Worth the wait: They Might Be Giants entertain at long postponed Bourbon show

Lincoln Journal Star, May 18, 2023
by L. Kent Wolgamott

They Might Be Giants, at long last, played the Bourbon Theatre on Sunday, delivering a thoroughly entertaining, impressively performed show that might just have been worth the three-year wait.

Originally set for 2020, the first Lincoln appearance by TMBG in years, which sold out instantly, was postponed to 2021, then moved to May 2022 before coming off to a packed house Saturday night.

“Thank you for dealing with the Ticketmaster ticketing site and finding your tickets after three years,” guitarist John Flansburgh told the crowd late in the show, that, somewhat appropriately, celebrated the 30th anniversary of their platinum selling, career-making album “Flood,” three years late — it came out in 1990 bearing the hits "Birdhouse in Your Soul” and “Istanbul (Not Constantinople).”

The two Johns — Flansburgh and keyboardist/accordionist John Linnell, who became the duo TMBG in 1982 — now have a terrific band that includes a horn section of players with jazz chops that proved to be at various times in the show a superb rock ‘n’ roll outfit and masters of quirky pop.
 
They even veered to within inches of being a polka band when Dan Levine put down his trombone, picked up a euphonium and did an oom-pah-pah battle with Linnell on accordion on “Particle Man,” the first of the 19 “Flood” songs in the show.

And, on the extended version of the James Bond movie theme-like number, “Spy” they showed their control and the jazz elements on a Flansburgh, and Finnell directed final passage that made it one of the longest songs of the night – two minutes or so is the typical TMBG length.

But any TMBG show isn’t all about the music. They’re flat out funny, both personally and lyrically.

That was obvious from the tongue-in-cheek first number, “Synopsis for Latecomers,” and Flansburgh’s introduction to the evening.

Telling the crowd that packed the Bourbon that they’d be playing two sets, and, therefore, opening for themselves, he instructed the audience to “treat us like every other opener — arms folded, a thousand-yard stare, no applause. Look at your watch. Maybe send some emails “

So it went through each of the sets, with the duo bantering between songs. Flansburgh could have a stand-up career if this music thing doesn’t work out.
 
And they pulled out a parlor trick that was like nothing I've never seen before, doing “Stellub,” a “Flood” song that they’d memorized, and played backwards, which was as weird as anything I can remember hearing at any show.

Recording it on video. Opening the second set, the video, reversed from its recording, played back, revealing the duo walking to the stage and leading the band through “Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love.”

Beyond the “Flood” songs, Sunday’s show was far from a “greatest hits” affair. There were a couple of songs that I had to wait until the chorus came around to remember the title, and — critic confession time — I don’t think I ever listened to “Book,” the band’s Grammy-nominated album from 2021. I will be now. The songs from it were excellent.

They closed the night, which was great fun for all involved, with “Doctor Worm,” a true rarity, that sent the audience out smiling and the band upstairs into the dressing room to enjoy, what Flansburgh said he was looking forward to: barbecue.

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