They Might Be Giants recently visited 9:30 Club once again for an annual run of consecutive shows, selling out three nights in a row. Each night, the lead duo of John Linnell and John Flasburgh put the focus on a different TMBG album.
I lucked into the off-kilter’s duo celebration of Apollo 18, the band’s fourth studio album (1992), and it happily sent me into wholly uplifting and deeply nostalgic state for several days afterward.
On Dec . 9, They Might Be Giants capped their three-night stand at 9:30 Club by continuing a daring streak on The Big Show Tour: They played a different setlist every night, and they cast a spotlight on a different TMBG album on each of the three nights. On the first night, the gents from Brooklyn toasted Mink Car (2001); the second night, John Henry (1994); and the third, Apollo 18.
Throughout the concert, They Might Be Giants performed 11 of Apollo 18’s tracks, giving the cheerful audience much of the album. Early in the show, TMBG presented “The Statue Got Me High,” one of the album’s standout tracks, as well as the clever ditties “Narrow Your Eyes,” “I Palindrome I,” “Dinner Bell,” “Mammal,” and “Dig My Grave.” They then soon also picked up what I consider to be the other two standout tracks from Apollo 18 — “She’s Actual Size” and “The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)” — as well as the fan-favorite “Spider.”
Watch the official music video for “The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)” by They Might Be Giants:
All in All, John and John played 10 tracks from Apollo 18 during a 16-song first set. They revisited the album one more time in a second set, where they played “Fingertips” — the 21 snippets of sonic calamity on Apollo 18 — as one song in totality. Never having seen TMBG do this, I was somewhat surprised, although they apparently first performed “Fingertips” in this manner as early as 2000. I always thought of the idea behind “Fingertips” as a means of giving the listener a different experience on every listen of Apollo 18 by hitting the shuffle button and letting technology sort through the 0:04-0:28 measures (outside of the 1:01 “I Walk Along Darkened Corridors”), and it seemed counterintuitive to me to play it all as one song. I ended up enjoying the ride, however, and it was a huge crowd pleaser, particularly when the audience knowingly waved their arms in the air for the segment “Mysterious Whisper.”
Linnell and Flansburgh were indeed thoroughly inventive throughout the show, bridging the evening’s two sets with a wonderful musical trick. In the first set, they played a one-minute version of “Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love” from their seminal album Flood (1990), but they played it backward (dubbed “Stellub” for “Bullets” in reverse)! They began the second set by playing a recording of their performance played straight into the song itself.
Both TMBG principals were in good spirits. In a fixed position on keyboards, Linnell was the firm center of proceedings as the large TMBG touring band swirled around him. Flans frenetically sang and played guitar on stage left and stage right, popping into position or even into the background for various numbers. And they were backed by six very good touring band members! Longtime bassist Danny Weinkauf was a welcome site as he added funk and kick to many TMBG melodies, and equally tenured band guitarist Dan Miller buttoned things up from the back of the stage. Drummer Marty Beller was a terrific presence with his upbeat demeanor and occasional guerrilla percussive solos and a rollicking tour through the aforementioned “Spider.”
They Might Be Giants were augmented by their relatively new horn section, consisting of Dan Levine (trombone), Stan Harrison (saxophone), and Mark Pender (trumpet). The trio advanced and retreated, appeared and disappeared, as called upon where appropriate for various selections, and they meshed very well with the rest of the band, and we the audience missed them whenever they went away, sharing in a sentiment humorously voiced by Flans at a point during the show.
Other performance highlights included several selections from TMBG’s latest album — Book (2021), including the heraldic “Synopsis for Latecomers,” which opened the show, and the fun “Brontosaurus,” which closed the main set. The packed house gave big reactions to “Birdhouse in Your Soul,” Flood’s career-defining track, and “Instanbul (Not Constantinople),” the enduring cover of The Four Lads lifted from the same album.
Watch the official music video for “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” by They Might Be Giants on YouTube:
I’ve been a fan of They Might Be Giants since I first saw the video for “Don’t Let’s Start” on MTV’s 120 Minutes, and it is very satisfying to see the band in fine shape and enduring the times by remaining true to themselves. Apollo 18 was a very welcome record for me as an undergraduate, and I couldn’t help but flashback to that time in my life upon hearing many of the tunes played live. Much of the audience clearly shared my experience.
As an aside, here in DC, Erin Linkins aka DJ Lil E has long included TMBG as in rotation for her occasional Right Right ’80s dance parties at Black Cat, appropriately placing the band among other post-punk luminaries that she plays through evenings that skew toward the dramatically and sometimes darkly romantic tunes of that decade. I continue to view They Might Be Giants through that post-punk lens, and I always clearly hear that connection to that era of music, my personal favorite.
Catch They Might Be Giants on tour!
Here are some photos of They Might Be Giants performing at 9:30 Club on Dec. 9, 2024. All pictures by Mickey McCarter.
