Shows/2022-10-14

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18 wikians attended: Areyoumyana BlueCanaryWatchesOverYou Catpuppet Disinvited Guest Hauntedcandlesh0p I've Got A Fang JamHeronArk Kerimaus MrDJ Mrpulley Mrsomebodyelse PetertheTMBGfan ProstheticForehead Sonyar SubliminalJK Valerie Vi Weirdalover

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Setlist:

Set 1:

Set 2:

Encore 1:

Encore 2:

They Might Be Giants
First Avenue in Minneapolis, MN
October 14, 2022 at 8:30 PM


Fan Recaps and Comments

The show was livestreamed via Flymachine.

Hauntedcandlesh0p:

Saw the show via the stream. Best parts were when Flans said Linnell makes him leave the tour bus though the exhaust pipe because it builds character and when the performance of "Older" was interrupted by a call from Papa They Might Be Giants, the father of all the members of TMBG. Papa TMBG's voice sounded like the caterpillar nurse from Um Jammer Lammy. Pretty gnarly. I swear this was real and not a nightmare I had.

Thezef:

We saw the guys at The State Theatre in Portland maine friday sept 2, 2022. And yet, we still sat entranced and watched the WHOLE First Avenue show livestreamed from faraway Minnesohdah. What gives? What is this magic thing? I think it's the UNBELIEVABLE sound and theright up close camera work, from all different angles onstage. Thank you TMBG and FlyMachine. This is a wonder to see and hear!
Here is my question, tho... why is the sound so LOUSY in comparison, at live venues? The State Theater is thought to have the best indoor sound system for any large rock venue in Maine, but it was muffled and garbled compared to the crystal clear livestream. YOu could hear every joke and innuendo on the stream, you missed lots of the quick asides live in the theatre. Every venue should make perfect sound their one ideal, yet here is a direct side by side comparison: 1) audience POV https://youtu.be/cOV-JT4PJ3c 2) livestream https://youtu.be/kDh376TWP44 at 1:42;33
I understand, one is taped right through the soundsystem, but holy moly, come on, venues!
(also it is awesome to see the musicians better (eg we can finally see how Linnell plays that electronic thingee, etc)

HotelDetectiveInTheFuture:

Saw the show via the livestream. I joined in the middle of Moonbeam Rays, so I sadly missed the venue song but whatevs. After Moonbeam Rays (which was incredible,) JF said they would be performing all of Flood, and he said "We're gonna be performing it both out of sequence and disoriented." Then they did Letterbox, which is one of my absolute faves from Flood, and Marty Beller was at top form during that song. Then they did We Want a Rock which was awesome. After that, JL improvised a song that went like "Flood Flood Flood, everybody likes it" and he joked that that was a song that didn't make the album. That led to a hilarious bit of banter that went something like:
JF: Elektra's been trying to get that released on a rarities thing. They were gonna release a second disc just for that. We were like "No way man." You gotta hear the demo for that.
And then they did the reprise, which went like "Everybody likes the album Flood." Brilliant. Then they did another one of my fave Flood songs: Someone Keeps Moving My Chair! Then they did Twisting. Then something broke on JL's keyboard and somebody came out and tried to fix it. JF suggested that they focus the video screen on the thing not working, which was funny. JL said it wasn't a huge problem, and they could continue but he wanted to bask in the glory of the thing not working. But they did continue and the horns came out and they did Your Racist Friend.
After that, JL put on his accordion (woo-hoo!!!) and they did Museum of Idiots, which was SO FREAKIN' GOOD with the accordion and the horns and everything. Then they did Whistling in the Dark which was great. After that they did a bit of banter, which had something to do with the end of that song speeding up. And JL proposed that the next night they just slow it down, so it seems like the song will never end. Then they surprised us by doing a song I thought they were saving for the encore: Doctor Worm!! It was fantastic, definitely a highlight of the whole show. The horns sounded great.
And then they did Road Movie to Berlin and included the King of Liars part. It was awesome. And I was singing along at home…and getting weird looks from my family. Then they did Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love backwards, and it was hilarious. JL conducted the whole thing, he got the audience to applaud before the song began (or ended, depending on your point of view) and after (before?), he said "This next song is Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love" backwards. That must have took a lot of rehearsing to get right. After that they said that most results have still sounded oddly backwards, except for the parts that are like "SATAN JOIN US" which is a message JL hopes everybody takes to heart lmao.
Then they did 2082 which was pretty cool. Then they rocked the house with three back-to-back bangers: Don't Let's Start (which sounded better than the record,) Synopsis for Latecomers (which was awesome) and Istanbul (which was super incredible!) The latter of which closed the first set perfectly.
After intermission, they played the alt. version of Hearing Aid from the TMBG Shop and a reversed clip of the first set's performance of Stillub. Then they did Damn Good Times which was great! And then they did another Flood fave of mine: Women and Men, JL's keyboard sounded great on it. Then JL talked about how he makes JF exit the tour bus via the exhaust pipe because it makes him stronger, and it reminded me of the dad from Calvin & Hobbes and how apparently everything builds character. Then they did Hot Cha which the horns rocked.
Then they did a deep cut; The Darlings of Lumberland, which was a pleasant surprise. Then after a bit of Barry Gib-related banter, they did an all-time CLASSIC; Particle Man!!! At some point, they did a strange bit that went "Triangle Man take off for the planet, for the planet Venus." Freaking delightful! Then they talked about how the next song was written on the setlist as an accordion song, which it sadly was not because it was Lucky Ball and Chain which JF sounded excellent on. After that, they did a funny bit about confetti machines. If TMBG weren't an awesome band, they would be excellent stand-up comedians, their banter was hilarious.
Then they did Let Me Tell You About My Operation, another excellent Flansburgh song, and the intro was great, it started out normal with JF introducing the song and then he echo-yelled the title it was awesome!! After that highlight of the show, I didn't think it could get any better, but I was proven wrong when they did Older.
Older is one of my absolute FAVOURITE They Might Be Giants songs, I listen to it every birthday. And in the middle, during the "And tiiime…" bit, JL got a phone call from Papa They Might Be Giants who was calling to tell them that he preferred their older material and ask them to play an old song. JL said no and Papa TMBG immediately hung up. Freaking hilarious. After that, they continued the song as if nothing happened and then they did Minimum Wage. Then JL told JF who had conveniently been offstage during the Papa TMBG bit that he called. JL said that he sounded terrible but he told him he sounded great, to which JF replied "It's important to lie to your relatives, especially around the holidays."
Then JL talked about their show at a hockey rink in Leesburg and how it was the only venue they've felt comfortable performing Wicked Little Critta, and sure enough, that was the song they did. During the chorus JL changed the lyric "And nobody knows where he ditched" to "And nobody knows to where he ditched" which he later said was because he wanted to please the grammar nerds out there. He looked like he was having the time of his life at that moment. Then they did a funny bit about how it seemed like the audience was talking back at them but they couldn't hear them because they had their earpieces in and They were talking to Al Gore. Then they played Dead which was so good. Then they introduced the band and played a little jam which sounded like a mixture of Clap Your Hands and D is for Drums. Then they gave me goosebumps with Theme from Flood and immediately followed that up with Birdhouse!! I can't tell you how awesome it was. You just have to believe me.
Then they left…and immediately came back for an encore. They did She's an Angel which was followed immediately by New York City. Both sounded excellent.
Then they left again…and immediately came back for the final song of the night. It took me by surprise because they ended with When Will You Die? which was freaking incredible. Thus ended the show. It was really good, the Johns sounded excellent, so did the band. All in all, an excellent show.

Weirdalover:

I don't have too much to add that hasn't already been said but it was a great show. My group got ourselves in a great vantage point since First Avenue is known to be quite hot at all times of the year. We had direct wind blasts from the front doors on our backs that kept a nice, sustained breeze and the floor was slightly elevated so perfect view vantage point.
As someone who went to another show very shortly after TMBG 2009 flood show actually. Flan's anxiety about confetti karma isn't inaccurate. There were several pieces of TMBG's confetti that fell off the speakers at First Avenue to the point that the lead singer of Trampled by Turtles asked "Who the hell was here before us?"
Also I'm proud to say that I was the dingus that got people to wave the cell phone lights during road movie to berlin. Happy that they grabbed a camera shot of our lights in the air like a proper rock show!
P.P.S I see you Flans with that subtle 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton tease in the beginning of Damn Good Times
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