Shows/1998-09-18
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Links:
Setlist:
- Accordion Song
- Severe Tire Damage Theme
- New York City
- Twisting
- She's Actual Size
- The Famous Polka
- She's An Angel
- Working Undercover For The Man
- Shoehorn With Teeth
- Subliminal
- Older
- James K. Polk
- S-E-X-X-Y
- Spy
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- Lie Still, Little Bottle
- I Palindrome I
- Particle Man
- Whistling In The Dark
- Why Does The Sun Shine? (fast version)
- Battle For The Planet Of The Apes
- Birdhouse In Your Soul
- The Guitar
- Everybody Conga
- No One Knows My Plan
- Mammal
- Doctor Worm
- Exquisite Dead Guy
- Istanbul (Not Constantinople) ( with possible Hotel California intro)
They Might Be Giants
Deep Ellum Live in Dallas, TX
September 18, 1998 at 8:00 PM
Fan Recaps and Comments:
Tickets were $18 at the door.
Review by Kris:
Well, they might not come to Texas often, but when they do, they put on a good show. The place was packed, filled with 1000+ sweaty, excited, and unusually tall fans (i could hardly see the stage from the middle of the floor). We got there late, so I didn't get to see Michael Shelly. Ah well. There also was very little (actually no) security, so I am kicking myself for not bootlegging. Once again, Ah well. The show started off with an odd versionf of the STD intro, without the horns (Jim was unfortunately absent), with Linnell filling in those parts on the keyboard. They launched into NYC, which was, after seeing it so many time, pretty unimpressive. The meat of the show came when Linnell strapped on the accordion. Breaking with his trend of sticking to the keyboard, he actually played 7 songs ont he accordion- much to our delight. She's an Angel, Whistling in the Dark, and Mammall were extra special, since I'd never seen them done live before. They came back for two encores, including the ever-creepy puppet-head Dead Guy and the quintessential Istanbul. Dan Miller really impressed with his fingertapping on the Istanbul intro... my estimation of him went up a notch or two for that. Anyway, after the show i ran into Flans as he was running to get into his car, and managed to give him a copy of my Fingertips video that i had made for a class last year. I also got Dan Hickey and Dan Miller to sign my STD cover, before Hickey mysteriously rode off into downtown Dallas on his bicycle. I hope he's OK.
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During the rendition of Whistling In The Dark John Flansburgh walked off the stage. He reemerged through a small door left of the stage and, bass drum in tow, waded into the audience. Crowd members touched him lightly on the shirt as he passed.
Flansburgh also kept tempo during Lie Still, Little Bottle, using the heavy wooden stick. After the song, he mentioned to Linnell that he was examining his physique in a hotel room mirror recently when he noticed that his left arm was larger than his right. He attributed this to a tour's worth of stick performances.
Linnell added: "Yes, and your right arm is withering away."
Flansburgh looked down, and then signaling from right to left across his chest sighed: "I'm dying this way."
The next night in Austin the band performed a song called I've Got A Withered Arm.
-- Sydney C. (April 2006)
"Simply Colossal" by Punch Shaw
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Sept. 20, 1998
New York rock duo They Might Be Giants built birdhouses in the souls of more than 1,000 adoring tans crammed into Deep Ellum Live on Friday night.The full house pogo-ed, conga-ed, sweated, sang and generally worshipped at the altar of tuneful surrealism this band has erected over the dozen years since its first major release, Bar None. TMBG's Dallas show made it clear why this band always sells out the smallish venues it plays in its frequent stops here.
The Johns — Flansburgh and Linnell — supported by guitar, bass and drums — led the faithful through a joyful romp of a show that did a nice job of sampling the band's rich, eclectic history and supporting their most recent CD, Severe Tire Damage.
They sucked energy from the crowd and sprayed it back — in a kaleidoscope of odd, funny and catchy pop tunes with a style that no other band would dare attempt to imitate.
Nothing has ever been written about the band without invoking the adjective "quirky." Some of the subject matter explored in the surprisingly hard rocking 100-minute set explains why:
- The chemical composition of the sun. (Why Does the Sun Shine?)
- A forgotten US president. (James K. Polk)
- Getting lost on the way to a gig. (They Got Lost.)
- The nature of matter. (Particle Man.)
- And an exquisite dead guy. (Exquisite Dead Guy.)
Until they pick up their instruments, these affable nerds seem like a couple of guys from the chess club. Flansburgh primarily plays guitar, although he did strap on a marching band bass drum for one tune. He and Linnell (on keyboards sax and accordion) performed more than 25 of their beloved songs. Particular standouts included Particle Man, New York City, Birdhouse in Your Soul, The Guitar (a wonderfully demented version of the Tokens' The Lion Sleeps Tonight) and Doctor Worm, a new track from Severe Tire Damage.
TMBG got through the first round of encores without playing it, but then the chant of "Istanbul!" rattled the hall until the band shut down the place with a satisfying dash through its best known, and perhaps most charming, ditty, Istanbul (Not Constantinople). That sort of put the roof on the birdhouse.
But what about that other hit?
