They Might Be Giants Live with My Kids

Live music has its way with me. No, it’s true. I don’t care what I’m hearing live: a local marching band, typical piano bar music, some hoaky cover band. Love them all. But seeing live music that you AND your kids absolutely adore? Well, that’s just about as close to total rock and roll mommy perfection as I can get. My boys and I saw They Might Be Giants live in Orlando yesterday afternoon – and I am still spinning in a star struck TMBG haze. I think my kids are too.

A few years back, when my eldest was a wee two year old watching Playhouse Disney at dawn while I stared half awake over my bowl of Cheerios, TMBG had managed it’s way in between Higglytown Heros (gah!) and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (oy…) for a few musical interludes. Somehow (and it took a great deal I tell you), I perked up. I probably paid more attention initially because these guys were on my college mix tapes. Oh yeah. TMBG. They’re doing kids music now. Cool.

But it was more than that. Their kids music was actually GOOD. And my two year old thought so too – staring, dancing, and staring again. This music wasn’t campy, not sing-songy, not condescending. It kept their usual ironic, quirky, intellectual flair – but styled it just right for kids.

Really, it makes so much sense. TMBG translates perfectly into children’s rock tunes. In the tradition of what they’ve always done for the past 25 years, they wind kooky story lines in and amongst educational concepts. And kids, who totally get kooky story lines, line up to hear about paleontologists and the periodic table and the vowel family. No they do, for real. It’s utter TMBG kid music magic.

I ordered TMBG’s Here Come the ABCs soon after hearing them for the first time. Finally. Music I could bear and my two year loved. Truly, he loved it. “Go for G”, “E Eats Everything”, “C is for Conifer”, “D is for Drums”… we couldn’t get enough.

(For the record, C has never been for cookie but always for conifer. And when we saw an actual conifer – look out, it was a crazy big deal. And you thought Santa was the only Christmas celebrity.)

Some years passed, I had another son and when he was about two years old, well what should come along?  Here Come the 1,2,3s of course. “Infinity”, “High Five”, “Figure Eight”. More magic. And suddenly, lo and behold, both kids loved their music. I was finally the proud mommy of two TMBG fans. Score.

This Christmas, Santa brought the most recent TMBG creation to the Morningside household: Here Comes Science. “I Am a Paleontologist”, “The Bloodmobile”, “Electric Car”. Crank it up, we were all jamming out once again. It’s a bit more mature this time, but isn’t that convenient – so are my kids.

And now both kids are old enough to take it upon themselves to jump online to watch bookmarked TMBG pod-casts, they know it all word for word, they’ve studied whose who in the band, “no Mommy, Marty plays drums and Danny plays Bass. Sheesh.” True kid fans.

So when tickets went on sale for a special family show in Orlando at the Hard Rock Cafe? I’m fairly sure I may have rattled the house with a jarring TMBG groupie squeel. And I was on ticketmaster’s site in no time.

They Might Be Giants! Here comes my family!!!!

(Well, minus my huz. He was away in NC. And he was missed. He would have been there rocking out with us in a heartbeat.)

So yesterday was the day. And in true groupie form, I made T-shirts for my boys and I. My 6 year old helped me design them, carefully over-seeing the entire process. I could have painted my car too. And made signs. But I didn’t. I’m totally not that TMBG freaky, mmmkay?

But the kids were so fired up. Their first rock concert. It was kind of a big deal.

Oh wait! Another total bonus to our TMBG experience was meeting up with Maria from Mommy Melee and Colleen from The Mess Potential is Exponential. We met at the Hard Rock and decided on lunch there. As fab as the company was, let me just leave you with these words of advice. If you want to eat somewhere before a Hard Rock concert in Orlando, the Hard Rock Cafe restaurant itself probably isn’t a great choice. We had a whole slew of issues. It’s a long story but just take my suggestion for what it’s worth. *Disappointed sigh*

Anyway, so in we went after lunch and we were over-joyed to find that our early purchases for TMBG tickets meant fourth row seats! Rock and roll, baby!

(Yes, yes, I’m such a mommy dork, but humor me alright? This was a big deal for my fam.)

Predictably, when the lights dimmed and Marty, Danny and the “Johns” all ran on stage… dude. Consider me totally star struck. And as they started in with the “Alphabet of Nations”, it all became surreal, crazy – my years as a parent actually flashed before my eyes. We’ve listened to these songs ceaselessly on repeat in my car and on the computer and on the DVD player and anywhere my kids will beg to have them on. And now live, before our very eyes, here were TMBG.

They played a ton of our favorites: “Never Go to Work”, “Meet the Elements”, “Electric Car”, “Seven”, “I am a Paleontologist”. Their sock puppets even showed up – but sporting their new “avatar” looks. Hysterical.

I tried to take a few pictures. But they suck. Want to know why? I was afraid I’d get booted for taking pictures so I took them far too quickly. I know. SO bad ass rock star of me.

So we watched and rocked and swayed and clapped and danced. My three year old stared, wowed – often asking “What songs next?” And my six year old remained in “wheels turning, soak it all in, must process this whole damn experience” mode. He said very little. He clapped only when appropriate. He never lost focus. Seeing his favorite band was serious business. And after retelling a few of his favorite moments in the car ride home, he has insisted that we try to see them again. Twist my arm.

Anyway, forgive this hella long post, it was clearly written in a fan crazed froth.

I’m just so happy I got to experience this music with my children. This music, so woven into our days and trips around town and moments home together, has become part of our lives more than I think I even realized. These are the moments, this is when you realize all the groundhog days are worth it, this is when parenting can rock you and roll you with your kids jamming along side.

Hold your lighter up to that and sway to it, yo.

(Oh yeah, disclaimer time. Apart from the free sandwich I got due to bad service at the Hard Rock Cafe, I received nothing for writing this. It was my pleasure entirely.)