Shows/1990-02-03a
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Links:
Setlist:
- Particle Man
- Ana Ng
- Your Racist Friend
- Someone Keeps Moving My Chair
- Lucky Ball & Chain
- Hearing Aid
- Whistling In The Dark
- She's An Angel
- Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
- (She Was A) Hotel Detective
- Lie Still, Little Bottle
- Purple Toupee
- The Famous Polka
- Where Your Eyes Don't Go
- Birdhouse In Your Soul
- Cowtown
- Kiss Me, Son Of God
- Don't Let's Start
- Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes
Encore:
They Might Be Giants
The Village Gate in New York, NY
February 3, 1990 at 8:00 PM
Fan Recaps and Comments:
Tickets were $15.
Preview of the show from the New Yorker, Feb. 5, 1990:
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS perform Feb. 2-3. The Giants are John Flansburgh and John Linnell, two young men from Lincoln, Massachusetts, who apparently didn't get out of the house enough. The two Johns make pop music that is tricky, clever and brainy to the hilt, and that can leave the customer feeling giddy and word-sated. They're prolific, too—their repertoire comprises scores of songs, some of which can be heard on their latest album, "Flood."
A review of the show by Eric Boehlert
Boston Rock, Feb. 1990:
After Lincoln came out in late 88, John Flansburgh, aware and fearful of the Ole Spinal Tap thin line dividing stupid and clever, said he didn't want They Might Be Giants to be the band "everyone hates in a year."
Well, he and partner John Linnell don't have to worry. Their flock continues to grow steadily. To the band's credit it hasn't run the joke thin yet. The songs − grab bags of canned music, are still stacked with puns and eccentric turn of phrases. But, as their latest, Flood, and more graphically, the show at the Gate, proved John and John still own some of the catchiest songs going. And that rarely runs out a welcome. The show, a bit Flood top-heavy, ran its normal, brief sixty minute length. But then again, again, who can cram nineteen tunes into an hour? And like their records, too much of this good thing can be down right nerve racking as their schizophrenic songs go buzzing in different directions.
The Giants hit all the right buttons: the hyper-paced chorus in "Lucky Ball & Chain," the left handed hooks of "She's An Angel," and "Particle Man," (the song that kept coming back days after the show) and the reasonably straight ahead rock crush of "Hotel Detective," and "Don't Let's Start," which still comes across as their best effort. Their friendly banter that marks a Giants get together was in full swing, too, especially when Flansburgh delighted the troops by strapping on a massive marching band drum for "Whistling in the Dark."
Sure, there is a sense of a deja vu all over again with John & John live. I mean, they still look like Kevin and Paul from "The Wonder Years" twenty years later trying to rock-out in the garage. But actually, you're glad the show is so similar year in and year out. Fond memories are like that.
