They Might Be Giants sell out The Pageant in St. Louis, twice

I requested to cover the sold-out They Might Be Giants show, because I recognized their name from a free sample song that came with my family’s Dell computer that ran Windows 2000. Before I even had my first iPod, I would listen to those songs when I would get bored of what I had on cassette and CD. The song was called “Older” and, upon revisiting it, I think it may have something to do with the existential dread that has haunted me all my life. The chorus, which goes:

“You’re older than you’ve ever been, and now you’re even older, and now you’re even older”…

… tells you all you need to know about the song. The repetitive plodding verses mimic the steady march of time itself, leaving one sitting there staring at their YouTube player wondering what they are doing with their life.

The They Might Be Giants concert at The Pageant in St. Louis’ The Loop district was a similarly cerebral experience. When I arrived, the venue was already more packed than I had ever seen it. I walked up to the other photographers waiting for the show to start and asked them what the hell was going on, since when were TMBG — a band I thought was relatively obscure — packing houses like this? I must have missed something. Now, having given it more thought, I realize I was foolish to doubt the band who recorded the Malcolm in the Middle theme song… among so many other chart-topping tracks. As I looked around, nearly the entire crowd was made up of people my age.

Elderly millennials, which also tracks.

There was no opening band; the Giants opened for themselves. And, apparently everything they do comes in pairs: not only were they playing back-to-back nights at The Pageant, but each night, they played two 13-song sets followed by two encores. This pattern of duality extends beyond the stage, going all the way back to 1982 when John Flansburgh and John Linnell formed the band (not only have they been double John-ing it since, at one point, they were triple Dan-ing it, too). Creating music for both adults and children, They Might Be Giants have released 23 studio albums spanning the entire human spectrum, always seeming to be on the cutting-edge of music innovation. For example, they were the first band to ever release an album entirely recorded in MP3 format.

The show was exuberant and the crowd seemed to know every word to every song. I was impressed by my fellow millennials’ endurance; the nearly 30-song set did not seem to wear them down at all. It’s good to know that us older folks can still hold it down and make it through a long concert with enough energy to spare to still make it home. 

For a band that has been so prolific for so long, you — at some point — expect them to start phoning it in. You see it with lots of legacy acts, milking their ancient hits to extract as much money out of a fading career as they can. This is not so with TMBG. These guys are clearly still performing for the love of the game and putting on a show that holds up energy-wise against much younger acts. For that reason, adults and kids alike should try to catch a stop on this tour!

Photography by Sean Rider

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