black bag in arm'slength, along with an umbrella and natters on about this and that whileWilly (her husband?) mutters nearby. The first act is about an hour andI think Beckett gives us that just so he can take us to the shorter,sharper second act where Winnie is now trapped up to her neck. Bleak,funny and as much about any marriage, any life as the rather oddexistence poor Winnie finds herself in. Deeply amusing andenthralling, Shaw looked absolutely knackered during the curtain calland even gave a small bow to the miserable hole she's trapped in, hermain partner in the show. Memorable to say the least and I pity thepeople who weren't in the first few rows like us.The I went to get mail, almost forgetting I had tickets to They Might BeGiants at the Beacon. They'd sold out for the first time so after 25 yearsthis was a very celebratory show. The two Johns covered many of thebiggest hits of their career, with a crackerjack band that made themsound even better, along with a healthy dose of their fine new albumThe Else and two songs from their kid CDs (which is the music of theirsI know the best). A geeky, happy crowd, with an inordinate amount ofcouples who kept holding hands, kissing, etc. Seriously, I thought I wasat a Luther Vandross or Anita Baker show -- there were a LOT ofdemonstrative couples for TMBG, unless they're a heretofore unknownaphrodisiac. The sort of performance that turns a casual fan like myselfinto a much bigger fan. I felt like I got to be there for one of their mostspecial nights. My friend said on the subway people burst into thechorus of "Birdhouse of Your Soul." I saw some fans on the street evenblocks away but didn't think to try and engage them in a sing-along.POSTED BY MICHAEL IN NEW YORK AT 11:47 AM

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