Shows/1993-09-17
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Setlist: (Incomplete and possibly out of order)
They Might Be Giants
— with Pere Ubu opening —
Bogart's in Cincinnati, OH
September 17, 1993 at 7:30 PM
Fan Recaps and Comments:
"They might be a giant good time" by Gavin Borchert
The Cincinnati Enquirer, Sep. 18, 1993:
John Flansburgh and John Linnell, a.k.a. They Might Be Giants, have probably done more for the non sequitur in pop music than anyone else. Some of their songs are about something - racism, say, or bad relationships. Some, which are even more fun, are about nothing in particular.
To their extremely odd and clever lyrics, they add equally weird music. Some wonderfully ba nal and quirky tunes and a great variety of instrumental and synthesizer effects, especially on record, make up a unique sound that en abled TMBG to sell out Bogart's on Friday night.
Visually, the lead singer, a big balding guy in a coat and tie, made a definite impression. He brought out an accordion, too, which was also pretty much lost in the shuffle. What he did with the metronome was a nice touch, though.
In contrast to the clean, razor-sharp production of their CDs, TMBG's live sound is raw and dirty. The raucous trumpet and sax, not to mention the guitars, swamp their trademark accordion. (Despite the omnipresent accordion, most of their songs sound about as far from Cajun as they could get.)
But either way, their wildly creative and original lyric settings come through. "Ana Ng and I are getting old and we still haven't walked in the glow of each other's majestic presence." That's all one line; I'd like to see any other songwriter touch it, much less make it danceable.
TMBG unveiled some new songs at Bogart's, including one very nice one about the sun. It featured some fun astronomy facts, each of which drew huge and inexplicable cheers from the college-and-younger crowd. "The sun is 93 million miles away." "YEAH! ALL RIGHT!!!" It was very strange.
Needless to say, TMBG's fans are fervent and intense. They were ready with their requests. "Copacabana," "YMCA" and "White Rabbit" were challenges to which TMBG, unfortunately, did not rise. But they did "I Am Woman," in an unsettling deadpan.
Crowd favorites were songs from their 1990 album Flood: "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," "Twisting," "Your Racist Friend," ripe with great hooks and great quotes.
Two things set opening act Pere Ubu apart. Aurally, the heavily-amplified cello, moaning and grinding away, thickened the sonic soup.
