Shows/2018-02-02

From This Might Be A Wiki
9 wikians attended: ACupOfCoffee Cabiria Jimd1981 Justabaldguy Old Cyrus Ratalope Ratthew Selfcallednowhere Sixtyeightstate

You must be logged in to mark yourself for being at this show.

Links:


• Poster

Setlist:

Set 1:

Set 2:

Encore 1:

Encore 2:

They Might Be Giants
White Oak Music Hall in Houston, TX
February 2, 2018 at 8:00 PM


Fan Recaps and Comments:

Anyone know what that video is which they played before the second set? It was Run DMC and Aerosmith's Walk This Way video, but with a new song lip synced over it. Would love to find it. Justabaldguy (talk) 12:58, 3 February 2018 (EST)

It's the Last Wave demo video. If you click on the Last Wave demo link on the side, the video will be there and you can watch it again! - Invisiblehippo97 (talk) 13:04, 3 February 2018 (EST)

Thank you! No idea how I missed that. Clearly I wasn't paying attention. Anyway thanks again! Justabaldguy (talk) 09:04, 4 February 2018 (EST)

Selfcallednowhere:

When they came out, Flans said that this was "TMBG Country." Then he said that the venue was "surprisingly nice" (it actually was really nice--in spite of the show taking place in my hometown, this was my first time being here--not sure if it opened after I moved away or what). Then he said that they were going to be their own opening act but they were actually well-rehearsed, and that they were "the only They Might Be Giants tribute band that matters," and I was thinking "No, that's Sapphire Bullets!" cos that's what he would always say when they were doing that.

The first two songs were the same as the previous night, "Dinner Bell" and then "Damn Good Times," and I had a momentary flash of being worried that they were going to play a very similar set to the night before. They played some great stuff the night before, don't get me wrong, but one of the things I love about seeing them do multiple shows in a row is seeing them play a lot of different stuff. My fears turned out to be unfounded though--they did play some of the same stuff but also mixed it up enough to make it interesting.

The next song was "Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal," which is is really really fun live. Curt still wasn't with them for this early part of the tour, and I had to admit the performance was lacking without him after seeing how much he'd added to it at the shows I went to in Brooklyn about a month before this, but it was still fantastic.

After that John said, "This place is so nice that it feels inappropriate to do a high-energy show. We should be doing a TED Talk. We're being too rambunctious."

Then Flans said that they have a new album, and I didn't hear him but apparently some guy in the crowd yelled that it's great, because then Flans said, "Area man says 'great work.'"

Then Flans said that he had his "favorite cheat sheet" and was hoping it wasn't going to get blown away. John said it isn't really cheating if there are no losers. Then he went back to the TED Talk thing and said we'd be able to see it all explained in his Powerpoint presentation. Flans said that the Venn diagram shows that the crowd's acceptance of new material is directly related to the enthusiasm the band brings to their performance of it. Then John said, "I'm gonna flip some paradigms and blow your mind." Then Flans said that on this song he was going to take his mic off its stand "like a Little Lord Fauntleroy."

The song was "This Microphone." This was the live debut of it, so that was two new song debuts in a row after "Mrs. Bluebeard" the night before. Also like "Mrs. Bluebeard," I wouldn't have expected it to work live as well as it did (this has nothing to do with song quality, I just find some types of songs more suited to live performance than others), and it was cool to see the debut of it.

Afterwards, Flans said that it was the first time they'd played it, which he didn't want to say beforehand cos then he would have felt even more self-conscious. Then he thanked Dan for doing such a good job with the solo. Also Marty was using some kind of percussion that I'm not sure what it was exactly--some stick thing he was shaking. Flans said it's banned, and John said it's endangered. Flans said it's considered cruelty, and John said that's because it's still alive.

Then John said something like "How about John Flansburgh getting all the lyrics to that song?" and we all cheered, and I was thinking that the reason he managed to do that was because of the aforementioned cheat sheet, and that if he'd just done the same thing with "Mrs. Bluebeard" the night before he wouldn't have fucked it up so badly, but of course being able to read a cheat sheet would require the assistance of his glasses, and my motives for him wearing them were of course entirely pure and related solely to his ability to correctly sing his new songs and not at all to do with the fact that I think him wearing them is the sexiest thing in the history of time.

Then John said that they'd been playing long enough that they could remember when Youtube wasn't around to document the bad early performances of their songs, and improvised a song on his keyboard, the lyrics of which consisted of just "Makin' shit up/Cos I can't remember the words." Flans said that later they'd get to the stage where the people in the front row know all the words and they don't, and John said "Fucking you do it."

Then they played "Mrs. Bluebeard." John did much better with it than he did the night before, so he must have rehearsed it quite a bit--he still slipped up a couple of times, but he really mangled it the night before, so I was proud of him for doing so much better this time.

After "New York City," Flans said that it was time for an "on-stage Vibe Report." He started talking about how there's a place that he first described as a spa, and then described as an exercise place, and then described as a cult, and said that if you go enough times they give you some bag and Marty really wants the bag. He asked Marty if he's been enough times to get the bag yet, and Marty said you have to refer other people, and Flans said "Cult!"

Then John said that they actually got to sleep in a hotel room the night before. "There's a water spraying thing on the wall and a thing you dry yourself with. We don't know what to do with that." Then he said he'd done his laundry, and I was like "You mean the like three stripey shirts that you're gonna wear over and over for the whole tour?" Flans said that all he'd done all day was get a burrito (which granted does not sound like much, but I can assure you as a native Texan that when I get the chance to return home getting some quality Tex-Mex is always a high-priority activity for me as well).

Next they played "Letterbox," YES YES YES. I love that song SO MUCH and have only seen it a few times since way back in the day.

After that song, John picked up the contra-alto clarinet. Flans said that there's an entire chapter about this instrument in their autobiography, which is entitled In Praise of Inanimate Objects (I would totally read this, for the record). Then he said that it's "not made for drywall."

They played "All Time What." Afterwards, Flans said that we should "enjoy the restraint of the keyboard on the next song," and that Dan was going to be in his own "musical prison cell."

The next song was "Cloisonne." I liked this song with bass clarinet too, but I like it better with the contra-alto just cos I think it's a cooler-looking instrument so I like seeing John play it more.

Next, they played "Particle Man," which featured some quality JL spazziness. The song he inserted in the bridge this time was "Elusive Butterfly," which I haven't seen him do much at the shows I've been to lately--it's such a dumb song, so it amuses me to see him do it.

Afterwards, John said that the key of C is so conventional and he's sick of it, and Flans said he needs more black keys. Then John said that the next song was in the key of F#, if we were playing along.

The next song was "Doctor Worm," which is always so fun live, definitely one of my favorite accordion songs that they actually play on a regular basis to see. This was followed up by "The Famous Polka," which I feel the same way about.

People were yelling something or other after that, and Flans said that they have a computerized light show so it's confusing when people talk to them.

Flans introduced "Trouble Awful Devil Evil" by saying it's the best song on Phone Power. I've also seen him say that "Answer" is the best song on Glean. I don't agree with him in either case, but I do think it's sweet for him to say that the best songs on both albums are John's.

Afterwards, Flans said that they were happy to see that "the dudes in the back didn't bolt" like they normally do during slow songs. He said he wondered what they always do outside, and John said they were "bear-hug dancing." Flans said he has a feeling it involves menthol cigarettes. John: "We don't judge. Yes we do."

Then there was something really funny. John said that there were initials on the setlist and he had no idea what they meant, and Flans said "It's 'as fuck, John." I happened to be in front of a girl who got the setlist at the t-shirt stand after the show, so I can confirm that it did indeed say "AF" after the previous song. It just really amused me that a) Flans would write that on the setlist and b) he'd think John would be hip enough to know that that was what it meant.

Next they played "Bangs," which isn't one of my absolute favorite Mink Car songs, but it is pretty good and pretty fun live.

Next there was "Your Racist Friend," and then something I was really excited to see: "Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes." FUCK I love that song, and I've only seen it a few times, so yeh it was a big deal for me. It's superfun live too, so happy and bouncy.

Next was "Cyclops Rock," which is one of my absolute favorite Mink Car songs, and also one of those "Flans rocking your face off" songs that I love seeing live so dearly.

Flans said that they were going to take a 15-minute break. John said, "We'll be back in an hour." Then Flans said that the break was going to be "a strong New York 15," whatever that means.

Then they had the house lights turned up so they could count the beards in the crowd. John said that some people were "wearing their beards on the inside." Then they went off on this funny thing with Flans saying that in Austin the beard-to-person ratio was 2-to-1, and John saying that its nickname was "The Double-Beard City." Flans: "There was an ad campaign, 'Keep Austin Double-Bearded,' but it wasn't as successful as the 'Keep Austin Weird' campaign. I think people just hate sequels."

The last song of the first set was "The Mesopotamians." This song is fun live and all, but god, I've only seen three songs from The Else live and it's one of my favorite albums. I just wish they would mix it up a bit instead of always playing this one.

After the break and the "Last Wave" video projected onto the back wall, it was time for the Quiet Storm portion of things. I was really looking forward to it, more than any other part of the show in fact, cos I was counting on them to not let me down by skipping "A Self Called Nowhere" like they did the previous night.

The first few songs were the same as the night before--"Older" and "I Like Fun," both with John on the contra-alto clarinet. During the parkour part of the latter Flans was holding one arm up and out and everyone was cheering a lot, particularly after the "at the age of 58" part--presumably they thought it's his actual age, but I of course know that it's really John's age, not his.

After that Flans said that Marty was playing electronic drums and it was a "once-in-a-lifetime experience." Then he said that this is the Quiet Storm part of the show, partially because they're "playing storm sound effects, quietly" and partially because it was "stormy emotionally" because they were "testing the outer limits" of what Febreeze can do.

John said that the next song was from 1840.

JL: When we played this song in Pensacola, when we said "1840," people went absolutely ape-shit. And we still don't know why.

JF: It's "ape-shit bananas." That's the show-biz term.

So then they played "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too," and I was kicking myself for not listening to it a lot on the bus to memorize the lyrics so I could sing along, and resolved to make sure to get them down by the show the next day.

Then John said that 1840 is the old-timey time, but the next song is from the future--1844. One of them said that in the future there are flying beards, and John said, "Flying beards leaving beardtrails. You know what that means." Then he said "Heavens to Betsy!"--I thought it was very cute for him to be using such an old-fashioned expression that no one uses anymore, but I always think it's cute when he does this. (Well, I always think it's cute when he does literally anything pretty much, I guess.)

So then they of course did "James K. Polk." I really do like this song on accordion--I may be really upset by him playing accordion songs on keyboard, but when he does the reverse I definitely am not gonna complain. I mean, if it were up to me he'd play accordion for the entire show like he did in the duo days. Just before the bridge he told Flans "Let your beard fly," which was silly.

And then, at long last, was the moment I've been waiting for for sixteen and a half years, the moment I thought would never come before this tour started: they played "A Self Called Nowhere." I cannot even put into words how special it was for me to see my favorite song for the first time, the song I've been wanting to see more than any other song for as long as TMBG has been my favorite band. I literally got goosebumps. It was unlike anything I've ever experienced at a show. It was everything I hoped it would be and more, and I don't see how any future concert-going experience could ever top it.

After that, Flans was walking over near Marty's drums, and John said, "Don't get those drums angry."

Then Marty walked off stage and it was just The Johns. They did "Istanbul" that way, the version where they're both being really silly with the long drawn-out part with them doing silly things with their voices and stuff, and I think that version is very amusing, but apparently not everyone thinks so, because some woman by me was yelling insulting remarks at them ("I paid $50 for what?" and worse, including swearing I won't repeat). It really pissed me off, and if she'd been closer to me I would've gotten into it with her.

The rest of the band came back for the end of the song for a crazy jam session. Flans introduced them all afterwards and said that they were "re-introducing long-term hearing loss. Save your complaints for the band tomorrow night, because we'll be gone."

Next they played "We Live in a Dump"--Flans gave it its standard intro, which is that it's "about apartment living." I was thinking about how great John's backing vox are on the "then"s, which I'd never fully appreciated before.

Next came a major show highlight--"Don't Let's Start"!!! I was FLIPPING OUT the moment I heard that classic opening riff. I've seen this song shockingly few times considering how popular it is, probably fewer than five times, and it's very close to the top on my list of favorite songs, so yeh it was a really big deal for me. And godDAMN what a good live song! And there was just so much energy in the room, because of course everyone loves that song.

After that Flans said, "We have a new album out. It's a complicated album. It's strictly for adults." I'm not sure what he meant about it being complicated, but I'm pretty sure an album that's jam-packed with death and despair at a level that's high even by their standards is "strictly for adults," yeh.

Then they played "I Left My Body." I do really love this song, and it's also a great live song.

After that Flans said that during the next song Marty's hands never leave his arms. Then he asked how everyone was doing, and, after everyone cheered, said that he could see that there had been some beards grown during the intermission.

John introduced the next song with, "This song is in the key of F, for those of you who give a shit." The song was "Number Three," which is a really fun live song. I still don't understand why they'd put it anywhere in a setlist besides being the third song, but I'm pretty sure that's how it's been every time I've seen it.

After that John said that they've been playing with Marty for a long time, "but we still don't know what the drums ever did to him. It's his dark secret." Then, Flans said that there's a profile of Marty in the new issue of Modern Drummer, and that Marty told him when he was being interviewed he said, "Kids, school is for fools" but they didn't print that part (a minute later he said he didn't really say that).

Next they played "The End of the Tour," which is another amaaaaaazing song that I've only seen a few times, so that was exciting.

Next they played "Spy." That song is so much better live than it is on the album just cos the improv conducting part is so fun. Afterwards, Flans said that that song was "a musical question with no right answer" and thanked us for joining them in their "musical aquarium," whatever that means. Then he said he thought he heard someone on a walkie-talkie, and that sometimes in New York you'll be at a diner or something and there will be construction workers talking on their walkie-talkies and it's weird.

Then they played "When the Lights Come On." I'm so glad they're doing this one live--in addition to being my second-favorite song on the album, it just KICKS SO MUCH ASS live cos it's so rockin'. It really is unusual for John to write a song that's this rockin', that's much more Flans's territory than his, so I was glad for him to have a chance to play a song like that, plus it's just generally a fucking fantastic song.

After that they collaborated on a silly improv song:

JL: We've got a brand-new album. It's the reason we're here.

JF: Don't forget about the other songs, John.

JL: We also have other songs.

It doesn't really sound funny when I just write it out, but having them actually make it into a song was, trust me.

After that Flans introduced the band again, and then introduced the crew too--he mentioned two people named John, and then asked, "Do we only hire people named John?" But then he said that they also have Fresh, who's on two teams: Team Beautiful and Team Drums.

Next they played "Answer," and after it was over I was randomly thinking that I'd love to see them play "When Will You Die," and they actually did play it next! It was so strange. I don't even know why I was thinking of it right then since the two songs have no connection. Anyway, I love that song live--so much fun, and easily one of the most fun songs to sing along with ever. John apparently thinks it's really fun to sing too--he's always smiling a ton when he does, which always amuses me.

That was the end of the main set. The first encore started with "Why Does the Sun Shine?" That's another really fun live song. They're currently doing it with Flans singing and John doing the spoken parts. Things that were a gas on the sun included "magnets--how do they work?", and the heat and light of the sun were caused by "the nuclear reaction between magnets, hydrogen, how do they work, and magnets." So yes folks, John Linnell has discovered ICP, heaven help us.

After that they played "Wicked Little Critta." I can't believe how fun that song is live when I'm not really into it on the album.

They closed the first encore with that song they always have to play--"Birdhouse in Your Soul," of course. I will never ever ever get sick of that song live, no matter how many times I see it. It still manages to be one of the highlights of the show for me, even though I've seen it at every single show I've ever been to.

They opened the second encore with "Spider." Silly and fun, as always.

They closed with something I've seen a lot but don't think I've ever seen them close with: "Twisting." I think it's a great closing song--it really ends the show on a high note. John was hopping some and it was adorable. Also Flans somehow managed to knock his mic onto the stage (I didn't see exactly what happened cos I was staring at John as per usual) and then had to spend a minute down on the stage, trying to pick it up. Poor Flans--I'm sure he was really embarrassed. But the rest of the band just gamely continued playing.

So that was the end of the show. The Apollo 18 stuff the night before was amazing of course, but if I take out that stuff and just think about the rest of the set, I thought the setlist at this show was actually better. They played some of my absolute favorite songs, many of which I either have only seen a few times or saw a bunch when I was first going to shows years and years ago but haven't much since then. Finally seeing my theme song was most definitely the highlight for me!!!

Other notes: John seemed particularly energetic and happy. I don't know if it was being well-rested from sleeping in a real bed at the hotel or what, but he seemed to be smiling and boppin' around more than usual, and it was adorable. Also he continued his "wearing pretty much nothing but stripey shirts" streak he's been on this year, with this red-and-blue stripey one he loves.

Retrieved from "https://tmbw.net/wiki/index.php?title=Shows/2018-02-02&oldid=326724"