Photos and review by Jennie Book
@jenniebookphotography

May 10, 2025 was night two of three nights at The Fillmore in San Francisco for “An Evening With” They Might Be Giants, and all three performances were sold out, with night one being the first night of 2025’s The Big Tour. And if I were to guess by the fervor of the fans in the room, I’d say many had gone the evening prior and would be going again the next.

The two Johns were in fine form during the twenty-five song set, which makes sense since Flansburgh and Linnell have spent many decades together on stage and in the studio honing their craft. They regaled the audience with stories from their weekend pre-show time in the city, and had the crowd laughing and enjoying themselves in between songs with their witty banter.

The evening was broken into two sets separated by a twenty minute intermission, and many favorites were played in each block. The first set included “Mink Car,” “Cyclops Rock,” and “Brontosaurus,” and during intermission while the mostly Gen X crowd got their beers, behind the scenes the TMBG horn section was preparing to get onstage for set two, which featured them heavily and added a fun, brassy excitement to the mix. They kicked it off with “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” and continued with other favorites “Ana Ng,” and “Particle Man.”

Two encores finished the show, with “Birdhouse in Your Soul” ending the evening to much delight. The lights went up, the guy with the raised lighter put it back in his pocket, and everyone filed down the stairs to get their commemorative poster, and undoubtedly some got on their phones to buy more tickets for San Diego, LA, and Portland before those shows sell out completely.

TMBG is on the road through the end of June, then takes a break before jumping to the East Coast in October-November. For all the latest news and ticket information go to www.theymightbegiants.com.