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indie-snob>+!#
They might be giants (12-5&7-03)
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 The foam finger, signed by the band (taken on my floor) They might be giants @ the vic (12-5-03) Okay, seriously, who didn't love They Might Be Giants as a kid? Didn't we all hear them back when radio was decent? And, if you're outside of my closer age bracket, didn't you just love them anyway? Seriously. So I must admit part of my going to this show was to go to a concert (it had been a while since I full show) and another part was to hang out with friends. After it was all said and done, though, how can you resist the awesome power of TMBG? Well, one way I can see is to see the utter commercialism now associated with the band. T-shirt? $20. Foam finger? $7. No joke. Plus, who can forget Fox's most beloved adolescent comedy, Malcolm in the Middle and its catchy theme song, written by, oh yes, TMBG. Plus, with a steep ticket price (somewhere around $25), it was a bit painful to take it all in at once. I'm used to going to shows with a huge line of scene kids. This time? Oh no, geeks galore! It was wonderful to see, and certainly amusing. I swear to God, there must have been Star Wars t-shirts. The crowd ranged from 6 year olds to middle-aged men. It was, at least, a far more diverse crowd than I am usually associated with. Opening was a feller representing the band NYC Smoke. On a scale of 1 to Terrible, they were an 83. His lyrics were disturbingly predictable and his voice was really annoying. Maybe his band REALLY helps him out. Tonight, though, he had to stand on its own merit, and quite honestly, I would have liked him much more if he just stood next to his guitar on stage, because it was really a lovely guitar—a striking baritone with beautiful rose inlays and excellent craftsmanship. Unfortunately, there's no law stating that the talent of the musician must match his guitar. My friend I was there with chose to sang over the man's own songs with versions that were at least mockingly humorous (although I don't condone that under any circumstances, as it's a truly terrible thing to do). It's at moments like that, though, that I wish I had a book and some noise reduction headphones. Grade: F How do shows you see usually start off? A slow number to introduce the band? A fast number to get the crowd moving? A puppet show to entertain the band? And, at that, guess which They Might Be Giants chose. Oh, you would be correct, the puppet show! Perhaps the highlight of the evening: a poodle (given a deep voice) a monkey and others made a dazzling entrance as they sang "puppets gonna fuck you up." Hah, let's think about that for a moment. Puppets? HILARIOUS. For the next hour and a half though, the band with two decades behind them entertained us with songs newer and older. Name a favorite hit, they played it. "Ana Ng?" Played it. "Particle Man?" Done. "I Palindrome I?" Been there. It was a show to be enjoyed by everyone, no gimmicks employed to push a new album or to alienate newcomers, etc. If the song choice weren't great enough, the band has so much fun onstage, laughing and joking the entire time. When a woman working with the band came out to sing a song, she told perhaps the funniest joke I've ever heard. (Well, not really, but at the time, I laughed a whole lot.) "So I ran into that monkey backstage and he was like: 'hey, is that dress felt?' And I was like: 'ummm, no.' and he was like: 'it is now!'" Hah. Too funny. And, it became very apparent that They Might Be Giants are not based on talent nor originality, but their simple sophomoric humor. They make you laugh, no matter what. I'm not a huge fan of the band, but it was definitely a fun show. Puppets win highlight of the evening, as nothing quite measured up to that, but the crowd definitely went crazy at times. I mean, man, I thought those indie kids could dance, but geeks are even wilder. Grade: B They might be giants @ old town (12-7-03) I must admit, I go to more kiddie shows than any other indie scenester I know. While I assume I must look like a pedophile, going to these shows is perhaps one of the better concert experiences. Kids are so uninhibited; they dance to anything no matter who's around. They probably don't know They Might Be Giants as a legendary rock band, but perhaps just the band their parents put on during their naptime. Every year, I guess TMBG come to the Old Town School of Folk Music here in Chicago and play a couple holiday shows. This year, there were four. And, they're so popular, that when I ordered my tickets the next day, I got the last two tickets left for any of the shows. We ran inside, snatching the foam fingers they laid out on the seats away from the little kids (sure, I felt a little bad, but I was paying good money!). Within a half hour, They Might Be Giants launched straight into songs from their acclaimed children's albums as all the little kids in the audience danced along as their parents sat smiling. Really, things like this are adorable. It was odd to see the puppets from the night before entertaining children (the more obscene humor still stuck in my head), but it was fun to see two such different TMBG shows. The band seemed a little more natural with the kids, which may not really be surprising (children tend to be less judgmental, of course). While the experience of kids' shows can be a lot of fun, a lot of times the music can get a bit dry, which does become a problem. Of course, TMBG children's songs are a little more fun than hearing Liz Mitchell of Ida sing "Shine A Light," or whatever it may be, but there is still this condescending tone that as an adolescent listener, offends me to some degree. Of course, I am not their target audience (as I am already aware not to cross the street in the middle of the block, but do so anyway). Still, I enjoyed the show. It was fun to hear even more wacky songs, and for some reason, especially the Malcolm in the Middle theme song. If you live in Chicago, take your kids/nieces & nephews/friends/cousins/random-children-off-the-street to see these shows and I guarantee they'll have a good time. (And by kids, we're talking 3-6, especially). After the show, the band was signing autographs. This, perhaps, was the most unsettling of any of the weekend's They Might Be Giants events. The assembly line had the band signing things one after the next, not looking at the children they were signing things for or at the camera when taking pictures. It seems as though the band has become part of a corporate endorsement chain without even being on a major label. Do you understand? I don't. Grade: B |