They Might Be Giants at the Pageant

Two months ago, my beautiful girlfriend bought tickets to see They Might Be Giants in St. Louis for our 6 month anniversary. The concert was last Friday and was a great time! There was one man in the balcony that I am convinced was having the time of his life. Corinne thought he was drunk. I have never seen a drunk man be able to dance, or more accurately- flail around, like he did. I think he was just high. Perhaps both.

It was a special Flood show, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the album. As usual, there was a very eclectic demographic present. From teenagers with their fathers to adults in their mid-forties (and probably older) and everyone inbetween- They Might Be Giants has figured out how to appeal to all ages. They even did a few songs from their new Children's album and sang a couple of songs with hand puppets... at an adult show.

As best as I can remember, the set list (not in order) was:

FLOOD SONGS:

Theme From Flood
Birdhouse in Your Soul
Lucky Ball and Chain
Istanbul
Dead
Your Racist Friend
Particle Man
Twisting
We Want a Rock
Someone Keeps Moving My Chair
Hearing Aid
Minimum Wage
Letterbox
Whistling in the Dark
Hot Cha
Women & Men
Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love
They Might Be Giants
Road Movie To Berlin


NON-FLOOD SET:
Meet the Elements
What is a Shooting Star?
Why Does the Sun Shine?
Clap Your Hands
Fingertips
The Mesopotamians
James K Polk
New York City
Shoehorn With Teeth
Damn Good Times
Drink
Cowtown

TMBG always puts on a great show. Their blend of melodic tunes, clever lyrics, humorous dialogue, unique instruments, and creativity always is entertaining. They seemed a little off on this particular night, though. On a couple occasions, they skipped over a song from Flood and had to go back as they had originally set out to play the album from beginning to end. They also forgot to play one altogether until towards the end of the show. Linnel even had to re-start a song at one point as it sounded like he may have started in the wrong key.

Overall, still a great show. The crowd was into it and TMBG ended with two encores. I don't know if it was because we were in the balcony or not, but the vocals were not loud enough. The instruments, guitar especially- overpowered the vocals. Which is too bad because the vocals and lyrics are really what makes TMBG unique. Perhaps the mix was much better for those on the main floor. We had seen Ben Folds the week before at the Pageant and the sound mix was perfect- but it was just Ben and the piano.

The best part by far was spending the evening with Corinne. She was a trooper. We drove down for a concert where she really only knew one song and then drove all the way back, getting home at 2 am knowing we both had to be at work at 8 am the next morning. We had a nice dinner together at Blueberry Hill as well. A perfect night!