''Venue Songs'' is a 2004 album by the group

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a d ...

. Although technically it is a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, as all the tracks were performed live, it is different from a standard live album in that, instead of live versions of the band's popular songs, it is composed of all new songs. At each stop of their 2004 tour, They Might Be Giants wrote, arranged and performed a new song dedicated to that venue. Each song came together in one day as a surprise to the audience. Initially, the album was only released in

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

format from

online music store A digital music store is a business that sells digital audio files of music recordings over the Internet. Customers gain ownership of a license to use the files, in contrast to a music streaming service, where they listen to recordings without ...

with the purchase of $9.99 or more during the 2004 holiday season. It is now available on They Might Be Giants' online music store in MP3 or

FLAC FLAC (; Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio, developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation, and is also the name of the free software project producing the FLAC tools, the reference software p ...

format for purchase by itself. In 2005, ''Venue Songs'' was re-released as a CD/DVD combo. It included studio versions of some of the venue songs, and other non-album tracks. The DVD includes

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s for some of the venue songs as well as other bonus videos.

Track listing

# "Celebrate Brooklyn" – 1:30 # "Starr Hill Music Hall" – 1:55 # "

Sokol Auditorium The Sokol Auditorium is located at 2234 South 13th Street in the Little Bohemia neighborhood of South Omaha, Nebraska. It is a local icon for its historical context, as well as modern musical performances and gymnastics. It has a maximum capacity ...

" – 1:13 # "Houston-Meridian Theme" – 1:35 # " T-H-E-G-A-R-A-G-E" – 1:11 # "Richard's On Richards" – 2:00 # "

The Stone Pony The Stone Pony is a New Jersey music venue in Asbury Park, New Jersey known for launching the careers of many New Jersey music legends, including Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.The Egg" – 1:21 # "Leeds Irish Center" – 2:01 # " Anaheim House of Blues" – 1:04 # "

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at ...

" – 2:09 # "

The Blue Note ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

" – 1:35 # "

The Catalyst "The Catalyst" is a song by the American rock band Linkin Park. Released on August 2, 2010, it is the first single from their fourth studio album, '' A Thousand Suns'', which was released on September 8, 2010. The music video for the song, direc ...

" – 2:03 # " First Avenue Stage" – 0:51 # "Mr. Small's Theatre" – 1:22 # "City Limits" – 1:55 # " Fillmore" – 1:01 # "Gibson Lounge" – 1:13 # " Music Farm" – 1:06 # "

Trees In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are u ...

" – 0:44 # " West Hollywood House of Blues" – 1:41 # "

Variety Playhouse The Variety Playhouse (originally known as the Euclid Theatre) is a music venue in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is located on Euclid Avenue and features a variety of music acts including rock, indie, electronic, funk, country, folk, bl ...

" – 2:04 # "The Downtown" – 1:04 # "

Toad's Place Toad's Place is a concert venue and nightclub located in New Haven, Connecticut. History The building, located on York Street down the street from Ashley's Ice Cream and across an alley from Mory's, Mory's Temple Bar, was the original location ...

" – 1:41 # " At The As-tore-eye-yea" – 1:19 # "Lincoln Theater" – 1:41 # "

Recher Theatre The Recher is a concert venue in Towson, Maryland. It is located at 512 York Road in the building previously operated as the Towson Theatre, a one-screen movie theater. The Towson Theatre was designed by architect John Ahlers of the George Nor ...

" – 2:52 # "

Mississippi Nights Mississippi Nights was a music club in St. Louis, Missouri. It opened on October 11, 1976 and was located at 914 N 1st Street, on the western bank of the Mississippi River, four blocks north of the Gateway Arch in Laclede's Landing. Concerts at ...

" – 1:16 # " T.L.A." – 1:33 # "Stubbs" – 2:45 # " The Orange Peel" – 1:30 ;Notes *Some tracks are recorded from their respective show's soundcheck, rather than the show itself. *New York City's

Irving Plaza Irving Plaza (known through sponsorship as Irving Plaza, powered by Klipsch and formerly known as the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza) is a ballroom-style music venue located within the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. ...

venue song was not included on this release, and no song was written for

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, even though it had a date on the tour. *While the official track names on the compilation are the cities in which songs were performed in, they are referred to by the venue names on setlists.

DVD/CD combo

''Venue Songs DVD/CD'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

released in 2005 by

on their own label, Idlewild Records. The bulk of the material comes from 2004's ''Venue Songs'', which is included in here in its entirety, although its order has been rearranged. ''Venue Songs'' was composed of original live songs about the venue they were playing in at the time. They wrote a song for each of the venues in about a day. This album includes new studio recorded versions of 11 of the venue songs, as well as other non-album songs recorded in the past year. The DVD contains a storyline about Venue Songs which integrates videos for some of the venue songs, and includes other bonus videos as well.

Story

A Deranged Millionaire (played by

John Hodgman John Kellogg Hodgman (born June 3, 1971) is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as '' The Areas of My Expertise'', ''More Information Than You Require'', and '' That Is All'', he is known for ...

) approaches

and challenges them to write a new

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

every day on their current tour, celebrating the unique characteristics of every venue in which they perform. If they do not accomplish this goal, they will forever lose the talisman that grants them their magical musical abilities.

Song notes

* Tracks 7 and 17–46 were previously released on ''Venue Songs'' * "Love Is Eternity" was previously released exclusively as an

through They Might Be Giants' online store * "Renew My Subscription" was previously an

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

exclusive bonus track for '' The Spine'' (2004) * "Taste the Fame" was from an appearance by They Might Be Giants on the TV show ''

Home Movies A home movie is a short amateur film or video typically made just to preserve a visual record of family activities, a vacation, or a special event, and intended for viewing at home by family and friends. Originally, home movies were made on ph ...

'' * "

Tippecanoe and Tyler Too "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too", originally published as "Tip and Ty", was a popular and influential campaign song of the Whig Party's colorful Log Cabin Campaign in the 1840 United States presidential election. Its lyrics sang the praises of Whig ...

" was previously released on the compilation album ''

Future Soundtrack for America ''Future Soundtrack for America'' is a benefit album for Music for America and MoveOn.org released in 2004 by Barsuk Records and McSweeney's and compiled by Spike Jonze and They Might Be Giants' founding member John Flansburgh. Each CD bore the ...

'' * "Bloodmobile" was written for an exhibit at the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

in Philadelphia. It was later released on their 2009 children's album

Here Comes Science ''Here Comes Science'' is the fourth children's album and fourteenth studio album by American alternative rock band, They Might Be Giants, packaged as a CD/DVD set. The album is (as the title suggests) science-themed, and is the third in their l ...

Track listing

CD

# "Dallas" – 0:42 # "Albany" – 1:27 # "Los Angeles" – 1:42 # "Anaheim" – 1:04 # "Vancouver" – 1:44 # "Pittsburgh" – 1:21 # "Asheville" – 1:29 # "Glasgow" – 1:06 # "Charlottesville" – 1:50 # "Asbury Park" – 0:50 # "Brooklyn" – 1:15 # "Love Is Eternity" – 2:05 # "Renew My Subscription" – 2:18 # "Taste the Fame" – 0:59 # "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" – 1:38 # "Bloodmobile" – 2:22 # "Omaha (In Situ)" – 1:12 # "Houston (In Situ)" – 1:32 # "Leeds (In Situ)" – 1:58 # "New Orleans (In Situ)" – 2:06 # "Colombia (In Situ)" – 1:35 # "Santa Cruz (In Situ)" – 2:01 # "Minneapolis (In Situ)" – 0:49 # "Tucson (In Situ)" – 1:54 # "San Francisco (In Situ)" – 0:59 # "Memphis (In Situ)" – 1:10 # "Charleston (In Situ)" – 1:04 # "Atlanta (In Situ)" – 2:02 # "Farmingdale (In Situ)" – 1:02 # "New Haven (In Situ)" – 1:40 # "London (In Situ)" – 1:16 # "Raleigh (In Situ)" – 1:40 # "Towson (In Situ)" – 2:43 # "St. Louis (In Situ)" – 1:13 # "Philadelphia (In Situ)" – 1:31 # "Austin (In Situ)" – 2:43 # "Dallas (In Situ)" – 0:42 # "Albany (In Situ)" – 1:19 # "Los Angeles (In Situ)" – 1:40 # "Anaheim (In Situ)" – 1:03 # "Vancouver (In Situ)" – 1:59 # "Pittsburgh (In Situ)" – 1:20 # "Glasgow (In Situ)" – 1:07 # "Charlottesville (In Situ)" – 1:53 # "Asbury Park (In Situ)" – 0:59 # "Brooklyn (In Situ)" – 1:29

DVD

# Greeting from the Deranged Millionaire # The experiment begins # "Dallas" # A concrete shrine # "Albany" # Paradoxically # "Los Angeles" # An oasis of hooch # "Anaheim" # The great walled city # "Vancouver" # Monongahela # "Pittsburgh" # You can’t go home again # "Asheville" # and so # "Glasgow" # Returning to the U.S. # "Charlottesville" # Skee-ball and saltwater taffy # "Asbury Park" # The tour nearly over # "Brooklyn" # Goodbye from the Deranged Millionaire # "Damn Good Times" # "Experimental Film" # "Bastard Wants to Hit Me" # "I'm All You Can Think About"

External links

*'' Venue Songs'' at This Might Be a Wiki *'' Venue Songs DVD/CD'' at This Might Be a Wiki
TMBG.comWatch the Whole DVD on YouTube.com
at They Might Be Giants' online store {{Authority control Self-released albums They Might Be Giants live albums 2004 live albums Idlewild Recordings live albums