By Christi Lain-Vest, Rock At Night Houston Correspondent
Venue: Ballroom at Warehouse Live-Houston, Texas-They Might Be Giants PHONE POWER TOUR-April 1, 2016
The Ballroom at Warehouse Live in Houston was busting at the seams Friday night with excited fans waiting to spend An Evening With They Might Be Giants. For the last 30 years, John Flansburgh and John Linnell have walked to the beat of their own drum by creating their own form of alternative music – and by the looks of it, they have picked up a lot of friends and family along the way.
About two hours before TMBG took the stage, there were already ten to twelve people lined up at the door..with two or three more at a time joining sporadically. By the time doors opened at 8, the line went around the side of the building and almost reached the next block. This diverse crowd did not have a “concert” feel. It almost seemed like old friends and family coming together for a reunion. Young and old piled inside and quickly filled up the 1,650 person capacity ballroom. I overheard many “the last time I saw them”, and “remember whens”. One young lady told me about how TMBG used to make up songs about the city they were playing in and how she lost all their albums only to find out later that her mother, who was a teacher, took them to play for her students.
The stage in the ballroom took up one end of the room. After speaking to security, I was allowed, at what I thought was a good spot on a small balcony on the left side of the stage. I could easily climb down if I wanted to in order to get at the stage. Or if I wasn’t feeling that adventurous, I could take the short set of stairs not far from me. With my route to the stage planned, I stood in my spot enjoying the excited look on the faces and the endless chatter and laughter.
The old friend and family atmosphere never left and both Johns joked and laughed with the crowd during and in between songs. John Flansburgh moved about the stage while playing rhythm guitar and John Linnell had a spot at the center on keyboards with other instruments around him as well. It was easy to see that they both were having fun on the stage. Even with Linnell’s head down toward the keys and the quick flip of one of his hands – he’s done it many times before, but he shows no sign of being tired of it.
Check out the album Phone Power from their Dial-a-Song Project. Click HERE and pay what you want for it!
Apr 1 2016 – They Might Be Giants Setlist
at Warehouse Live, Houston, TX, USA
Tour: Phone Power Tour Tour statistics
Set 1
Can’t Keep Johnny Down
Number Three
Music Jail, Parts 1 & 2
Ana Ng
The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)
No One Knows My Plan
Los Angeles (West Hollywood House of Blues)
Authenticity Trip
Subliminal
Doctor Worm
It’s Not My Birthday
Older
Bills, Bills, Bills (Destiny’s Child cover)
Trouble Awful Devil Evil
Let Me Tell You About My Operation
The Mesopotamians
Damn Good Times
Set 2
Road Movie to Berlin
They Might Be Giants
Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love
Women and Men
Hot Cha
Whistling in the Dark
Letterbox
Minimum Wage
Hearing Aid
Someone Keeps Moving My Chair
We Want a Rock
Twisting
Particle Man
Your Racist Friend
Dead
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (The Four Lads cover)
Lucky Ball and Chain
Birdhouse in Your Soul
Theme from Flood
Encore 1
I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar (Jonathan Richman cover)
Answer
Nothing’s Gonna Change My Clothes
Encore 2
She’s an Angel
Photo Gallery
Videos
Houston-April 1, 2016
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Ex-Singer, Ex-Corporate Whore turned full-time mommy and part time portrait/concert photographer – Hoping to become full time photographer by the time my son starts school in two years. I never thought anything could be more exciting and more of an adrenaline rush than when I was onstage singing….Until I shot my first band.
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