I like to see They Might Be Giants about once every 15 years.

I'm kidding, of course, but the last time I saw the harmonizing, nerd rock (and I mean that in the most complimentary way) stylings of John Flansburgh and John Linnell, it was 1993. The duo was playing on my college campus, and I remember the show for two reasons: First, they were coming off three awesome albums -- "Lincoln," "Flood" and "Apollo 18."

Second, TMBG did something I'd never seen -- and haven't seen since. The power went out halfway through the gig and midway through a song. They quietly walked off stage, and when power was restored 20 minutes later, they picked up where they left off -- in the middle of a verse, as if someone just hit play.

The power didn't go off tonight as TMBG played a 11 p.m. show at the U.S. Cellular Stage. But their first song, "Dr. Worm" was mostly drowned out by the end of the Big Bang fireworks.

The band has changed a lot since "Ana Ng," "Birdhouse in Your Soul" and "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)." While those songs played in my own high school soundtrack, a much younger generation knows TMBG from their recent kids music. In fact, the concert had a Nickelodeon feel to it, as the band bounced from song to song, hamming it up with sound effects and chatty banter.

It struck me as a really different show than the last one in '93, when at the time I found it odd how the band methodically went about its business, rocking more than talking.

This time, they played "Damn Good Times," "The Mesopotamians" and "Cyclops Rock," and honestly, a bunch of other tunes I'd never heard and didn't move me much at all.

Fortunately, they sprinkled in decent renditions of some of the older stuff like "Birdhouse in Your Soul," "Don't Let Start" and a unique acoustic intro to "Istanbul."

I'm not sure I can put my finger on it, but something felt weird about this show. I might have psyched myself out a bit, but I feel like They Might Be Giants was putting on a kids show, oddly robotic sounding yet intermingled with a few oddly placed political chants ("No more years! No more years!)

A couple next to me saw me squirming and offered their opinions on the show. They have a kid, who wasn't present. The wife said she's delighted that her son listens to TMBG, but that's not what she came to hear. The husband just looked miffed as we waited until the encore for a sloppy rendition of "Particle Man."

Granted, it's not the band's responsibility to entertain me with songs that were written around 1990, and in a few years, I'll be glad to play their music to my toddler. But I came for a genuine They Might Be Giants show, and I felt like someone snuck in a little Disney while I wasn't looking.

It's great that an awesome adult band could put out tunes that please parents and children, alike. And maybe the music they played way back when was effectively kids music -- look at the words to "Particle Man," after all.

But the experience was really summed up when Flansburgh and Linnell played a song I hadn't heard before, with the lyrics, "You're older and time is marching on."

I just nodded wistfully. Maybe this is what happens to kitschy rock bands when they hit a certain age. Or maybe the problem is with the reviewer and not the subject.