There are so many dorks here! Sarah said to me as we walked into the Avalon after I had convinced her to come see They Might Be Giants with me. It had been about nine years since the last time I saw them live and remembered it being an incredible live show. Thankfully (especially after bringing my girlfriend) it still is.
What makes a TMBG show so unique, I think, is the engaging personality of Johns Linnell and Flansburgh. Many times I’ve been to a show and felt the need to scream out at the performers, “shut up and play a song!” but for TMBG it’s almost the opposite. In between songs they interact with each other and the audience so well that you want it to keep going. Sarah even said to me after that they should just do a stand up act and incorporate music into it, like Flight of the Conchords, and I found myself thinking this wouldn’t be a bad idea.
The best bit of the night had to be their “Taking Calls From the Dead,” which started off seeming like an oddball song and then stopped and actually became Linell taking a talk show style call from “Lionel Barrymore” (while Flansburgh was offstage) The idea of a skeleton Lionel Barrymore calling up They Might Be Giants at the “Hollywood Palace” killed me. I didn’t even want them to start another song after that, just keep taking calls from dead celebrities.
The songs though, were quite good. Long gone are the days of the two Johns playing with a tape recorder playing on stage. Their full band was totally on point as they tore through a lot of their more recent songs. Naturally, they played several old favorites, (a slowed down “She’s an Angel” was a highlight for myself) but seemed to really bend the show towards more recent material, possibly to show off the talents of the band. A lot of this stuff was hit and miss for me, but still fun.
The show ended with “Particle Man” and imagery of Lionel Barrymore’s skeleton hand reaching out and grabbing Triangle Man, which I suppose means you had to be there. So, try being there next time, ok?
