Review: They Might Be Giants rock Mr. Smalls on opening night of tour
MILLVALE ― Fans can expect They Might Be Giants to start tonight's and tomorrow night's sold-out Mr. Smalls Theatre concerts with "Synopsis for Latecomers."
That same stomping, punchy and prototypically quirky They Might Be Giants tune kicked off the alt-rock band's likewise sold-out tour launcher Thursday, also at Mr. Smalls.
Picking the same starting song all three nights will establish a baseline and help They Might Be Giants gain a measure of equilibrium early on the tour, explained co-founding frontman John Linnell, prompting his counterpart John Flansburgh to quip how impressed he was that the band was using complicated words like "equilibrium."
And there you have it, a glimpse of the nerdy humor and silliness that's hallmarked the 40-year career of the beloved Brooklyn band.
From performing "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love" entirely backward, which was trippy, to pretending to be befuddled about the setlist, to Linnell's and Flansburgh's faux praise for their predecessors in the band (there weren't any), They Might Be Giants treated Millvale audience members to an offbeat, amusing and entertaining evening.
Ultimately, the music mattered most, and TMBG resoundingly delivered with two sets and a few encores of peppy music drawing from multiple sources and an arsenal of instruments.
Set Two starter "Subliminal," led by Linnell's accordion playing, was a bit of a polka rave-up with a surf-rock drum solo by Marty Beller.
"Lie Still, Little Bottle" rode a scuzzy jazz rhythm and vibe, with Stan Harrison's sax powering another alt-jazz selection, "The Darlings of Lumberland."
TMBG focused on 1992's "Apollo 18" album, setting up Flansburgh to tease fans who missed a previous tour that emphasized the band's 1990 mainstream breakout LP "Flood."
Disdaining conventional wisdom, TMBG waited just two songs into Thursday's set to play its biggest hit, "Birdhouse in Your Soul." It chirped and floated along as merrily as ever, with extra bursts of horn. Another hooky "Flood" favorite, "Particle Man," closed set one.
TMBG performed the live debut of 2018's, "Last Wave," which got fans' heads bobbing and feet shuffling with a peppy melody counterbalanced by lyrics like "We die alone/We die afraid/We live in terror/We're naked."
Many flat-out danced to "The Mesopotamians," clapped along and stamped their feet to "Number Three" and joyfully shook their upraised hands for encore opener "Fingertips."
Paraphrasing comedian George Burns' joke about outliving all his doctors, Flansburgh said TMBG has outlasted any of its earliest critics.
The band's endurance, eclecticism and strong connection with fans is something to celebrate, thrice this weekend in Millvale.
Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: They Might Be Giants rock Smalls on tour's opening nights
