They Might Be Giants perform at The Vic Theatre in Chicago on June 18, 2024.
“It’s so nice to be back at our spiritual home, The Vic, ladies and gentlemen,” said John Flansburgh during They Might Be Giants’ June 18 performance, the first of two sold-out shows at the historic Chicago venue. “It’s really nice. This is actually our 5,000th show here.”
Throughout the night, the Johns – Flansburgh (guitars) and Linnell (keys) – shared fan favorites, deep cuts, and even songs formerly believed to be impossible to play live all with a touch of storytelling and silliness. The Chicago shows are part of The Big Show Tour which features the duo along with a live band including Dan Miller (guitar), Danny Weinkauf (bass/keys) and Marty Beller (drums) as well as an incredible horn section that enhanced songs like “Synopsis for Latecomers” and “Birdhouse in Your Soul” at the top of the show.
There was no opener and TMGB started promptly at 8 p.m. giving them plenty of time to explore their sprawling discography with two crowd-pleasing sets.
“We’ve got a very special program for you here tonight,” said Flansburgh. “We are doing a series of shows where we change up the setlist pretty radically and tonight we are going to be spotlighting the Apollo 18 record.”
They Might Be Giants perform at The Vic Theatre in Chicago on June 18, 2024.
This announcement garnered a huge chorus of cheers. “Turn Around,” “Mammal,” and “Dig My Grave,” the last of which may have been the heaviest, jammiest song of the night, were among the 1992 tracks shared during set one. All night long, The Johns had a running gag about only having two more songs left to play when, in reality, their setlist ended up including over 30 tunes. They also shared tidbits about the lore of Apollo 18 including how Flansburgh’s mom hates the song “I Palindrome I,” which begins with the lyric “Someday mother will die and I’ll get the money.”
Before playing “Fingertips,” Flansburgh revealed the reason why the song wasn’t performed much in the past. “Here’s a song that for decades John and I were like, ‘The interesting thing about that song is you cannot play it live.’ But, Mr. Danny Weinkauf, he broke the spell and challenged us to learn it. So here it is for your entertainment pleasure.”
The second set of the night went deeper into the group’s discography with They Might Be Giants playing songs from Mink Car, Flood, Self-titled, and more.
The Big Show Tour continues with night two in Chicago on June 19 before heading up to Wisconsin for three final shows. Check out photos from night one in Chicago below and click here for more information about They Might Be Giants.
(Photos by Laurie Fanelli)
