Venue Songs

	Venue Songs Collection by They Might Be Giants
	First released	November 11, 2005 Release details / collectors: Show | Hide	Tracks	46
	Label	Idlewild	Length	1:09:09

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See Discography Abbreviations for definition of various terms.

This article is about the Venue Songs album. For a list of all venue songs performed by TMBG, see Venue Songs (Project).

Venue Songs is a compilation of songs written as part of the Venue Songs project undertaken by They Might Be Giants on their 2004 tour.

iTunes cover artwork

Purchase

Seller	Format	Price	Link
iTunes	AAC		N/A
TMBG Merch Store			N/A

Description

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During the 2004 Spine On The Hiway Tour, They Might Be Giants started the practice of writing a song specifically for each venue they performed in, which was potentially inspired by a conversation the band had during rehearsal^[1]:

I think it was just a very stray conversation in a rehearsal hall where somebody noticed we were doing the same tour we had done a year and a half ago. We were playing all the same places, virtually in the same routing. So, we thought if we cooked up a new song during soundcheck for each venue, it would make the show that much more exciting.

John Flansburgh would also describe the process of writing and arranging each song in a 2018 interview with y!entertainment:

The weird thing about the process is that we would cook up the arrangements for the songs onstage and then proceed to go off and have dinner and get ready for the real show, and by the time we were ready to hit the stage again, we would have to play the song at the top of the show because if we didn’t, we’d never remember it. So, right before we went on, we’d listen back to the soundtrack recording a couple times.

After the conclusion of the tour, these songs were compiled into an MP3 album, which is detailed below. On November 11, 2005, a DVD/CD set was released (with the DVD being authored just a few weeks earlier on October 20), heralded by this description on theymightbegiants.com:

The DVD side includes ten original video clips, as well as colorful narration by former literary agent John Hodgman in the role of The Deranged Millionaire. There will be bonus video material including 'Damn Good Times,' 'Bastard Wants to Hit Me,' 'Experimental Film' (with Homestar Runner), 'I'm All You Can Think About' and more.

On the CD side there is over an hour of music — all for the first time on CD. You will receive all the original Venue Song recordings from the 2004 tour, and a set of live recordings from that tour. The 10 studio recordings of the Venue Songs will also be featured. It also compiles a number of audio rarities from last year including 'Renew My Subscription,' 'Love Is Eternity,' 'Taste The Fame' and more.

Due to copyright concerns, the songs on Venue Songs were titled after the cities of each venue rather than using the venue's names. Similar legal circumstances led TMBG to retitle "AKA Driver" on John Henry one decade earlier.

Track listing

DVD

#	Title	Length	Lyrics	Guitar Tab
1	Dallas Trees	0:42		N/A
2	Albany The Egg	1:26
3	Los Angeles West Hollywood House of Blues	1:42
4	Anaheim Anaheim House of Blues	1:04		N/A
5	Vancouver Richard's on Richards	1:43		N/A
6	Pittsburgh Mr. Smalls	1:21		N/A
7	Asheville The Orange Peel	1:30
8	Glasgow The Garage	1:05		N/A
9	Charlottesville Starr Hill Music Hall	1:50		N/A
10	Asbury Park Stone Pony	0:50		N/A
11	Brooklyn Celebrate Brooklyn	1:15		N/A
12	Damn Good Times	2:38
13	Experimental Film	2:56
14	Bastard Wants To Hit Me	2:14
15	I'm All You Can Think About	1:38

CD

Tracks 1-11 studio recordings / Tracks 17-46 live recordings

#	Title	Length	Lyrics	Guitar Tab
1	Dallas Trees	0:42		N/A
2	Albany The Egg	1:26
3	Los Angeles West Hollywood House of Blues	1:42
4	Anaheim Anaheim House of Blues	1:04		N/A
5	Vancouver Richard's on Richards	1:43		N/A
6	Pittsburgh Mr. Smalls	1:21		N/A
7	Asheville The Orange Peel	1:30
8	Glasgow The Garage	1:05		N/A
9	Charlottesville Starr Hill Music Hall	1:50		N/A
10	Asbury Park Stone Pony	0:50		N/A
11	Brooklyn Celebrate Brooklyn	1:15		N/A
12	Love Is Eternity	2:04
13	Renew My Subscription	2:17
14	Taste The Fame	0:59
15	Tippecanoe And Tyler Too	1:38
16	The Bloodmobile	2:22
17	Omaha Sokol Auditorium	1:11
18	Houston Meridian	1:31
19	Leeds Leeds Irish Centre	1:57
20	New Orleans New Orleans House of Blues	2:05
21	Columbia The Blue Note	1:34
22	Santa Cruz The Catalyst	2:00		N/A
23	Minneapolis First Avenue Stage	0:49
24	Tucson City Limits	1:53
25	San Francisco Fillmore	0:58		N/A
26	Memphis Gibson Lounge	1:10
27	Charleston Music Farm	1:03
28	Atlanta Variety Playhouse	2:02
29	Farmingdale The Downtown	1:01
30	New Haven Toad's Place	1:39
31	London The Astoria	1:16
32	Raleigh Lincoln Theater	1:39
33	Towson Recher Theater	2:42
34	St. Louis Mississippi Nights	1:12
35	Philadelphia T.L.A.	1:31
36	Austin Stubb's	2:42
37	Dallas Trees	0:42
38	Albany The Egg	1:21
39	Los Angeles West Hollywood House of Blues	1:40
40	Anaheim Anaheim House of Blues	1:02
41	Vancouver Richard's on Richards	1:58
42	Pittsburgh Mr. Smalls	1:20
43	Glasgow The Garage	1:07
44	Charlottesville Starr Hill Music Hall	1:53
45	Asbury Park Stone Pony	0:59		N/A
46	Brooklyn Celebrate Brooklyn	1:28

Trivia

• This set was originally titled the Venue Songs Dual Disc, with only one disc featuring the DVD on one side and the CD on the other. Due to space constraints, this idea was abandoned.
• Copies of the DVD/CD set whose case was autographed by the entire band (Marty Beller, Danny Weinkauf, Dan Miller, John Flansburgh, and John Linnell) were available for sale during and after shows on the Beardo 2006 tour for $20.
• The iTunes version includes only the tracks from the CD (which is perfectly sensible as the set was originally intended more as a CD with a bonus DVD, rather than the other way around).

Original MP3 album

	Venue Songs Live album by They Might Be Giants
	First released	December 10, 2004 Release details / collectors: Show | Hide	Tracks	31
	Label	Idlewild	Length	48:16

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See Discography Abbreviations for definition of various terms.

Track listing

#	Title	Length	Lyrics	Guitar Tab
1	Brooklyn (Celebrate Brooklyn)	1:28
2	Charlottesville (Starr Hill Music Hall) (soundcheck)	1:53
3	Omaha (Sokol Auditorium) (soundcheck)	1:11
4	Houston (Houston-Meridian Theme) (soundcheck)	1:31
5	Glasgow (T-H-E-G-A-R-A-G-E) (soundcheck)	1:07
6	Vancouver (Richard's On Richards)	1:58
7	Asbury Park (The Stone Pony)	0:59		N/A
8	Albany (The Egg) (soundcheck)	1:21
9	Leeds (Leeds Irish Centre) (soundcheck)	1:57
10	Anaheim (Anaheim House of Blues) (soundcheck)	1:02
11	New Orleans (House of Blues)	2:05
12	Columbia (The Blue Note) (soundcheck)	1:34
13	Santa Cruz (The Catalyst)	2:00		N/A
14	Minneapolis (First Avenue Stage)	0:49
15	Pittsburgh (Mr. Smalls Theatre) (soundcheck)	1:20
16	Tucson (City Limits)	1:53
17	San Francisco (Fillmore) (soundcheck)	0:58		N/A
18	Memphis (Gibson Lounge)	1:10
19	Charleston (Music Farm)	1:03
20	Dallas (Trees) (soundcheck)	0:42
21	Hollywood (West Hollywood House of Blues) (soundcheck)	1:40
22	Atlanta (Variety Playhouse) (soundcheck)	2:02
23	Farmingdale (The Downtown)	1:01
24	New Haven (Toad's Place)	1:39
25	London (At The As-tore-eye-yea) (soundcheck)	1:16
26	Raleigh (Lincoln Theater)	1:39
27	Towson (Recher Theatre)	2:42
28	St. Louis (Mississippi Nights)	1:12
29	Philadelphia (T.L.A.)	1:31
30	Austin (Stubbs)	2:42
31	Asheville (The Orange Peel) (soundcheck)	1:30

Trivia

• For other live recordings culled from the Spine On The Hiway Tour, see The Spine Hits The Road and Almanac.
• Previews of "Albany" and "Columbia" were made available via TMBG's Free MP3 service several weeks before the album itself was released. The ID3 tag information included on these listed the album as Venue Vidi Vici (a play on the Latin phrase "Veni, Vidi, Vici"), suggesting that this may have been an early title for the album.
• This album was originally offered as a bonus with the purchase of any other album from TMBG Download Store.