Shows/1990-05-02b

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• Listing

Setlist: (Incomplete!)

• Someone Keeps Moving My Chair
• Ana Ng
• Kiss Me, Son Of God
• Lie Still, Little Bottle
• Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
• Purple Toupee
• The Famous Polka
• Birdhouse In Your Soul
• 32 Footsteps
• Whistling In The Dark
• Don't Let's Start

They Might Be Giants
— with The Jack Rubies opening —
Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI
May 2, 1990 at 8:00 PM

Fan Recaps and Comments:

Photo by Freddy Spadafora from MSU's University Reporter-Intelligencer.
"Lawrence Welk on acid? John One is living proof."

Review from the May 9, 1990, issue of MSU's University Reporter-Intelligencer:

Duo a Giant hit by Ron Happening

They came from New Jersey, home of teamsters and toxic waste. But whereas those two may be similar, They Might Be Giants proved Wednesday night that not everything from Jersey is the same.

Following a great warm-up set by The Jack Rubies, John Linnell and John Flansburgh put on an ecclectic one and a quarter hour show at the MSU Union Ballroom. Unlike their videos—in which John One looks like the Spaz Poster Child—John One placidly worked his accordian while John Two normally stayed on film—bounded about, ran the metronomes, boomed the bass drum, played harmonica, and talked up the adoring crowd.

In fact, mixing two-piece arrangements with taped back-up music from their most recent albums Lincoln, and Flood, They Might Be Giants charged up a large ballroom crowd. They pleased and entertained with tight and energetic versions of "Anga Eng," "Kiss Me, Son of God," "Little Green Bottle," "istambul (not Constantinobul)," "Purple Toupee," and current air-wave rave, "Bird Cage In Your Soul." Their weird, rapid fire music, inspired by who knows what, was a treat. Even casual fans enjoyed the life-changing messages hidden in songs like "Someone Keeps Moving My Chair," which kicked off the show. Exactly the lyrical matter you'd expect from a band that boasted of a new-song-a-day phone line.

They Might Be Giants was well suited to the intimacy of the ballroom, as in the course of changing or tuning instruments, John Two was able to joke with the crowd without being miked. But for only one tune in the middle of the concert did John One ever come to life. Finally, in one of their three brief encores, they quieted evening-long critics begging for "Don't Let's Stop," but they then conspicuously left out "They'll Need a Crane," and their self-titled theme song.

It was a wonderful and weird show for a band that is destined for bigger venues next time around. But then again, what else could the future hold for an accordian-guitar based band that sounds like Lawrence Welk on acid? Sure, They Might Be Weird, and They Might Be Impossible to Figure Out, but Wednesday, They were Giants—boy!