In their almost thirty years of music, They Might Be Giants had never once tried to conquer the alphabet live. Sure, Saturday night’s first set (A-M) opened with “Alphabet of Nations,” but to have two sets splitting their catalogue down the middle was an entirely foreign concept. The evening opened with a slight rain, as crowds wrapped themselves tightly around the Berklee Performing Arts Center in anticipation of the show(s).

People filed in quite fast, soon filling the 1,215 seat theater just in time for the band to take the stage. They Might Be Giants carried the entire set, as October 1 marked the only two shows of the first leg of their touring schedule that opener Jonathan Coulton did not join them.

The band, composed of leaders John Flansburgh, John Linnell, along with guitarist Dan Miller, bassist Danny Weinkauf, drummer Marty Beller, and legendary jazz trumpeter Curt Ramm, played a handful of new songs from their latest adult album Join Us and the 2007 album before, The Else. “It kind of got buried,” below their three children’s albums that were released after, the band joked.

The two Venue Songs played, Hollywood House of Blues and Asbury Park came with stories and the Johns’ usual comedic banter. Who knew that the Stone Pony mentioned in “Asbury Park” had a rotund garbage can in the middle of the stage that collected rain water? “It really informed some of our quieter songs,” mentioned Flansburgh.

They Might Be Giants are known for having quite the strong following, which was evident throughout both performances. The first show was marked with hilarious gimmicks such as a dance-off where winners received “Join Us” records as well as some other hand-picked gems, like the Barbara Streisand and Donna Summer duet album Enough is Enough, which the band was comically reluctant to give up.

Halfway through A-M’s set, the Johns fled to stage left and as their band played the main riff to Ozzy’s “Crazy Train,” their sock puppet alter-egos, the Avatars of They took (along with a cardboard cut-out of Meg Ryan) took control. The Avatars went through “Spoiler Alert,” wriggling and dancing as a projector showed the madness, then gratefully thanked their “sponsors”, Epic Fail Bologna Sandwiches whose name changed the next set but comedic jingle stayed.

Both sets also included somewhat of a shout-off, with the crowd being divided in half between people and apes. The band was also divided with people winning A-M and apes coming out victorious during N-Z, which started only an hour and a half after the first show had ended. They Might Be Giants went out with a bang for A-M, playing three encores and mining from such hits as “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” for which Ramm gave a truly remarkable opening solo to start the song, and “Birdhouse In Your Soul.”

For bands who play either two sets in one night or the same venue for an entire weekend, most know that a majority of fans are going to opt in for the entire experience, which made it somewhat surprising that quite a few stage antics were the same going into N-Z. For the Avatars of They, instead of Meg Ryan, They Might Be Giants’ trusty William Allen White cardboard cutout joined them, though “Spoiler Alert” and “When Will You Die” (the band readily admitted to cheating the alphabet) were still played after.

Part of me was initially miffed until I realized just how many of those little changes had paid off. Instead of seated in the second balcony section, I was within four rows of the band at the end of the evening, eventually coming within 5 feet of them, as the crowd continued to move forward and dance. That contrast, from a primarily seated audience to one that gave just as much energy as the band put out, was powerful.