This past Saturday, geeky music fans in Chicago had a choice. They Might Be Giants was playing at Vic Theatre, as part of a tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of “Flood.” (Rolling Stone has a great track-by-track retrospective about the album, which is ironic since the magazine panned it back in 1990.) TMBG has been touring most of the U.S. (except for Atlanta) and playing “Flood” from beginning to end, and the Chicago stop was scheduled for Oct. 10.

On the same night, Jonathan Coulton was scheduled to play his own show, along with Paul and Storm, at Park West. JoCo noticed the gigs’ overlap back in August and, knowing how many geeky people are fans of some combination of TMBG, JoCo and Paul and Storm, joked that he might have to play “Flood,” too.

That’s exactly what he wound up doing, announcing via Twitter on Oct. 1 that the Chicago show would cover “Flood” in its entirety. Paul and Storm and Jonathan Coulton played “Flood” from start to finish, in three-part harmony and without an accordion. There was even a cameo from Peter Sagal.

It wasn’t something the trio went into unrehearsed — the Oct. 8 show in Ann Arbor, Mich., included a smattering of songs from “Flood.”

And, for the benefit of everyone who either doesn’t live in Chicago or picked TMBG over JoCo, a helpful fan put video of the whole thing on YouTube.

Who would you rather see — TMBG playing all of “Flood,” or Jonathan Coulton doing the same thing? I really can’t decide.

The tech that made it possible:
How YouTube Works
How Twitter Works
How Camcorders Work