Shows/1990-05-22

Fan Recaps and Comments:

Tickets were $12.50.

A review of the show by Alan Niester
The Toronto Globe and Mail, May. 26, 1990:

John Flansburgh (who sang, played guitar and marching band-style bass drum) and John Linnell (who sang and played accordion) performed odd little songs about reality and surreality featuring titles like "Birdhouse In Your Soul" and "Your Racist Friend."

The duo has enough of a cult following that several hundred fans came to The Diamond this week to revel in the myriad eccentricities. (It must be noted, however, that of the 50 or so hardcore fans who danced and sang along the stage's edge, two of them were wearing fezzes, and probably thought they were watching England's campy 3 Mustaphas 3, who would eventually appear at the club later in the week.) Even as the performance started, it was obvious that this was not to be a normal night. The stage was ringed with large cut-out, back-lit reproductions of postage stamps (U.S. air-mails, circa 1930s). And when the bespectacled Flansburgh took the stage, he screamed out, in parody of the usual fist-in-the-air rant, "Are you ambivalent about having a good time here tonight?"

Ironically, it was easy to be ambivalent about this performance. It soon became evident that the best way to appreciate They Might Be Giants was at home, in front of the stereo, with a lyric sheet placed squarely at eye level. The lyrics could not be heard properly, and the little ironies and weird elements in songs like "Particle Man" ("Particle Man, Particle Man, doing the things a particle can . . .") were lost in a swirl of cheesy accordion, fuzzy guitar riffs or taped rhythm accompaniment.

Son of Bumpy:

I just remember The Jack Rubies being awfully loud.