How to Handle Jeff Mangum’s All Tomorrow's Parties Set This Fall

• Remember that you’re seeing the first full-length concert in over a decade from the man behind one of the greatest albums of the '90s (if not the greatest) at the greatest music festival in the country. So, be happy.

• But not too happy. After all, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and, to a lesser extent, On Avery Island, are great albums that coincide nicely with feelings of depression. Meaning, it’s totally okay to cry, which a lot of people did during Mangum’s performance at the Chris Knox benefit at Le Poisson Rouge last year. Again, sobbing, totally acceptable, but what’s not acceptable, and I can’t believe I even have to tell you this, is talking and worse, shouting out requests. Neutral Milk Hotel only recorded two albums; you can probably guess songs you’re going to hear.

• And please, dear God, don’t think you’re funny by shouting out, “Play something from Orange Twin Field Works: Volume I!”

• Singing along is fine so long as you keep the volume low enough that the people around you can hear Mangum singing “Oh, Comely,” not you belting a song that sounds vaguely familiar, but changes the “powerful pistons were sugary sweet machines” line to “powerful Christians were sugary cheat machines.” (Yes, I actually once heard someone sing it that way.)

• While waiting for the performance to begin, don’t talk about how much Neutral Milk Hotel means to you. We all have a personal anecdotes concerning Aeroplane, which is one of the reasons why the album’s so beloved—and why no one cares how you lost your virginity to “Holland 1945” in 2002.

• Actually, that might be a pretty good story.

• It’s cool to wear plaid. Encouraged, even.

• When Mangum takes the stage, don’t give him a ten-minute ovation. After a polite round of applause, quiet yourself down because the longer you cheer, the less he plays.

• You are allowed to go batshit insane if Bruce Springsteen shows up (it's Asbury Park, after all), and he and Mangum perform an acoustic version of “Incident on 57th Street.” Otherwise, let the man play, and know that you’re actually going to hear “Two-Headed Boy, Pt. 2” live, which, up until very recently, seemed like an absolutely impossible dream.

Josh Kurp knows you'll behave yourself.

Photo by Hughshows, from Flickr.