They Might Be Giants
Forum
Melbourne, Australia
October 11, 2024

Taped by Claire Laura Fredriksson (CLF, choc_eClaire, fuzzbluerain, etc.)
Specs: Zoom H1n internal mics, bass rolloff @ 80 Hz, positioned in shirt collar
Position: centre, ~20m back
Lineage: 24/48 .wav > Audacity (fades, tracking, scream reduction) > TLH (level 8 FLAC) > foobar2000 (tagging)

Track listing:
-------------------------------------Set 1-------------------------------------
1. They Might Be Giants [tape] 2:05
2. Damn Good Times 3:36
3. Snail Shell 5:48
4. Letterbox 1:31
5. Minimum Wage 1:12
6. Moonbeam Rays 3:39
7. We Want a Rock 2:57
8. Your Racist Friend 3:21
9. Shoehorn With Teeth 1:37
10. Spy 8:30
11. Women & Men 1:43
12. Twisting 2:26
13. Someone Keeps Moving My Chair 4:55
14. Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love [reversed version] 2:07
15. Authenticity Trip 2:42
16. Road Movie to Berlin 3:24
17. Brontosaurus 3:10
set total 54:43
-------------------------------------Set 2-------------------------------------
1. Hearing Aid [tape] 1:54
2. Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love [reversed video of set 1 performance] 1:39
3. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) [Four Lads cover] [Johns only] 5:02
4. Particle Man* 3:52
5. Museum of Idiots 3:07
6. She's Actual Size 7:05
7. Fingertips 6:40
8. Dead 4:28
9. Can't Keep Johnny Down 4:18
10. Synopsis for Latecomers 3:17
11. Hot Cha 1:52
12. Whistling in the Dark 2:57
13. Lucky Ball and Chain 3:24
14. Theme From Flood 0:32
15. Birdhouse in Your Soul 3:13
16. [encore break 1] 1:29
17. The Famous Polka 1:31
18. [band introductions] 1:12
19. Doctor Worm 3:00
20. [encore break 2] 1:30
21. When Will You Die 2:48
set total 1:04:52
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
total 1:59:35

* with 'Rocket Number Nine Take Off for the Planet Venus' [Sun Ra] tease

Personnel:
John Flansburgh - electric guitar, vocals
John Linnell - keyboard, accordion, vocals
Dan Miller - electric and acoustic guitars, keyboard, vocals
Danny Weinkauf - electric bass
Marty Beller - drums, percussion

Dan Levine - trombone, euphonium
Mark Pender - trumpet
Stan Harrison - tenor and baritone saxophones

Review:
After a year-long delay thanks to health issues that have thankfully been recovered from, They
Might Be Giants finally made it down to Australia for a Flood-themed tour - originally set for that
record's 30th anniversary, but global pandemics and car accidents set things back a few years. But
of course, it wasn't just a normal album performance - instead, the setlists feature every song off
Flood in a "jumbled up sequence guaranteed to confuse and bewilder us", as one of the Johns
mentioned during the show. Two songs are relegated to taped intros, one - 'Sapphire Bullets of Pure
Love' - is performed entirely in reverse (a gag that the band have confessed wasn't worth it, but
took so much work that they have to do it every show to not let themselves down), and the other
sixteen are spread out throughout the expansive setlist.

As it turns out, despite their goofy guy nature and some initial mishaps, TMBG make for a mighty
fine rock band, and at their best they're completely dialed in with each other - 'Spy' becomes a
long, sprawling jam session with one of the Johns commanding the rest of the band to stop on a
dime; drummer Marty Beller gets a solo during 'She's Actual Size'; actually playing 'Fingertips'
live (which they didn't do on night 1, to the ire of a woman who talked to them after that show -
tonight's performance was explicitly to spite her). The regular quintet is augmented on about half
of the songs by the Tricerachops Horns, who are a valued presence.

The show was a sellout, and a combination of that and a foolish decision not to show up for doors
meant that I was taping from further back than I normally go for at the Forum. This isn't my best
work, with no thanks to the drunk Gen X couple next to me - you'll hear the man shouting "thank
youuuuuuu" after most songs in the first set, and a little thump after 'Twisting' where he
inadvertently hit me in the head (my mic was tucked in to my shoulder). They never came back from
getting their fourth beer in an hour and a half during the intermission, so the sound is a little
better afterwards - the guy singing 'Dead' (and most of the second set) isn't as bad as he was on
the night (you can hear him on 'Lucky Ball and Chain'). Despite all that, though, it's a great show
and I'll for sure be back when they're playing songs from their numerous other albums in Australia
next time.

Requests:
Please don't sell this - nobody, tapers or artists, will like you if you do.
Please keep this info file around if you post it anywhere else (which you're welcome to do!)
If you give this recording a remaster/matrix treatment, please message me before you do so.
I can be reached on Dimeadozen (fuzzbluerain) or Twitter (fuzzybluerain) most easily.

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