They Might Be Giants at First Avenue, Minneapolis (15 Jun 2024)

TMBG 06/15 Setlist

— Set I — Subliminal Snail Shell First Avenue Stage Meet James Ensor Unrelated Thing Out of Jail The Mesopotamians Spider The Darlings of Lumberland Dirt Bike A Self Called Nowhere Spy Stillub The End of the Tour — Set II — Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love Man, It’s So Loud in Here Synopsis for Latecomers Let Me Tell You About My Operation Underwater Woman Birdhouse in Your Soul When Will You Die Working Undercover for the Man Lie Still, Little Bottle Fingertips Cloisonné Where Your Eyes Don’t Go Brontosaurus Doctor Worm — Encore — Letterbox Can’t Keep Johnny Down — Encore II — No One Knows My Plan

Day Two of They Might Be Giants three-night stand in the Twin Cities was a crowded affair at First Avenue. I arrived a half hour early and already the crowd was filled to capacity, filled with so many people, my only chance to see the band was in the photo pit for the first three songs.
Like the previous night, the show promises an eight-piece band, three horns, a double set with a double encore.

The Twin Cities love TMBG and fans were there in full force, even if the band was highlighting music from their 1994 album John Henry, which they admitted did not fare well. They were proud of their effort, but John Flansburgh said they still had crates of the album collecting dust.

On paper, John Henry was TMBG’s highest charted album (at the time), landing at #61 on the Billboard charts. Their previously best-known album Flood album only peaked at #75, while Apollo 18 barely got in at #99… so technically, John Henry is a hit, even though it’s not loved by casual or diehard fans.

What’s really interesting about the John Henry is that it was a shift for the duo. Previously, all their music was written and meant to be played with just the two Johns, and their drum machine and whatever instruments they had. With John Henry, they had employed a full backing band, including a live drummer, ukulele, bass, and trumpeter.

Saturday’s show started off with the first two songs from John Henry, which goes hand-in-hand with “Subliminal” and “Snail Shell”. The later song was the album’s only single release, which preceded the album’s release to drive sales and awareness for the then-new album.

Of course, the band had to play “First Avenue Stage”, before returning back to John Henry with “Meet James Ensor” (which is probably the best song on the album).

It’s funny to note that they did not play “AKA Driver” off John Henry, and that’s because that song was originally called “NyQuil Driver”. Apparently the NyQuil company sued the band for trademark infringement. Maybe legally, they can’t even play the song.

Flansburgh said there was a lower percentage of beards and glasses in the crowd. He was right. There were those who were there at the beginning (1982) and those who weren’t even born when the band formed. There was even a group of girls standing next to me, maybe fans who grew up on their wildly popular children’s albums.

Flansburgh kept the jokes flowing between songs, letting people know the break between sets will be two hours (union rules) and joking about the role of Art Garfunkel when he set his guitar aside to clasp his hand and sing. “Art got paid as much as Paul Simon?”

TMBG is a fun band to see live and that may be their draw. They are adventurous, bringing out a walking stick, cowbell and euphonium (baby tuba) for songs. They sang about a woman under water and the existential life of a brontosaurus. They sang “End of the Tour” at the beginning of their own. They also sang a song sonically and lyrically in reverse, “Stillub.”

A personal favorite was “Spy,” a song that started off as a late-night jazz riff between Danny Weinkauf on bass and Stan Harrison skulking with his saxophone with a feline prowess. Then the song segued into a free jazz session with John Linell leaving the keys to direct the group. And while Linell’s arms flailed, a sample of ACDC’s “Back in Black” was shoehorned in before Flansburgh took over the conducting responsibilities to guide the group through a section that sounded like a marching band of clowns on Dramamine playing… I have no idea but, man, was it fun.

They Might Be Giant’s third night in Minnesota will take place tonight, at the Fitzgerald Theater, in St Paul.

Remaining tour Dates: