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Barenaked Ladies
A Concert Review |
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It was one of those evening’s that looked like rain
as I made my way to The Tweeter Center to catch the Barenaked Ladies
after it had been years since I’ve seen them. A little warm, very
humid, and lots of clouds – it wasn’t looking promising. As I
was waiting around the gates outside, it really wasn’t the weather
that was surprising me – it was the level of security for those
entering the venue. Now I know the Barenaked Ladies usually attracts
it’s share of troublemakers, especially those crazed people with
Kraft dinners, but was it really necessary for all of the dudes to
empty their pockets, dudes and dudettes to get full pat down
searches, and for people to return their little flashlights on their
keychains (not laser pointers, those nice, little flashlights) to
their cars? I can understand the umbrella ban, especially as the
security dude had to diligently explain to one dude how, one – an
open umbrella blocks the view of those behind him, and two – if
the dude opened his umbrella and poked some lady in the eye that,
well, it was the venue that would also get sued, but at least there
was one consolation after making it into the venue – free condoms
being handed out by the Trojan folks.
As I continued to wait I pondered the olden days when Barenaked
Ladies played a smaller venue like The Riviera in Chicago. There was
the first time I had seen them when I didn’t know one song and was
mystified, before the show, at how they could pack the venue without
one solid radio hit, but realizing, after the show, that these boys
were quickly becoming one of my favorite bands. Their fan base at
that time consisted mostly of pert, college girls and dudes in golf
shirts, totally dedicated to the band. I saw a few other shows after
that, but really lost touch with the band and their music, except
their radio hits, after the "Rock Spectacle" album. I
wondered if they still had the same energy on stage. I wondered if
they still told stories. I wondered if they still did their rap
numbers. And I wondered if they were still the great performers I
remembered from a few years back. All of my wonderings would soon be
answered as, following a nice rainstorm which turned the lawn people
into one, giant, wet t-shirt contest, well, it was time for the
show.
Technically opening with Kevin Hearn’s piano solo, the rest of
the boys of Barenaked Ladies made their way to their respective
stage locations for "Never Do Anything." What followed is
exactly what I wanted - a great mix of the radio hits, some classic
Barenaked Ladies that only the harder-core fans would know, lots of
joking around, improvising, and rap.
For example, you could be pretty confident in getting songs like
"Pinch Me," "Get In Line," "The Old
Apartment," and "Brian Wilson," all of which you got
and all of which turned into sing-a-longs. But for me, especially
being lax on ever getting copies of "Stunt" and
"Maroon," I was looking forward to some of the older
stuff, and I got that in the likes of an "Alternative
Girlfriend," "Break Your Heart," "Shoe Box"
and a great version of "Wrap Your Arms Around Me."
Of course now I can hear you grumbling, wondering how I can
review a show without knowing the songs, especially songs from a
band’s latest album, but for me, as was the case with seeing
Barenaked Ladies before, I truly enjoy songs I haven’t heard that
make me say to myself "Self, wow – that was a great song –
you really need to find out exactly what it was and get the
CD." Such was the case as I listened to "Alcohol" and
"Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel." The
radio hits don’t always show the great songwriting of a band, as I
found out with Barenaked Ladies before, and this show just reminded
me to keep up to date with a band I really liked before.
Alright, enough explanation of why you shouldn’t hate me.
As much as spotlighting their music, seeing Barenaked Ladies is
as much about the antics of the band, their stories, their
entertainment value, and crowd watching. This night the band was in
great form, as was the crowd. We got to see that Steven Page is
afraid of moths, about putting foil in a microwave, and a quick
rendition of "Too Sexy for My Hat" as Steve donned a cap
flashing the word "Sexy." They made fun of how muggy it
was this night, Tyler proclaimed "I Love the Drums!",
there was a great bass solo by Jim Creegan, a nice discussion on Ed
Robertson’s fashion sense (or lack there-of), maybe the world’s
largest "Chicken Dance" and a great rap set including
songs like "Lady Marmalade," "You Got What I
Need," "Get Your Freak On," and what would a rap set
be without "Bootylicious." There was a great crowd member
winning the "hair and beard combo", people did sneak in
some Kraft dinner and appropriately tossed it during "If I Had
$1,000,000", and watching the crowd made me remember the song
"Dancin’ Like White Guys" from a band called The Nerds
because, well, rhythm wasn’t greatly present in the audience, this
reviewer included.
The Barenaked Ladies have always been about squeezing the most
value out of your entertainment dollar, and even though part of me
wishes they had more of a cult following so they’d be still
playing in venues like The Riviera, well, it’s great to see that
size really doesn’t matter to a band like the Barenaked Ladies
because they can make any size crowd have a good time. It’s TWO
"ED’S SHIRT WASN’T THAT BAD" THUMBS UP for Barenaked
Ladies.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!! |
