They Might Be Giants on Tour
They Might Be Giants have been playing together since 1982 — and writing their playful, witty songs as a duo even longer — so the band's onstage chemistry isn't in question. Hearing the Johns (John Flansburgh and John Linnell) banter between songs is a treat in and of itself, but the real spectacle is witnessing their mind meld as they pull lyrically and musically knotty cuts from their catalog of a few dozen albums, EPs and compilations. Although the Johns started out as a pair backed by drum machine and prerecorded cassette, they've been a band since the '90s and are currently backed by longtime members Dan Miller on guitar, Danny Weinkauf on bass and Marty Beller on drums. They're just as likely to go into a stormy Middle Eastern inspired rock-out during their famous version of "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," as to strip back to acoustic guitar (Flansburgh) and baritone sax (Linnell) for the morbid fan favorite "Older." And with a large oeuvre including kids' songs (they won a Grammy for 2008's Here Come the 123s) and film and TV themes (they won another Grammy for Malcolm in the Middle's "Boss of Me"), TMBG have limitless ways to delight and surprise an audience.
They Might Be Giants in Concert
John Flansburgh and John Linnell met as teens growing up in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and began writing songs together in high school. They parted ways for college, but reunited in Brooklyn in 1981 when (somewhat by design) they moved into the same apartment building on the same day. Thus began an incredibly fruitful and truly creative career in music. As They Might Be Giants gained a local fandom for their atypical instruments and unusual subject matter — their synthy 1986 self-titled debut included songs called "(She Was A) Hotel Detective" and "Youth Culture Killed My Dog" — they also experimented with distribution methods. For years, they used local newspapers to advertise a phone number that would greet callers with new songs and fake ads. That answering machine service, dubbed Dial-A-Song, foreshadowed their pioneering use of the internet. TMBG released the first MP3-only album in 1999, and began podcasting in 2005. They also found early success in film and TV after signing with Elektra in 1989 and seeing their 1990 LP Flood go platinum thanks to their MTV-supported single "Birdhouse in Your Soul." Their cover of the Four Lads' "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" wound up getting animated for Steven Spielberg's Tiny Toon Adventures along with "Particle Man," and they subsequently wrote or performed songs for Malcolm in the Middle, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Dexter's Laboratory and more. TMBG were even Tony-nominated for their work on SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical. Beginning in 2002 with the album No!, the Johns found success writing children's music and have interspersed their regular flow of rock-oriented albums with family fare. They Might Be Giants continue to be remarkably prolific, releasing three albums in 2018 alone: I Like Fun, My Murdered Remains and The Escape Team.
