This is your obligatory fuzzy camera-phone-from-the-balcony photo that proves I was at the show.
M and I had some tacos and beers beforehand, sitting out on the patio across from the Jefferson's entrance. I was happy to see that a lot of the people heading through the doors were neither pushing nor dragging forty. Little groups of high school- and college-aged kids were filtering in, so very early, to stake out spots at the foot of the stage over an hour before the opening act even came on. Because being that close to the band means a lot to them. Or maybe they'd heard that someone within reaching distance might get to play Flansburgh's guitar. Or maybe they haven't been to hundreds of rock shows and have not yet worked out a formula to solve the age-old standing-around-paying-too-much-for-beers vs. getting-a-spot-where-we-can-actually-see-the-band problem. Oh wait, they’re not paying for beers.
The kids who are going to see They Might Be Giants in 2013 are the same kids who were going to see them in the 90s. Those awkward, pimply, bespectacled kids looked so familiar--so much like my friends and I at that age. When I said so to M, his response was along the lines of "the nerd is eternal."
At least half the audience had not been born when Flood was released, but they clearly had the album memorized, and sang along and pogo'd their hearts out to the end (or the beginning, as it were). It occurred to me that this should make me feel old, or that I should begrudge these kids their nostalgia for something they certainly can't remember. But I just think it's awesome. I’m not a more genuine fan of TMBG just because I’ve been alive for their whole career. Flood is nostalgic for me, but it’s as fresh to them as it was when my cousin Paul gave me that ripped-off cassette copy twenty years ago.
At least half the audience had not been born when Flood was released, but they clearly had the album memorized, and sang along and pogo'd their hearts out to the end (or the beginning, as it were). It occurred to me that this should make me feel old, or that I should begrudge these kids their nostalgia for something they certainly can't remember. But I just think it's awesome. I’m not a more genuine fan of TMBG just because I’ve been alive for their whole career. Flood is nostalgic for me, but it’s as fresh to them as it was when my cousin Paul gave me that ripped-off cassette copy twenty years ago.
Oh, and They Might Be Giants still puts on one of the best live shows around. If they are coming your way, it’s well worth staying out late on a school night.
