Shows/2015-05-02

22 wikians attended: Bagofgroceries BlueCanary Bribob4 Covenant DistopioSmashedtobits Ericjdev Eviltikimonkey Eyetalic FallenOutWithMyHead Friendbone HectorR Kakenrip Kentdigimon Kerimaus LadsGal My Insatiable One NintenDorky Nogwater Ovenmitt Rossum Stevenaaron The Vanishing Dot

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Links:

• Flickr gallery by BlueCanary

Ticket • Setlist

Setlist:

1st Set

• What Nut Intro
• Can't Keep Johnny Down
• Music Jail, Pt. 1 & 2
• Anaheim
• The Mesopotamians
• Answer
• Number Three
• Bills, Bills, Bills
• When Will You Die
• Older
• Madam, I Challenge You To A Duel
• I Palindrome I
• Damn Good Times
• 32 Footsteps
• Good To Be Alive
• Doctor Worm
• Let Me Tell You About My Operation
• Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

2nd Set

• Sammy Intro
• You're On Fire
• New York City
• Ana Ng
• I Can Help The Next In Line
• Authenticity Trip
• Underwater Woman
• Alphabet Of Nations
• James K. Polk
• Dig My Grave
• Man, It's So Loud In Here
• Withered Hope
• Unpronounceable
• Robot Parade

Encore

• Erase
• Fingertips

Encore 2

• Dead
• Birdhouse In Your Soul

They Might Be Giants
House of Blues in Anaheim, CA
May 2, 2015 at 9:00 PM

Fan Recaps and Comments:

The Vanishing Dot: This was my 18th TMBG show and was definitely in the top tier of the shows I've seen. It felt like a more streamlined, aerodynamic kind of show, akin to the one I saw in 2002 in San Diego, which was one of the most rocking TMBG shows I've ever seen.

I've always been fond of the Anaheim House of Blues and have felt like it was TMBG's home base in SoCal, so I was pleased when the Johns said recently that it was one of their very favorite venues. I'm not sure why it gets a bad rap. You get to see TMBG in a relatively tiny place (owned by Dan Aykroyd, no less) and it's right next door to Disneyland. It just seems right. I couldn't help but derive a perverse pleasure from the fact that, while millions were sitting at home watching two grown men beating the hell out of each other on national TV, I was at Disneyland watching They Might Be Giants.

The show was largely focused on new stuff from Glean, all of which, despite its myopic simplicity, fit in seamlessly with the rest of the set. Oddly enough, the show was divided into two different sets and I'm not sure why, although it may have been due to the fact that Flans was getting over a cold. Flans claimed it was so they could play more songs, but who knows.

I don't think I'd ever seen Flans perform so many songs guitar-less before, and it was really cool to see him running around the stage with just a mic.

"Older" was interrupted in the middle by a sort of play on the old "Phone Calls From The Dead" concert routine, this time with Linnell fielding a phone call from animatronic Abraham Lincoln. Flans did a callback to this later on, in the middle of the "I'm having a heart attack" segment of "Fingertips" (in place of the old "I'm Optimus Prime" bit).

Highlights for me were "Number Three" and "32 Footsteps" from The Pink Album, three from Apollo 18 (including a great, slightly extended "Dig My Grave"), the original rock version of "Man, It's So Loud In Here" (I'm not sure I'd ever seen them perform that version), "Dead," which had the whole audience singing along, and a surprisingly great cover of Destiny's Child's "Bills, Bills, Bills," which fit in perfectly with the rest of their set. Also, I think this may be the first TMBG show I've seen where they did not perform "Particle Man." (Not that I'm complaining.)

Great set list and an excellent show all around.