Another day, another giant piece of concert news: They Might Be Giants revealed on Tuesday that the band will be doing a “free family concert” in Prospect Park on July 11.
Coming one day after the announcement of a Coney Island show by Wilco and earlier news of David Byrne’s “Celebrate Brooklyn” concert, it appears that summer is setting up to be a great one for fans of geek rock.
TMBG “announced” the show in typically quirky fashion — with a posting by drummer Marty Beller on the Park Slope Parents message board.
“I just wanted to give everyone an early heads up/save the date,” he posted. “They Might Be Giants will be doing a free family concert at the Prospect Park band shell as part of Celebrate Brooklyn on Saturday, July 11 at 4 pm. We’d love to see you all there.”
One of music’s oddest, yet most-compelling bands, They Might Be Giants came out of Williamsburg in the mid-1980s with a quirky hit, “Don’t Let’s Start” off an eponymous LP that also featured the power-chord classic “(She was a) Hotel Detective,” the jokie folkie, “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Clothes,” and the mock country, “Alienation’s For the Rich.”
But the band quickly moved beyond novelty into genius with its 1988 release, “Lincoln” and 1990 album, “Flood.” Lead singers John Linnell (left in photo) and John Flansburgh remained together for the decades beyond that, never truly abandoned their knack for catchy funny songs, but also never becoming a novelty act themselves.
More recently, they’ve put out a series of recent children’s albums, including “No!” and “Here Come the ABCs,” that have endeared them to a new generation. “Here Come the 123s” even won a Grammy.
They Might Be Giants at the Prospect Park band shell (enter park at Prospect Park West and Ninth Street), July 11, 4 pm. Free.
