They Might Be Giants Coming to Kansas City September 29
The alternative-rock originals behind “Don’t Let’s Start” and “Ana Ng” arrive at The Truman on September 29 with an eight-piece band, three-piece horn section, two full sets and a new 18-song album — nearly 40 years after their recording career began.
They Might Be Giants have spent four decades doing things differently, and their upcoming Kansas City concert appears determined to continue that tradition.
They Might Be Giants will perform at The Truman on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, at 8 p.m., with doors opening at 7 p.m. The concert is restricted to ages 16 and older. Both The Truman and AXS currently confirm the performance.
This isn’t a conventional opening-act-plus-headliner night. Billed as An Evening with They Might Be Giants on the Bigger Show Tour, the Kansas City performance features no opener. Instead, the band is presenting two sets with an expanded eight-piece lineup featuring a three-piece horn section. The first set spotlights an album, while the second pulls from across the group’s career.
That career began squarely in the decade celebrated by 80s Music Radio.
From 1986 Oddballs to Alternative-Rock Originals
John Flansburgh and John Linnell formed They Might Be Giants in the early 1980s, eventually attracting attention through their unusual Dial-A-Song project, which allowed listeners to call a telephone number and hear the band’s recordings.
Their self-titled debut album arrived in 1986 on Bar/None Records. The band’s official history identifies early tracks including “Don’t Let’s Start,” “Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head” and “Youth Culture Killed My Dog” among the recordings that launched TMBG’s career.
Then came Lincoln in 1988.
The album produced “Ana Ng,” “They’ll Need a Crane” and “Kiss Me, Son of God,” further establishing a style built around clever lyrics, unconventional arrangements and melodies that could remain lodged in your head long after the joke — assuming there was a joke — had been deciphered.
Their greatest mainstream breakthrough, Flood, wouldn’t arrive until 1990, bringing “Birdhouse in Your Soul” and “Istanbul (Not Constantinople).” But the musical identity behind those songs was already firmly established during the 1980s.
This Is Not Just an ’80s Nostalgia Show
The more interesting part of Tuesday’s concert may be how little interest They Might Be Giants have in becoming a nostalgia act.
The band released a new 18-song album, The World Is to Dig, in April 2026. Its songs include “Wu-Tang,” “Sleep’s Older Sister,” “Outside Brain,” “New Wave Will Never Die” and “They Might Be Feral.” The group’s official site says material from the album is being incorporated into the current concerts alongside favorites and deeper catalog selections.
That followed January’s four-track Eyeball EP, released through the band’s Idlewild Recordings.
The Truman describes the current show as deliberately fluid: different albums can receive the first-set spotlight, while later portions draw from multiple periods of the band’s catalog. That means the Kansas City audience isn’t simply getting a fixed greatest-hits production traveling from city to city.
Kansas City Concert Details
An Evening with They Might Be Giants — The Bigger Show Tour
Tuesday, September 29, 2026 — 8 p.m.
Doors: 7 p.m.
The Truman — 601 E. Truman Road, Kansas City, Missouri
Ages 16+ The Truman KC
The Truman — Official They Might Be Giants Event Page
Why ’80s Fans Should Care
They Might Be Giants provide an important reminder that 1980s alternative music extended well beyond the artists who dominated MTV.
Their 1986 debut and 1988’s Lincoln arrived before “alternative rock” became a mainstream radio format, and songs such as “Don’t Let’s Start” and “Ana Ng” helped establish the eccentric, independent-minded approach that would flourish during the following decade.
Now Linnell and Flansburgh are bringing those beginnings together with music recorded 40 years later.
For Kansas City fans, September 29 offers something better than a simple trip back to 1986: an ’80s band that still sounds interested in what comes next.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons.
