[ATTENDED: January 12, 2023] They Might Be Giants [rescheduled from March 13, 2020, September 8, 2020, April 15, 2021, March 22, 2022 and June 16, 2022]
After five failed attempts, They Might Be Giants FINALLY got to play Union Transfer.
It was only mildly anti-climactic that they played Union Transfer the night before with a show that was billed as an entirely different show but which, when setlists were compared, turned out to be almost exactly the same.
January 11 (left): note the similarly-named show title which implied something different. From the venue:
We assume that means songs from their latest album, ‘Book’ and some ‘Flood’ “faves”, and a bunch of horns on stage. How many horns? We can’t say for sure…Maybe 5, maybe 100!?
It felt a little cheaty that this day-ahead show got the same (more or less) show as us. But hey, who cares, at least we didn’t splurge for the second day. Because I’d have been a little cheesed to get the same show two nights in a row, no matter how good it was. And it was really good!
So I saw They Might Be Giants about twenty-five years ago in Boston. I don’t remember a lot from the show, but it was the Factory Showroom tour and they played a lot of my favorite songs as well.
I haven’t seen them live since then, even though I know they put on a good show. I’m not sure why it neve happened. Possibly because when I try to see them a pandemic occurs.
We arrived a little later than intended, had to stand on a huge line (there was no opening act), although everyone at a TMBG show is friendly, and then wound up on the side lower balcony in Union Transfer–where I’ve never stood before. It was actually kind of nice-we were above most of the heads and still felt a part of the mass of people.
The band also was giving out “paper crowns” that said THEY on them. John F: “Be sure to grab one so you can sell it later.”
The Johns came out at 8 as promised and jumped right into “Letterbox” from Flood. But it’s not the first song from Flood. So clearly, they weren’t going to play the album in order. They never said they were going to, just that they were going to play the whole album. Aha!
And so it was a hyperactive night of new songs (their Grammy nominated new album Book) which I supported when they were making it and then proceeded to not listen to it. Whoops. Interspersed with random songs from Flood. And then an even more random old song. They Might Be Giants have been a band for FORTY-ONE years. So they have a lot of songs they could play.
Or, as John said, you have lots of They Might Be Giants bands to choose from, thank you for choosing this one.
I enjoyed “Synopsis for Latecomers” a perfect way to open any concert, frankly.
S. was very excited to hear “Birdhouse in Your Soul” (one of the few TMBG songs she really knows), so I was a little surprised they played it so early). But it sounded fantastic.
The band had a bunch of horns (as advertised) and the band of Dans (or some Dans, anyhow–I see the replaced drummer Dan with Marty in 2005, so I am WAY behind in my information.
I haven’t really listened to TMBG in a while either so when they busted out some old favorites like “The Guitar” I was pretty psyched. I also love that the horns section contributed so much to these songs
There’s a number of “bigger” songs on Flood, but I was thrilled to hear smaller ones like “Someone Keeps Moving My Chair” and the story of Mr. Horrible. As well as “Whistling in the Dark.”
And “Women & Men” was a song that my friend Paula and I loved way back in college.
When John F. sang “Let Me Tell You About My Operation” I had to wonder if it was a song about his car accident–crazy that it dates back to 2015.
And then they told us that they had foolishly agreed at some point in the past to learn a song backwards. They then proceeded to play a song backwards. There were some technical difficulties and then they started again. The fascinating thing was that the song they played backwards was “Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love” and you could tell that was the song. Musically it was backwards and they sang it backwards as well. It’s called “Stilloob” on the setlist.
I love “Minimum Wage” and would have loved to record the whole thing, but it came out of nowhere and the bulk of the song was over before I could record it.
“Road Movie to Berlin” was never a favorite, but I love the way the horns kicked in and really made the song shift from quiet to powerfully loud.
They ended the set with the super fun “Doctor Worm,” another great song I had forgotten about.
They took a twenty minute break (during which time I bought a Triangle Man hat). And before the band came back, we were rewarded with the payoff of Stilloob.
They played the recording of Stilloob in reverse and “Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love” sounded remarkably good.
I had forgotten about “Dead” a nonsensical song (or is it?) that was a slow introduction to the wonderfully rocking “Man, It’s So Loud in Here.” I’ve always loved this song and once again I forgot about it (I didn’t even realize I knew songs from Mink Car all that well).
Then came a cowbell and the crowd went crazy for the opening of “Your Racist Friend.” This song has always been outstanding. Hard to believe it was relevant 30 years ago and is sadly even more relevant now. It seems like it could be played every day on the radio. John’s ripping guitar solo followed by the blasting trumpet was spectacular.
From this to the ridiculous. I’ve always liked “We Want a Rock” which is bizarre and funny. And it was really fun to hear them sing about prosthetic foreheads.
The horns came and went a few times. They left just the core band for “Number 3,” a fun song that I’ve always liked. It has a great sample. And they talked about tempo–which led to talk of the movies Tár and Whiplash.
This led to an awesome jump to “Don’t Let Start.” Their first hit and it sounded fresh and lively even forty years later.
And then everyone left the stage except the two Johns who moved to the side of the stage with just accordion and guitar to run though “Istanbul Not Constantinople.” They had a lot of fun with this version and we were all thrilled to hear it.
They played only a few newish songs, like 2013’s “The Darlings of Lumberland” which I really liked. Nanobots was the first TMBG album I didn’t buy, I think.
I have always loved “Lucky Ball and Chain” which I think is very funny and catchy, and I enjoyed hearing that one as well.
The biggest surprise for me came when they played “Spy.” “Spy” is a wacky song from 1994 and they really stretched it out with a lot of fun, jazzy, audience participation. John L. announced that this was part of a 1930’s jazz club and John F. did some arm slashing to get horn blasts and the like. It was chaotic and hilarious.
After running through the “Theme from Flood,” they ended with “Particle Man.” How could we have forgotten that they hadn’t played it yet?
The band left for an Encore break. That was the end of Flood (although they did not play “Hearing Aid”).
The break was short and soon they were back out to play two songs I didn’t know.
There were at least two songs I really hoped that they would play. I knew they’d played “New York City” the night before. This was one of S. and mine favorite TMBG songs (even if it is a cover) and “Ana Ng” was the first TMBG song I’d ever heard and I would have loved to hear it live.
I really really hoped they’d play those two songs in the encore. Instead, they wound up playing a different song that blew my mind. They played “Fingertips,” a four and a half minute mix of 21 songs of vastly different genres.
I’ve always loved this bit of utter nonsense and it was crazy to hear it live in all of its different formats.
And that was that. The show was done by 10:15 and we were done by a reasonably early time after a great full show. It was a great, fun night, even if I didn’t get to hear “Ana Ng.”
| 2023 Union Transfer | 1996 Boston Hatch Shell |
| SET ONE | Older ⇑ |
| Letterbox ≅ | Twisting ≅ |
| Synopsis for Latecomers ¥ | Ana Ng ∏ |
| Brontosaurus ¥ | Snail Shell ⊗ |
| Birdhouse in Your Soul ≅ | New York City ♠ |
| The Guitar ∀ | Birdhouse in Your Soul ≅ |
| Twisting ≅ | XTC vs. Adam Ant ♠ |
| Someone Keeps Moving My Chair ≅ | Spider ∀ |
| Women & Men ≅ | The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) ∀ |
| Let Me Tell You About My Operation € | S-E-X-X-Y ♠ |
| Hot Cha ≅ | Spy ⊗ |
| Whistling in the Dark ≅ | James K. Polk ♠ |
| Stilloob ≅ | Don’t Let’s Start ¶ |
| Minimum Wage ≅ | Till My Head Falls Off ♠ |
| Moonbeam Rays ¥ | Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (The Four Lads cover) ≅ |
| Road Movie to Berlin ≅ | No One Knows My Plan ⊗ |
| Doctor Worm ◊ | Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas) (Tom Glazer cover) |
| SET TWO | How Can I Sing Like a Girl? ♠ |
| Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love (Recording of Stilloob reversed) ≅ | |
| Dead ≅ | |
| Man, It’s So Loud in Here ∝ | |
| Your Racist Friend ≅ | |
| We Want a Rock ≅ | |
| Number Three ¶ | |
| Don’t Let’s Start ¶ | |
| Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (The Four Lads cover) ≅ | |
| The Darlings of Lumberland ∴ | |
| Lucky Ball and Chain ≅ | |
| Spy ⊗ | |
| Theme From Flood ≅ | |
| Particle Man ≅ | |
| ENCORE | |
| I Can’t Remember the Dream ¥ | |
| When Will You Die √ | |
| ENCORE 2 | |
| Fingertips ∀ |
¶ They Might Be Giants (1986)
∏ Lincoln (1988)
◊ Severe Tire Damage live (1998)
≅ Flood (1990)
∀ Apollo 18 (1992)
⊗ John Henry (1994)
♠ Factory Showroom (1996)
⇑ Long Tall Weekend (1999)
∝ Mink Car (2001)
√ Join Us (2011)
∴ Nanobots (2013)
€ Glean (2015)
¥ BOOK (2020)
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