Shows/2024-12-15

22 wikians attended: Acidgirl Bluef00t CapitalQ Chriscam84 Ebow Garybot Harrycalder Jane is your Vietnam Leebenningfield Mongoose Raydavies Riptor3000 Rover Ruddy Sandyjoys Sapphirebullets Shroomywoomy Staffman The nicest of the damned Vdaq Wbrimley Wireless mike

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Links:

• Photos & review from Live Music News & Review

Setlist:
Set 1:

• Synopsis For Latecomers
• No One Knows My Plan
• Snail Shell
• Out Of Jail
• Particle Man
  • Rocket Number Nine Take Off For The Planet Venus
• Let Me Tell You About My Operation
• The End Of The Tour
• Meet James Ensor
• The Famous Polka
• stelluB
• Dirt Bike
• When Will You Die
• Brontosaurus

Set 2:

• Video of stelluB reversed
• Memo To Human Resources
• Man, It's So Loud In Here
• Moonbeam Rays
• Unrelated Thing
• Where Your Eyes Don't Go
• The Darlings Of Lumberland
• Spider
• Spy
• Lie Still, Little Bottle
• Can't Keep Johnny Down
• Twisting
• Doctor Worm

Encore 1:

• Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

Encore 2:

• New York City
• Birdhouse In Your Soul

They Might Be Giants
Orpheum Theatre in Boston, MA
December 15, 2024

Fan Recaps and Comments:

Bluef00t:

"How are you guys doing?" Flans asked after No One Knows My Plan. Linnell grinned (I'd only caught him smiling maybe twice during last night's show) and told us that he'd been sick, but was feeling much better now.

Suddenly a lot of little things about yesterday--the reused setlist, JF keeping things moving, sticking tightly to script--made a lot of sense. I'd had a puzzled idea that I could "feel" the reheated setlist despite not having been to the DC show, but it turns out the missing ingredient may have just been Linnell fully enjoying himself. They sounded so good, I would never have guessed.

Show notes:

• Only overheard a bit of drums and Where Your Eyes Don't Go for soundcheck this time. JF's spooky high "ahhhh"s were so crisp I almost mistook him for a synth!
• The Orpheum (a beautiful, if rather aging, theater) was noted as a place the Johns had seen several rock/new wave acts when they were teens. So really, this place could be blamed for what They had become.
• John Henry was described with some wry double-negative like "marred by a lack of controversy". Out of Jail was a "song about Ohio"; Meet James Ensor was a song their producer really didn't want on the album. "We're settling scores now."
• JF is trying to make "Yes Chef" happen. He substituted the phrase for the first "très bon" of Operation, finishing the song with "Yes chef! No crumbs!" A number of lines were switched to third person rather than second ("How could she be so mean?")
• Mid-first-set seems odd placement for End of the Tour, but I'm just delighted to see it live. Wasn't expecting JF's guitar to be the source of the spooky synth-y chords, but I suppose Dan's on acoustic and JL's busy with the piano part. It meant JF had to switch pedals several times as the song goes between rock/haunted sections, and the man loves running around stage and only remembering he needs to be back at a pedal board at the last minute.
• JL kicked off his shoe for the Stellub video and commented that he'd tried catching the shoe in the past, but that actually looked less cool in reverse. "It takes a lot more effort, but it reads worse." "Kind of like what we do in general."
• Linnell's turn to ask Flans what he'd been doing today. Flans said he'd called his mom, as he does every Sunday, and she's doing very well--"I always say she'll be very sad when I die." Linnell noted that she'd been with them the last time they'd come to the Orpheum. Flans: "What, yesterday?"
• Apparently emboldened by Man It's So Loud In Here, someone near the front yelled "LOUDER!" a breath before Moonbeam Rays started. Flans stopped dead and walked to the edge of the stage to single them out—with menace, I thought!—then began miming "I love you, you get me". The second half of the show did feel louder.
• We were once again asked to sit for Unrelated Thing, for the "second time ever".
• Linnell brought up the NJ drones this time, unprompted. He told us that a former governor of Maryland(?) posted a photo to #expose the government cover-up and it turned out to be the constellation Orion. So, the constellation Orion is a government cover-up.
• In Darlings of Lumberland: "A little melody, from John Linnell-" [accordion melody] "Hold my cold dead hand, for a spell." (At least, he probably meant "spell". I definitely heard "smell".)
• Spider/Spy/Lie (Still) makes for a hell of a back-to-back run. The Stick seems to have an entry/exit theme (random spooky twinkling) and themed lighting (stark black and white) now. Loved the little moments where everything but the vocals + Stick drop out for a measure or two.
• The night, as the end of this tour, concluded with an extra round of band introductions along with naming and thanking the crew. What a fantastic time.

Something funny only to me--outside shortly before the doors opened, the person right behind me had TMBW open and was reading/talking about my review of last night! I almost said something, but thought that might be a little weird for them. So instead I am choosing this totally not weird approach. Hello, wikiperson. I was the one who complimented your Istanbul shirt on the 14th after you took a photo of the burrito place named Istanbul. Hope you enjoy the recap; I know you said you like the long ones :)

Shroomywoomy:

haha hi yes that was me. show was insane i shrieked when they brought the stick out. crowd kinda sucked but maybe im just overly excited