Shows/1994-10-21

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Links:

• The Connector show review

Setlist: (possibly incomplete and out of order)

• Countdown Intro
• Meet James Ensor
• Kiss Me, Son Of God
• They'll Need A Crane
• Particle Man
• Whistling In The Dark
• Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
• Your Racist Friend
• She's An Angel
• Don't Let's Start
• Why Does The Sun Shine?
• AKA Driver
• No One Knows My Plan
• Ana Ng
• Stomp Box
• The Famous Polka
• Dig My Grave
• Extra Savoir-Faire
• Twisting
• The Joker

Encore #1:

• The Guitar
• Snail Shell
• Frankenstein

Encore #2:

• Spy

They Might Be Giants
— with Frank Black opening —
Orpheum Theater in Boston, MA
October 21, 1994

Fan Recaps and Comments:

Tickets were $18.50.

Review by Jeanne Cooper, The Boston Globe, Oct. 22, 1994:

Some concerts you never want to end. Ur-alternative cult favorites They Might Be Giants, a duo known for widely sampling pop genres, through unusual lyrics and unusual instruments (accordion, tuba), grew into a full rock band for the latest album, "John Henry," adding vitality and mitigating the preciousness of which the duo was sometimes accused. Now that John Flansburgh and John Linnell have taken their invigorated act on the road, it's enticing to think of their revisiting the entire TMBG catalog with live bass, guitar and multiple horns. They certainly covered a lot of it in their virtually sold out show at the Orpheum last night, starting with just drums added and later the full combo.
After a humorous voice-over countdown ("10 - your 10 fingers reach in the air...7 - seven stagehands reach for the one remaining beer"), the two Johns and drummer Brian Doherty whipped through the sprightly "Meet James Ensor," inspired by surf music and the Belgian painter. Doherty's "monkey drumming," as Flansburgh called it (think of the windup toy), packed new punch into "They'll Need A Crane," in which Linnell's accordion resurfaced.
Trumpeter Jim O'Connor and trombone/tuba player Randy Andos joined in for a sassy, partying "Particle Man." (Flansburgh, the quippier John, took one look at Andos' tuba and said, "How does he do it? Volume!") O'Connor helped take Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" to new whirling dervish heights, aided by a sing-along to Flansburgh's muezzin-like vocals. That song ended in atmospheric, slo-mo wails, which suddenly burst into the grooves of 1986's "Don't Let's Start" as a new floodlit set appeared behind the band with bassist Tony Maimone.
Flansburgh called it the "mega-bass," and he was right. Maimone thrust clavicle-rattling power into "Nyquil Driver" (listed as "AKA Driver" on "John Henry"), 1988's "Ana Ng," the Minutemen-thrash "Stomp Box" and their first instrumental, "The Famous Polka." Maimone also played a $35 ukulele on "Extra Savoir Faire." Extra well-received were the revved-up "Twisting" and a cover of Steve Miller's "The Joker."
The first encore heard "The Guitar," the robust single "Snail Shell" and a strobe-lit "Frankenstein" by Edgar Winter. The Giants came back one last time for "Spy," with flashing red cop lights and a faithfully replicated start-and-stop code conducted by Linnell's up-and-down arm movements. At his direction, the audience exuberantly added their heys.
Flansburgh dedicated "Spy" to opener Frank Black, who's touring on his second solo album following the Pixies' demise. For someone who was enthusiastically received, his set was strangely short: nine songs, about 15 minutes less than scheduled. And although his gig had been billed as "solo acoustic," he plugged in after the fourth song.

Not that he suffered from static electricity. He tore through "Whatever Happened to Pong?," turned bluesy on "Big Red," paid hard-rocking homage to the Three Stooges on "Two Reelers" and approached melodic rock on the finale, "Sir Rockaby" (all from his latest album, "Teenager of the Year.") The highlight, though, was his unexpected tribute to Jonathan Richman, a new song called "The Man Who Was Too Loud," which evoked grit and Richman's self-referential wit.

"They were actual size, but they "seemed much bigger to me..." by Toni Marie Pennacchia
The Connector, Nov. 22, 1994:

Yes, on October 21 the event of a lifetime occurred. The They Might Be Giants and Frank Black social event of the season has passed. Arriving with lousy balcony seats and eventually hopping along to the front row, I found that the concert was worth the twenty dollars admission. The concert was held in Boston at the Orpheum Theater, the famous place for rude and obnoxious security guards who tend to think all people under 30 are planning to cause trouble at an event. With the exception of the security guards, the show was exceptional.

Frank Black was rather poor in sound quality considering that most of the crowd did not come to the concert in support of him; many were simply "Snail Shell" fans of TMBG. He only performed songs from his 2nd solo album Teenager of the Year. He did sing my favourite on the album, "Big Red"; however, he didn't sing any Pixies tunes such as the "U Mass" song or "Los Angeles" off of his first self-titled album, Frank Black. He did give the audience a taste of some of his latest material. His newest piece, "The Man Who Was Too Loud", he said he wrote in the theater in 5 minutes that night. His set only lasted 15 minutes, disappointing many beloved Frank Black and Pixies fans in the crowd.

A man who was disappointed in Frank Black's performance, wanted to leave at intermission time because he went to the show solely for Frank Black. He traded tickets with me for tenth row (I originally had balcony seats). Having the ticket gave me a chance to get much more than the previous microscopic view I had of Frank Black and get around the rather robust security guards. TMBG started their show with a ten to one countdown with two being the large security guards holding us back from the show. They opened with some new tunes from John Henry including "AKA Driver", "James Ensor", and "Extra Savoir Faire". They performed most of their greatest songs from the Flood and Lincoln albums. From Lincoln they played: "Kiss Me Son of God" and "They'll Need a Crane" (unfortunately no "Purple Toupee"). Tunes from Flood included: "Whistling in the Dark", "Istanbul", and "Your Racist Friend".
They even performed songs such as "She's An Angel" and "Don't Let's Start" from their self-titled pink album. Finally, to keep the crowd moving they played the one and only "Famous Polka" and "Dig My Grave". Some usually wacky performance time TMBG's back to seventies songs such as the Steve Miller Band song, "The Joker" and the funky instrumental standard at TMBG shows, "Frankenstein", The best part of the concert was the Blues Brothers intro of the new TMBG band (with bassist Tony Maimone of Pere Ubu). Following the band intro, they played a punk version of "Why Does the Sun Shine" before the song John Linnell mentioned, "We promised the writer of the song to not change the words..." Overall, it was the perfect concert for doing the well-known Peanuts' holiday special dance.

I was actually able to meet TMBG and with their help I redeemed a confiscated tape I tried to make at the show. I was put on the guest list for their next show on October 25 at Smith College where I made an ID of them for my folk show. My folk show is named after their song from their first album, "Hide Away Folk Family".
The big differences between the Smith College show and the previous Orpheum show were: Frank Black performing well at Smith including a rendition of "Duke of Earl", John Linnell conducting a conga line during "No One Knows My Plan", and a fine performance of "Ana Ng".

We have seen the last John Linnell and John Flansburgh and the TMBG band. Although they are not quite yet a household name or everyday product of MTV, they are finally getting recognized (after 5 LP's and 5 EP's). They have recently on: The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, and Conan O'Brien. They may have started with a rather small cult following; however, they might be giants.