Notable Shows Gone Wrong

Over They Might Be Giants' long touring history, innumerable shows have been temporarily interrupted by mix-ups, mistakes, or technical snags... but a few unusual incidents stand out.

Shows on this list were disrupted seriously enough to be reported on in the news, mentioned by the band in interviews, or immortalized in song.

• 1987-04-06 - The Electric Banana, as referenced in the song Pittsburgh. The club's gun-carrying owner, "Johnny Banana", is mentioned in the Venue Songs DVD introduction and many interviews.
• 1987-04-17 - They Might Be Giants were pulled from KCTV mid-song for playing Kiss Me, Son Of God on Good Friday.
• 1992-10-05 - The Famous Polka Modjeska Theater stage collapse, as discussed in Gigantic.
• 1992-12-31 - John Flansburgh accidentally hit bassist Tony Maimone in the face with a guitar hard enough to leave a scar.
• 1993-08-01 - A festival appearance where a precipitous drop in temperature, missing sound check, complete lack of stage lighting, and rented equipment combined in what John Flansburgh has repeatedly referred to as one of their worst performances.
• 1996-09-19 - John Linnell was sick and lost his voice before the show. John Flansburgh, Mike Viola, and Frank Black covered his vocal parts.
• 1996-10-05 - John Linnell succumbed to heatstroke four songs in, and the show was cancelled. According to John Flansburgh, this was the first time they were ever booed.
• 1996-12-29 - John Flansburgh was hit in the face by a ball of Gak thrown by an audience member, leading to the decision to cut seven songs from the setlist.
• 1998-10-15 - John Flansburgh became too sick to stand late in the show. Linnell finished the show (and performed Everybody Conga) on his own.
• 2001-09-01 - A show so plagued by technical issues that the song Disappointing Show was improvised to memorialize it.
• 2011-11-25 - Performed on rented equipment after their gear trailer caught fire and then broke down en route. The show opened with Everything Is Catching On Fire in memoriam.
• 2019-03-13 - This JoCo Cruise show was delayed, relocated half a mile, and then cut short in order for John Linnell and Mark Pender to get through customs before their guest passes expired at midnight.
• 2022-06-08 - The first show played after the COVID-19 postponements. John Flansburgh was seriously injured in a traffic collision on the way home afterwards, immediately forcing yet another round of postponements.

Honorable Mentions

• Sorry I Fucked Up The Show
• Show Not Going So Well - an audience (non)participation segment filmed by the band at some shows, including 2024-05-11 in Pittsburgh, 2011-11-13a in San Francisco, 2011-09-13 in Ithaca, and 2011-09-10 in Concord NH. See a behind-the-scenes here.
• A number of They Might Be Giants shows have suffered minor disruptions due to audience members throwing objects at the stage. This has included papers^[1], beer bottles,^[2][3] shoes,^[4] t-shirts,^[5][6] bras,^{[7][8][9][10]} frisbees,^[11] foam fingers,^[12] and pipe cleaner sculptures.^[13] The band has made it clear that even when these objects are intended as gifts, "anything thrown is unwelcome."^[14]