It's Almost Summer Already? Q101 Jamboree 1998 Barenaked Ladies A Concert Review Next Up: Soul Asylum In Reverse: The Specials Or: From the Beginning	May 23, 1998 The New World Music Theatre Tinley Park, IL A Review and Photos by The Dude on the Right More Photos of Barenaked Ladies

They didn’t have long to do it, but Barenaked Ladies hit on a couple of their radio hits, but more importantly, showed the crowd that sometimes being, well, off the wall, can be just as much fun as totally serious about your music.  And totally serious about their music is what they were, and being off the wall is also what they were.  It was a set of sing-a-longs (“Brian Wilson”), a set of poking fun at everyone through rap, and a set of combining as much of the fun as a full-blown two hour show into a 50ish minute set.  Steven Page was his normal, bouncy self, belting his powerful voice and having me still admire his singing, Ed Robertson was still totally able to work the crowd into a “join-along-with-the-band” frenzy, and the back-up boys of Tyler Stewart, Jim Creeggan, and Kevin Hearn got to come out front from the raping ending.

I guess, knowing the band, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but the crowd participation (most everyone was on their feet, dancing and singing along) really had me saying to myself “I guess gone are the days of Barenaked Ladies at The Riviera.”  The boys of the band got the crowd to sing all of the right parts to “If I had $1,000,000” (although I couldn’t see if anyone remembered the Kraft Dinner), I saw one young lovely “acting” out “Brian Wilson,” and even the security lady near me, who I don’t think heard of the band, found herself having fun, and she wasn’t even supposed to.

This is an easy one, it’s TWO BIG OL’ HUGEMOUNGOUS THUMBS UP for Barenaked Ladies.  They’ve taken a show that I thought would only go over in a more intimate venue, and showed me they could transfer their musical fun to 35000ish new fans.
 

The Bands
The Main Stage	The Second Stage
Spacehog Ben Folds Five Creed Scott Weiland Barenaked Ladies Soul Asylum Foo Fighters	Fastball Eve 6 Harvey Danger They Might Be Giants The Specials