They Might Be Giants kicked off a two-night run at the House of Blues in Boston with a first set spotlighting 1996’s Factory Showroom, a second set that roamed across their catalog, and two encores that left the crowd ready to return on Saturday.
Friday night at the House of Blues in Boston didn’t feel like a typical concert stop. It felt like opening a cabinet full of odd mechanisms—bells, whistles, and all—and watching the pieces click into place in real time.
They Might Be Giants. the indie rock duo of John Flansburgh and John Linnell. brought two marathon sets and a double encore to start a two-night run at the Lansdowne venue. joined by an eight-piece band. The first set built around a focused spotlight on one album—1996’s Factory Showroom—with the band’s usual habit of taking the familiar and bending it into something unexpectedly alive.
The night opened with the chunk-funk of “S-E-X-X-Y.” The groove culminated with John Linnell pulling out a clarinet to join a three-piece horn section for a composed outro. From there. the album spotlight made its intentions clear: Linnell led the band straight from Factory Showroom’s album opener to its closer. “The Bells Are Ringing. ” before shifting into the jolty pop rock of “New York City. ” a cover of Vancouver twee-pop collective Cub.
Between those bookends came a run of songs that showed how quickly the group could change gears without losing its own rhythm. “Spiraling Shape” arrived as tightly composed challenge material, while “XTC vs. Adam Ant” leaned into riff-rock and “Till My Head Falls Off” brought the caffeinated pogo-punk energy of garage sensibility.
Humor stayed close to the surface throughout the set. not as an add-on but as part of the show’s engine. It showed up in tunes like the breezy soul of Flansburgh-led “Pet Name” and “How Can I Sing Like a Girl?. ” a tongue-in-cheek lament about wanting a wider vocal range without the unwanted side-effects of objectification. Their stage banter landed with the same easy rhythm—constant conversation between Flansburgh and Linnell. musings about Yelp reviews. memories of growing up in the Boston area. and a playful line referring to Factory Showroom as “an album that highlights a special time in our career: rock bottom”.
Late first-set highlights included “Wu-Tang” and “Hit The Ground,” selections from their new album The World Is to Dig. Before setbreak. the band recorded a video of themselves playing the quirky early-era composition “Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love” backwards. then topped it off by playing the video back in reverse to kick off the second set as a way to judge their accuracy.
The second set stretched further across their catalog. moving through multiple eras and styles as if the band’s internal logic could handle any speed. It began with the video of “Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love” played on reverse. From there came “Let Me Tell You About My Operation. ” followed by clap-along folk in the jumbled time signatures of “Number Three.” Linnell’s accordion-fueled “Subliminal” kept the momentum. and “Spy” brought a Bond-coded feel.
Favorites from 1990’s Flood landed strongly. “Whistling in the Dark” arrived as a baritone half-march-half-waltz. “Letterbox” brought acoustic-driven harmonies. and “Birdhouse in Your Soul” delivered its infectious chorus. Other set additions kept the tone playful while still sharp: “Can’t Keep Johnny Down” and John Henry B-side “Out of Jail” were both included as part of a set that balanced hyper-focus on genre with a willingness to blow up the conventions of that genre altogether.
Throughout the second half. the three-piece horn section continued to add texture and energy. thickening the sound on top of a songbook that already thrives on variety and eccentricity. By the time the show reached its climax. it was clear the band didn’t just come prepared to play—they came prepared to turn the night into something closer to a living puzzle.
They gave the crowd two encores. The first encore featured a Raspberries cover. “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record). ” followed by “The End of Tour.” For the second encore. the band returned for the showtune-y crowd singalong “Istanbul (Not Constantinople). ” a mouthful of a tune that feels close to canon for They Might Be Giants faithful.
By Friday’s final notes, the performance still read like an appetizer for Saturday. For those attending. the next show is already part of the plan; for anyone who only caught the first night. it stands on its own as an ode to the duo’s experimentation and curiosity—the mechanics of their hive mind. still expanding. still finding new ways to make its own rules sound like fun.
Setlist
Set One (Factory Showroom spotlight)
“S-E-X-X-Y”
“The Bells Are Ringing”
“New York City” (Cub cover)
“Spiraling Shape”
“XTC vs. Adam Ant”
“Till My Head Falls Off”
“Pet Name”
“Exquisite Dead Guy”
“Metal Detector”
“How Can I Sing Like a Girl?”
“James K. Polk”
“Wu‐Tang”
“Hit the Ground”
“Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love” (played live backwards).
“stelluB”
“Synopsis for Latecomers”
“Brontosaurus”
Set Two
“Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love” (played on video in reverse)
“Let Me Tell You About My Operation”
“Birdhouse in Your Soul”
“Wearing a Raincoat”
“Don’t Let’s Start”
“Can’t Keep Johnny Down”
“I’ll Sink Manhattan”
“Whistling in the Dark”
“Number 3”
“Subliminal”
“Out of Jail”
“Letterbox”
“Spy”
“Get Down”
“Where Your Eyes Don’t Go”.
Encore 1
“Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)” (Raspberries cover)
“The End of the Tour”
Encore 2
“Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” (The Four Lads cover)
They Might Be Giants House of Blues Boston Factory Showroom The World Is to Dig Flood concert review
Bells are ringing or like… is this about actual house alarms now? lol
Two-night run and a clarinet?? I feel like I missed something huge but also it sounds like they just do random instruments forever. Still, Factory Showroom is the one I remember.
Why are people calling it a “cabinet of odd mechanisms” like that’s normal concert behavior. Also I swear they said “Linnell pulling out a clarinet” but maybe it was just a sax? idk I don’t even listen, I just saw the headline and got mad for no reason.
I don’t get the hype. Like yeah it’s cool they played songs from 1996 or whatever, but the article makes it sound like they “bent” the familiar into something alive… that’s literally every band? Also “New York City” + “XTC vs. Adam Ant” in one set sounds like the venue just mashed up playlists. Still, 2 encores is always a win.