Shows/2001-12-13
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Setlist:
- James K. Polk
- Cyclops Rock
- Bangs
- Dead
- She's Actual Size
- Ana Ng
- Doctor Worm
- Drink!
- Particle Man
- The Famous Polka
- Lie Still, Little Bottle
- Yeh Yeh
- Spin The Dial
- Older
- Why Does The Sun Shine?
- Man, It's So Loud In Here
- Robot Parade
- G-L-O-ckenspiel Intro
- Shoehorn With Teeth
- Fingertips
- Birdhouse In Your Soul
- The Guitar
- Boss Of Me
- She's An Angel
- New York City
Encore:
Encore:
They Might Be Giants
— with Lazaro's Dog opening —
Arena in Brisbane, Australia
December 13, 2001
Fan Recaps and Comments:
It was a brilliant show in a great venue. TMBG were wonderful, excellent, divine! That show is one of my most cherished memories, and I'd rate it as the best show I've ever seen. The lads are welcome back in Brisbane any time! --Woobee
Show review by Mark Batten
Rave Magazine, Dec. 18, 2001:
They Might Be Giants - wow. It had been 11 years since I had seen this band on the Birdhouse tour, and they have only gotten better, much better.
For TMBG this was the last show of the Australian Tour. Brisbane always seems to be the place where touring bands are playing their last show, and for that reason I think we get to see some of the best shows. The one off shows where bands are starting to celebrate the end of the tour.
One word that has to be mentioned is pop, TMBG have lots of it. Pop sounds, pop sensibilities, pop style; it is such an integral part of what TMBG do. Some of my personal set highlights were Boss of Me, Cyclops Dog, Birdnest and Georgie Fames 'Yeah Yeah'. Of course the phone answering service - drum solo and the Glocenspiel were highlights as well. I hope they tour Australia again, I haven't enjoyed a show this much in ages.
The Arena was a perfect size venue, the room was about three quarters full, the crowd heat slowly rising. With the release of Mink Car their latest album, and their song Boss of Me being the theme song for Malcolm in the Middle I think there were some crowd expectations, I know I certainly had a lot.
Now the hard part, actually trying describe what They Might Be Giants were like. There are some musical acts that defy description, the diversity and quality of sound and idea, leave you with no constants for categorisation.
The originality of TMBG blows me away, where do they get their idea's concepts that some song writers would leave out, TMBG just use and exploit in their music.
Show review by Eileen Dick
Time Off, Dec. 19, 2001:
There aren't even enough under-18s to line the edge of the balcony when They Might Be Giants take to the stage in a pall of white smoke - despite the band's resurgence via Malcolm In The Middle, it seems like their audience is still made up of predominantly older fans. The set really does favour this crowd: the last date on their Australian tour, it covers the gamut of TMBG's absurd, informative and eclectic musical world.
The two Johns and their band of three Dans enter to the sound of crickets and an explosion of confetti from the ceiling - and that's just the beginning of the fun and games. There's a swag of tunes from their new record Mink Car: starting with cute hairdo tribute 'Bangs' and also including the title track, the super-catchy 'Cyclops Rock', 'Drink!' and, later in the piece, TV theme 'Boss Of Me'. Alongside these are old favourites aplenty: Apollo 18's 'Dig My Grave', 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' rewrite 'The Guitar' and 'She's Actual Size' (complete with 17-part drum solo); and Flood's 'Twisting', 'Particle Man', 'Dead' and 'Birdhouse In Your Soul'; and Miscellaneous T's 'The Famous Polka'.
The icing on this very tasty cake is 'Istanbul (Not Constantinople)' - a geopolitical lesson of sorts, it drives home the message that clever-ness, musical complexity and humour are not mismatched in TMBG. An evening with this band could not possibly fail to entertain.
As well as TMBG's willingness to 'play the hits', what really floors us is the deadly double of Lincoln's extra bouncy 'Ana Ng' and their mid-90s comeback special 'Dr Worm', which easily draws the most emphatic crowd response of the whole show.
