I had a fun opportunity to try something new this week. I received a last minute offer of a photo pass to First Avenue to photograph the They Might Be Giants concert. I don’t have much interest in concert photography and very little experience (well, none would probably be more accurate, with the exception of various outdoor, afternoon concerts) but I’m a (admittedly rather lax) TMBG fan so I thought it might be fun to give it a try.

Let me tell you…concert photography? It’s hard. It was hot and crowded and very dark and the stage lighting was constantly changing and as the opening band played its fifth and sixth songs that sounded exactly like 1-4 and the girl next to me continued to dig her elbow into my side, I wondered what on earth I’d been thinking when I’d decided to go. But when TMBG finally got on stage, I was so glad I’d gone.

When I say I’m something of a lax fan, I mean it’s been quite awhile since I’ve listened to or followed the band. Their album Flood was actually the first cd I ever bought, back when I received a discman for Christmas (woowoo!) and my uncle took me to a used cd store on the Ohio State campus and I got to pick out something to listen to in said fancy new contraption. And I loved that album but that’s about the last time I listened to them so I only knew about five of the songs. Thankfully, it didn’t really matter. They had a great and energetic stage presence, the crowd was completely into it and their stuff was good and funny and entertaining. My photo pass allowed me to spend the first three songs right up at the stage and the remainder sitting in the stairwell which was blissfully free of other people. I left the show somewhat deafened and a bit tired but definitely glad I went.

(Incidentally, TMBG has several children’s cds out now as well – they played a few songs from them which were equally entertaining to the adults – so if you’re looking for new music for the kiddos and you’re over Raffi, you might check them out.)