They Might Be Giants Celebrate 30 Years Of ‘Flood’ For NYC Show

It would probably be an understatement to say that They Might Be Giants’ recent New York City shows were a long time coming. That was true of their performance at the Bowery Ballroom Saturday night—the second of three sold-out shows this past weekend. It was a makeup date that the band had to reschedule from September 12, 2020, April 17, 2021, March 12, 2022, and June 18, 2022, due to COVID concerns and a car accident that injured co-founding guitarist and singer John Flansburgh in June of last year.

Still, TMBG’s faithful fans at the Ballroom seemed indifferent that it took more than two years for this particular concert to finally come to fruition. Rather, they packed the venue to watch Flansburgh and TMBG co-founding keyboardist and singer John Linnell commemorate the 30th anniversary of their now-classic studio album Flood (although it’s now technically 33 years old) The quirky Brooklyn-based duo along with their ace band performed nearly all of the tracks off Flood as well as other songs from their four decades of existence.

When a heritage act marks a significant album’s milestone in a live setting, they usually perform the entire work in its original tracklist order. But Linnell and Flansburgh interestingly bucked that trend by playing Flood‘s songs out of order and with the other non-Flood tracks sprinkled in for a more expansive TMBG live experience. All in all, for about two hours, the band delivered their unique brand of surreal, humorous and eccentric music that first made them college rock favorites in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The more-than-generous two-part setlist both celebrated the older favorites (such as “Doctor Worm,” “Fingertips” and “The Mesopotamians”) and showcased newer material, including the band’s most recent record, 2021’s BOOK (among them “Synopsis for Latecomers” and “Brontosaurus”). Without question, the highlight was TMBG revisiting the classic Flood with such songs as “Birdhouse in Your Soul,” “Particle Man,” “Your Racist Friend” and their cover of “Istanbul (Not Constantinople).”

Not only did Flansburgh and Linnell bring out the energy for their spirited performances, but so did the rest of their bandmates (guitarist Dan Miller, bassist Danny Weinkauf and drummer Marty Beller) and a formidable brass section. The chemistry between Flansburgh and Linnell—a byproduct of their long collaboration and friendship after 40 years—was also evident in their back-and-forth humorous banter between songs.

It may have taken over two years for They Might Be Giants to play this particular show after multiple postponements, but that didn’t bother their loyal enthusiastic fans –some of whom wore band-branded paper crowns for the event, further adding to the celebratory mood. Sometimes good things come to those who wait.

Setlist:

Set 1:

We Want a Rock

Synopsis for Latecomers

Brontosaurus

Unidentified

Someone Keeps Moving My Chair

Whistling in the Dark

Hot Cha

Stilloob

Minimum Wage

Wicked Little Critta

Road Movie to Berlin

Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

Set 2:

Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love

Working Undercover for the Man

Birdhouse in Your Soul

The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)

Man, It’s So Loud in Here

Women and Men

MoonbeamGLMR
Rays

Your Racist Friend

The Mesopotamians

Lucky Ball and ChainXCN2

Theme From Flood

Particle Man

Doctor Worm

Encore 1:

I Can’t Remember the Dream

Fingertips

Encore 2:

Mink Car

Mr. Me