The first time I saw They Might Be Giants live was a free concert during the summer on Williamsburg Waterfront… in the pouring rain. Oh, and Patton Oswalt was the opening act. While nothing is ever going to top that experience for me, this album is still pretty damn good.
First of all, I love the album title because it’s a play on words. Let me give you a minute to figure it out… Did you get it? That’s right! It’s both their first live album ever and also the first album they ever released but all live tracks. I should expect nothing less from a band this fun and silly though.
It’s not just the title that is fun about this album, folks. TMBG are full of such fun energy that it’s hard to not smile at anything they do. While the immense collection of studio recordings I had to choose from was sufficient, it’s nice to finally have a collection of live recordings. In fact, I didn’t realize I was missing this from my life until I had it (much like my current boyfriend, who hasn’t seen TMBG live before ever and must change this immediately if we are to keep dating). Hopefully TMBG will give us a chance to catch them live and in person real soon, but for now we can all enjoy these live recordings. Grab a bunch of friends, pull up a picture of the band, and pretend you’re having a concert in your house. Free summer show right in your backyard! It’s the kind of fun and silly thing a band like this would appreciate. Maybe we can even create a hashtag and have some real fun with this. (#FreeTMBGInMyBackyard) Now I’m just being silly… It must be all the TMBG I’ve been playing.
You can download the new They Might Be Giants live album FOR FREE. You can also check them out on their recent appearance with NPR’s quiz show “Ask Me Another“. The latter also includes Jonathan Coulton. Hell, they even team up on a song (although that might be a bonus episode). You can find the bonus rounds on iTunes but the actual podcast is at the link I provided. Obviously you have lots of content to enjoy, so you better stop reading this post and get started!