They Might Be Giants at First Ave in Minneapolis, 4/18/15

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From theymightbegiants.com
A little over 10 years ago, my brother bought me a ticket to see They Might Be Giants with him in Tulsa. I got really excited about it. I was super into Flood, and I was going to get to hang out with my brother at one of my favorite places.

Except it turned out the show was 18+, and so I didn't get to go after all.

Ever since then, it's like there's been a cosmic curse. Every time TMBG plays somewhere near me, I find out about it too late, have an unavoidable conflict, or can't get a ticket. Not this time, gosh darn it.

The Mountain Goats these days are John Flansburgh, John Linnell, Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf, and Marty Beller. It's largely the John and John show, with John Flansburgh playing lefty electric guitar and joke interludes, pretending to call John Linnell under the guise of Mom and Pop They Might Be Giants. John Linnell plays keyboards and accordion. They both sing.

The light show was pretty intense. There were cameras all around the venue, including behind the band, and the feeds from those cameras were broadcast behind the band live. This sometimes had the effect of showing the band's back behind them. It was a kind of disorienting view, like there was a huge mirror set up behind them. A set of lights in various shapes also was projected over that camera image, for an effect one might describe as psychadelic or kaleidoscopic.

The band played TWO sets, with no opener. The first set was about an hour long, and the second set was almost two hours. They hit all the songs I wanted to hear. Man, It's So Loud In Here was a highlight for me, but they also did Dr. Worm, Istanbul, Birdhouse In Your Soul, Cyclops Rock, and Dead. The only thing they didn't play that I really expected was Particle Man.

Two sets were followed by two encores. The second encore was Robot Parade. It was an excellent, high-energy end to a fantastic sold out show.

So, you know. Now I can cross that off my list.

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