They Might Be Giants, Numbers,
November 9, 1997
Opening Act: Lincoln
Long overdue for this show, I was glad that They Might Be Giants decided to hit
Houston. I hadn't seen them since their Flood tour which was about 5 or 6 years ago. The
opening act, Lincoln, was a very good band. I only regret that I arrived during their set
and missed some of it. I remember some really clever songs like something about Connie
Francis. I picked up their CD at the show, that's how good they were. Although I searched,
I could not find a web site for this group.
Then TMBG appear. They are two Johns, the main guys on guitar, keyboards, and vocals
and they had the addition of bass player and drummer. Other interesting instruments that
appeared throughout the performance were a sax, an accordion, and a big stick that seemed
to be amplified. Their sound is very hard to categorize. They are like a funky oompa band,
with heavy lounge and jazz influences and some very clever songwriting. There is
definitely no one else like them. They played many of my TMBG favorites like Particle Man,
Birdhouse in your Soul, and Twisting, but forgot a key tune, Racist Friend. During
Particle Man, they mixed up Ace of Base's The Sign. They also played other crowd pleasers
of Actual Sized and James K. Polk, which was met with a cannon burst of confetti into the
crowd. They played a new song, called Dr. Worm, stating that they were playing new
songs.... so they could practice them. With six albums, they could have played all night.
At one point in the show, they had the huge general admission crowd all doing the conga
throughout the place with multiple conga lines snaking around. It was quite a spectacle.
They also played one song entirely in the dark (a very good song, I might add, but I don't
recall the name). This was a great show, with the crowd left wanting more. A true
entertainment treat, I highly recommend a TMBG show.
On That Note, I'm outta here......
C
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