They Might Be Giants Granada Theater, Dallas Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Babysitters throughout the greater Dallas area were getting P-A-I-D last night as every hip dad, hip mom and hip-parents-to-be were crammed into a packed Granada Theater for a two-set performance from beloved indie legends They Might Be Giants.
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And lord, did those people ever get their money's worth as the Two John's hopped all over their discography, never holding back from indulging on a whim, or heading into areas unexpected by the ever-loyal crowd. Those two gentlemen well-versed in what a crowd expects from them, and they delivered on it, while also entertaining themselves. This is something you like to see when so many artists are just going through the monotony of the touring lifestyle. Yes, They Might Be Giants are making a buck, but there's nothing quick about it; these dudes love what they're doing.
So, there we were on a Wednesday night, me being one of the youngest people in the crowd for the first time in a good two years at a Granada show, and a whole hell of a lot of people on date night. It was, in a word, adorable. We in the criticism game are sometimes wont to forget that music exists to bring people together, as we get too locked in on "what matters," "what's next," "what it all means" and "how important this is." But at its base, the harmonizing of voices and instruments was created to gather people together for a good time. In TMBG, what we witnessed was just such a good time being put on by two men and a band of friends performing for people out to enjoy a night of coming together in celebration of something they love.
Excuse me as we take a break to go over a quick tally of things spotted at the show:
They Might Be Giants pregnant concert goers count: 3
They Might Be Giants Destiny's Child covers count: 1
They Might Be Giants Cool Dad Trilby count: 4
Number of times I recognized a song from Tiny Toon Adventures, thus giving away my age: 2
They Might Be Giants Dad joke count: Is there an Infinity emoji?
Anyway, yeah, this was a show heavy on favorites because it seemed like every single song was the crowd's favorite, and that's what happens when you build a fervent fan base that almost buys out the T-shirts at the merch table before the show even begins. Oh, and that merch table saw heavy traffic between the two sets, not during them. It would have been impossible to pull anyone from that crowd while the band was on stage; they couldn't bare to miss a single lyric from a song or a single dad joke from the band.
Even I couldn't resist singing along to the well-worn favorites like "Istanbul," "Birdhouse of Your Soul," "Ana Ng" and "Particle Man." I never sing at shows, but there I was, a 5-year-old all over again, utterly engrossed by songs I recall from Saturday morning cartoons. It was a pretty enjoyable feeling, one I'm honestly not used to.
Oh, and there was a New York Rangers contingent at the show who broke out into random cheers when the hockey team won game 7 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. This happened in Texas, at a concert. Never change Granada crowds, never ever change. I can't wait to see what happens there next.
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