New Wave stalwarts, They Might Be Giants, graced the stage
of the beautiful Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor Wednesday night with a double-length
evening of hits, history, and a fair amount of songs both old and new. Now in
their 36th year, TMBG were very accustomed to performing in this
particular venue, having done so many times over several decades. This night, however, was easily the longest
show they’d ever played there, and fans were delighted with an assortment of 33
songs over three hours, with a short, half-time intermission. While some spots
may have come off as bumpy to the uninitiated, or as singer/guitarist, John
Flansburgh, put it during the show, “The people who were dragged here by fans
of ours are telling them, ‘It’s gonna get better later in the set. These guys are great, I swear!’”, the band
actually delivered a very professional, well-executed concert that reflected on
both their many years of experience on the road and their focused sense of
showmanship.
TMBG have been performing this year without an opening
act all across the United States, Europe, and Canada, and in the much sought-after,
“An Evening With”, performance style employed on these recent tours, the band has
been able to stretch their legs and feature some deep cuts and fan favorites in
addition to most of the standards for which they are known. As the group and its
members have continued to age, the crowd has begun to vary from children to
grandparents and everyone in between, though this year’s shows have been strictly
advertised as “14+” to spare the youngsters from the occasional profanity or
sometimes unsafe environments that one can find in a rock club or theater. That
was not an issue in Ann Arbor, however, where Flansburgh also commented that
the audience was probably the most-educated they were likely to encounter, at
least compared to the “drunks” that usually attended the group’s concerts. Co-founder,
John Linnell, electrified on the accordion, keyboards, and contra-alto clarinet,
in addition to his signature vocal deliveries, and veteran backing band
members, Dan Miller on guitar, Danny Weinkauf on bass, and Marty Beller on the
drums, rocked through each song with passionate precision. Also joining the
band on recent tours, the excellent multi-instrumentalist, Curt Ramm,
entertained on brass throughout the night, mostly on trumpet, where those pieces of the band’s
songs can sometimes feel noticeably absent during performances with no horns
present.
The night was divided into sections that were parts of
two main sets. They first began with
spirited renditions of “Damn Good Times” and the recent single, “I Left My Body”,
but it was clear that many in the audience expected this to be something
through which they could or would be seated for the majority, and long-time
fans were awkwardly either blocking the view or reluctantly sitting after
everyone around them had already done so. Certainly, TMBG shows are normally in
places with standing room areas, so Flansburgh noticeably encouraged the crowd
to stand at various points throughout the first set, commenting at other points
(possibly sarcastically) that it was a long show and people should sit down. The song selection seemed to encourage the
audience to stand back up, at least every few songs, and once the band made it
to a section of newer material that preceded the intermission, the vibe and
participation level had changed, and most in the crowd seemed to have acclimated
to the band’s performance style and that of the show they are presenting while
on this particular tour. Flansburgh,
dressed in a neon-yellow sweatshirt reminiscent of a road construction worker, commented
he had recently injured his knee and was on CBD oil, receiving mixed applause,
and then corrected himself saying it was “ICP” oil, which prompted laughter and
further discourse about Faygo with Linnell between songs early in the show. Other
highlights of the first set included hits like “Particle Man”, “Birdhouse in Your
Soul”, and “Dr. Worm”, all of which had the crowd on their feet and singing
along.
Following a 20-minute intermission and a screening of the
band’s hilarious music video for the song, “Last Wave (alt.)”, which matches
their music and vocals to the classic Run DMC/Aerosmith video for “Walk This
Way”, Flansburgh, Linnell, Beller, and Ramm returned to the stage for what the
band calls “The Quiet Storm” portion of the show, mainly quieter, mostly-acoustic
performances that still confoundingly feature an electronic drum kit. The band
rotates through a handful of songs during this part of the show each night, and
they featured three classics and two newer numbers on Wednesday, including “Applause,
Applause, Applause”, released only a month ago on the band’s Dial-a-song website.
TMBG are often trying to balance the inclusion of some of their newest songs
with tracks from 20 or 30 years ago that fans know and love dearly. They closed the second set with another very
recent song, and their current single, “The Communists Have the Music”, which
capped the main portion of the show well, but they ran through “Istanbul”, “Why
Does the Sun Shine?” and three songs in-a-row from their 1986, self-titled debut
LP, before doing so. Coming back to the
stage for two different encores, each featuring two more songs, Flansburgh
finally reverted to his traditional carnival-barker invitation for attendees to
“flood the aisles” and come to the front of the venue for the last few songs,
and the band treated them to old favorites such as “Twisting” and “New York
City”. They finally concluded with an
obscure late- ‘80s b-side, “Hey Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal”, one
of the night’s most up-tempo numbers, to the delight of the long-time fans in
attendance.
Overall, the performance Wednesday was a testament to
They Might Be Giants’ longevity and dedication to their shared musical mission
as well as their physical stamina to play a much longer show than has normally
been the case in previous years. With a catalog as large as theirs, it’s easy
for fans to wish a few more of their personal favorites had been included, but
the band does a great job of doing a little bit of everything, and at changing
which songs are included each time they return to a given city to play. These, among so many other things, are the reasons
people come back to see them over and over again and will hopefully continue to
have the opportunity to do so for years to come.
They Might Be Giants set list (10/24/18):
(spotlight intro)
Damn Good Times
I Left My Body
Your Racist Friend
Particle Man
The Famous Polka
Birdhouse in Your Soul
The Guitar
Bangs
This Microphone
Let’s Get This Over With
Dr. Worm
All Time What
Mrs. Bluebeard
When Will You Die?
Spy
----------------------
(intermission + “Last Wave (alt.)” music video)
----------------------
Tippecanoe and Tyler Too (quiet)
James K. Polk (quiet)
I Like Fun (quiet)
Applause Applause Applause (quiet)
How Can I Sing Like a Girl? (quiet)
Istanbul
The Mesopotamians
Why Does the Sun Shine? (fast)
She’s an Angel
Number Three
Don’t Let’s Start
Whistling in the Dark
Let Me Tell You About My Operation
The Communists Have the Music
-------------------------(encore break)-------
Twisting
(band intros/solos)
The End of the Tour
---------------------------(encore break)------
New York City
Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal
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