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Review: 'They Might Be Giants'
'Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 27th January 2016'   


-  Genre: 'Indie'

Our Rating:
I expect that like me, many first encountered They Might Be Giants through their 1992 breakthrough hit ‘Birdhouse in Your Soul’, while many otherwise know them as ‘the band that did the theme tune to Malcolm in the Middle’ (which broke the UK charts in 2002). Far fewer will be aware of the fact the duo have a career going back to 1982, or that they’re still going and have released two albums in the last couple of years alone, with another due in the Spring. Still, given that they’ve sold over four million albums worldwide, it seems there are plenty who are in the know and who love the band enough to sell out the north’s favourite venue well in advance.

On the surface, at least, They Might Be Giants are the very quintessence of nerdy indie – the musical equivalent of ‘Big Bang Theory’. Only, they’re true nerds, passing observations and drawing inspiration from geography and US presidential history and the absurdity of the simple everyday, as well as the scientific realms of robots and particles, with not a single mention of ‘Star Trek’. Moreover, as John Flansburgh quips near the end of their two-hour, 30-song set, ‘we invented this shit’. It may be delivered at least partly in jest – they jest a great deal – but he’s got a point.

And, as their career-spanning show demonstrates, they’re far more than a conventional indie act. Country, jazz and rock are all well represented: ‘Let Me Tell You About My Operation’ has a big band swing feel to it, and ‘Number Three’ brings on a good-time hoedown. Their wide-ranging styles are matched by vastly varied instrumentation: the five-piece full-band lineup gives acres of scope for instrument swapping, with John Linnell’s abilities as a multi-instrumentalist (turning his hand variously to keyboards, accordion, clarinet and bass clarinet) being truly impressive.

They’re consummate entertainers, too: the quips, jokes and general goofing around between songs, rather than interfering with the flow, is integral to the performance: nothing’s overdone, and everything feels natural, spontaneous, and best of all, they’re genuinely funny and build a rare level of rapport. Like the songs themselves, the inter-song humour is by turns witty, self-effacing, and plain zany.

Then there are the covers: no, they don’t give us ‘Istanbul’ (one of their bigger hits), but they do give an audacious, and also extremely accomplished, rendition of ‘Bills, Bills, Bills’ by Destiny’s Child, and, during the first encore, ‘I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar’ by Jonathan Richman.

Winding up the second encore with a stomping rendition of ‘Robot Parade’ – given a full-on rock treatment and extended to include audience participation, they’ve exhausted the setlist, the sound guy’s packing up and it looks like it’s all over. But the crowd aren’t going to let them go without one last encore, and they duly oblige with ‘She’s an Angel’, and, finally, before there’s a riot, ‘Birdhouse’.

Everyone leaves happy, and rightly so. In terms of fun and pure entertainment, They Might Be Giants show that they’re up there.

  author: Christopher Nosnibor

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They Might Be Giants - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 27th January 2016
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 27th January 2016
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 27th January 2016
They Might Be Giants