Shows/1992-10-23
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Links:
Setlist: (incomplete and possibly out of order)
- The Guitar
- Ana Ng
- Particle Man
- Your Racist Friend
- Piece Of Dirt
- Purple Toupee
- Birdhouse In Your Soul
- I'm Having A Heart Attack
- Spin The Dial
- Brooklyn Car Alarm
- Hide Away Folk Family
Encore:
"Giants: quirky & likable" by Sara Bennett
Wheaton Wire, Oct. 29, 1992:
The They Might Be Giants show on Friday, October 23rd at Edwards Auditorium at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, RI, featured the following: quirky, likeable pop songs, extended accordion solos, something called the Brooklyn Ca Alarm Audience Soundcheck, and an homage to the Steve Miller Band. What this all added up to was an unpretentious, spontaneous, and all-around really fun show
They Might Be Giants is comprised of two kind of geeky guys named John who are originally from Brooklyn, New York and don't sing particularly well. And what they do sing about is not exactly the stuff that Bono or Morrissey or somebody else with notions of Great Art would be proud to compose. For example, the words to one of the more lyrically succinct songs of the evening, "I'm Having A Heart Attack," are all to be found in the title. However, the band is obviously having such a great time, and their songs are so damned funny, that it is impossible not to be thoroughly charmed by them.
The band is currently touring behind its most recent release, Apollo 18, and they opened the show with the first single, "The Guitar" (a rather unique takeoff on that old chestnut "The Lion Sleeps Tonight": "Hush my darling, be still my darling, the lion's on the phone..."). This was followed by other new material as well as songs from their previous three albums: "Ana Ng," "Particle Man," "Your Racist Friend," "Piece Of Dirt," "Purple Toupee," and "Birdhouse In Your Soul" among them. The two Johns, on guitar and accordion, were backed by drums, bass and keyboards, all of whom were introduced as Mr. Steve Miller.
Was the audience lucky enough to be treated to the multiple talents of Mr. Miller? Unfortunately, no. It was all part of a little game called Spin the Dial, wherein one of the Johns picks a random song that happens to be playing on the radio and the band performs it. On this occasion, the song was "Fly Like An Eagle," and I must say that performed on the accordion, this composition takes on new dimensions. Another feature of the evening's performance was the Brooklyn Car Alarm Audience Soundcheck, which required one section of the audience to imitate a car alarm while the other section was instructed to yell, "Hey, get away from my car!" during the song "Hide Away Folk Family."
For the encore, the band transformed the happy, silly "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" into a death knell for life as we know it, employing echoing devices to sound like impending doom, and they closed with their breakthrough song, 1987's "Don't Let's Start," whipping the already enthusiastic crowd into a frenzy, and capping off a wonderfully quirky show.
