[ATTENDED: June 18, 2016] Barenaked Ladies
Why have we seen Barenaked Ladies so many times? Because they unerringly put on a super fun show. Whether it is headlining their summer extravaganzas or even playing at our lowly Balloon Festival [*I was taken to task for calling this festival lowly, please see the end of the post for an update], their sets are fun and they always give their all.
Their set seemed really short this time–although it was the same number of songs as previous summer sets. Sometimes it feels like they are stuck playing the same songs a lot. They absolutely have to play a few songs–“$1,000,000,” “Brian Wilson,” “Big Bang Theory” and of course “One Week” and at least one or two new ones. And yet they do a good job of pulling out some unexpected songs.
And they really mixed up the stage show this year. In the past, they have started big and ended with some acoustic songs. But this year they started with a small acoustic set.
The stage was set up with instruments in front of a black wall (Tyler’s tiny drum set at the far side). The band came out and did a mini acoustic set. No lights, no effects, just Ed Robertson on acoustic guitar, Jim Creeggan on upright bass, Tyler on drums and Kevin Hearn on a multitude of instruments (guitar, accordion, banjo?).
They played four songs. And as I commented about their set list, three of the four songs are ones I’ve not heard them play before. “Testing 1,2 3” which comes from a middle period album. “Life in a Nutshell” one of my favorite old songs of theirs, and “Sound of Your Voice” another solid mid-period song. They also played “Maybe Katie” (our friend Jen was there with her daughter Katie who was pretty excited to hear that–although I’ve seen them play that two other times). I’d absolutely go nuts if they played “Alternative Girlfriend” (I know that’s a Page song so they won’t) but what about “These Apples” (OMG that’s one of my favorite early songs and Ed, it’s one of yours…get that back in the mix man! or “Bank Job”)
One of the most fun thing about BNL is that the do all kinds of improv pieces. Usually they have something to do with something relevant to their location. During the acoustic set Ed Robertson commented on an audience member’s excellent beard (we all wished we could see it he raved about it so much). And the band started singing a newly made up piece called “Excellent Beard,” which was hilarious. Then Ed compared it to drummer Tyler’s beard and the band changed the song to “pretty shit beard.”
Then the stagehands pulled away the small walls and the screen lit up with lights and videos and the sound got huge. And they launched into “Brain Wilson” and everyone was up and dancing. (A clip from Instagram)
Typically after a song or two Ed will begin a rap about something in the city they are in. The songs are always fun and surprisingly clever. This one was how they went to Zahav and had amazing humus (and somehow devolved into them rubbing olive oil on each other–not on stage mind you).
They played new crowd favorite (and big sing along) “Gonna Walk” and then the only song from their new album (Silverball). “Duct Tape Heart is very catchy although I was surprised they didn’t play the lead song “Say What You Will.” (In hindsight, this tour was not promoting Silverball which came out last year, so maybe they were digging deeper for this tour).
And then Howard Jones came out. We missed his opening set because we were late. Well, he played “No One is to Blame” with the band. I didn’t know the song, but Sarah said it was the only HoJo song she wanted to hear. So good for her!
They went to the album All in Good Time (the first one they released after Steven Page left and the one album I don’t own) for “Ordinary,” a rather mellow song. Then they played crowd favorite “Pinch Me” the song in which people throw underwear onstage (which is more environmentally sound than throwing mac n cheese like fans used to do back in the day). Kevin received a neon green bra.
The band returned to All in Good Time for the old west song “Jerome.” This song was introduced by Kevin Hearn as being a deep cut, and indeed, I’d never heard it before. And this is when I realized that I think Kevin Hearn is an amazing musician. I’ve seen him with the Rheostaics and his skills on guitar and keyboards is really unmatched. He’s super talented, very creative and wonderfully spontaneous. But I really don’t like the songs he writes. “Jerome” was a little too long and mellow for this dancing crowd.
They played “Odds Are” the other fun song from Grinning Streak and then played The Big Bang Theory Theme. This is a lot of fun live, but I wonder if they could lose it from the set without too many complaints.
After this, Ed introduced Jim Creeggan to play a bass solo. I don’t recall him ever doing one before and I was delighted at how funky it was. Creeggan is an amazing player–his solos section in “Brian Wilson” is legendary and he can really lay down some great grooves. Indeed, I don’t know when this happened, but it seemed like Creeggan has become one of the new stars of the band. He was dancing all around the stage , being incredibly goofy and flirting with the audience. He was a ton of fun. The bass solo segued right into “One Week:” and we all went pretty crazy, because even if we’ve heard this a million times, it has a ton of energy live.
They kept the energy up by launching into “$1,000,000” and even if it might be a burden to have to always play it, it gets a great response.
I was genuinely surprised when Kevin Hearn started playing the piano melody of “Lean on Me” and then Ed started singing the song. I totally forgot about their end of set medley. As usual, I didn’t know most of the songs in this medley, although I did appreciate the David Bowie tribute (“Let’s Dance”) and the Prince tribute (“I would Die 4U”). And then there as huge surprise when they sang the Imperial March from Star Wars and Darth Vader came out!
The band went off for an encore break.
I had also forgotten that the encore is the Tyler show. I love the Tyler section because he is filled with abundant energy and although he is a little loopy, he has a great voice. But it felt so short. I think after hearing so many lengthy encores in other recent shows, getting just a couple of medleys from Tyler doesn’t feel like enough (selfish much?).
For the first part of the encore he began with “Allergies,” which segued into a very fast couple of verses of “I Wanna Be Sedated” followed by (not enough) of one of our favorite BNL songs, “Alcohol” (from Instagram). Then after a brief pause, it seemed like they were done, Ed (who was now on drums) began the drum intro from Led Zeppelin’s “Rock n Roll” (and got it more or less correct). I mentioned this last time, but Tyler’s Robert Plant impression is really good. (I gather he sings a lot of backing vocals and a lot of the parts that Steven Page used to do). He could easily be up front more (although as the drummer his role as the “naughty” one is secure–Tyler makes most of the vulgar jokes during the show).
They capped it off with a manic version of “Blister in the Sun” (which I assume they did not do when the Femmes opened for them). And with that they were done. The set was fun, of course, but Sarah and I both felt like it was way too short (although we were happy to get home at a reasonable hour).
| June 2016 | October 2013 |
| Testing 1, 2, 3 (acoustic) | Odds Are |
| Life in a Nutshell (acoustic) / “excellent beard” | Never Is Enough |
| Maybe Katie (acoustic) | Pinch Me |
| Sound of Your Voice | King of Bedside Manor (with excerpts from House of the Rising Sun, Dust in the Wind and House of the Rising Sun ) |
| Brian Wilson | Gonna Walk |
| Ad lib (Zavar Hummus) | Let There Be Light |
| Gonna Walk | Best Damn Friend |
| Duct Tape Heart | Smile |
| No One is To Blame (With Howard Jones) | Blame It On Me |
| Ordinary | Maybe Katie |
| The Old Apartment | Brian Wilson |
| Pinch Me | Easy |
| Jerome | Did I Say That Out Loud |
| Odds Are | Falling for the First Time |
| Big Bang Theory | Big Bang Theory Theme |
| One Week | One Week |
| If I Had $1,000,000 | Barenaked Rap |
| Barenaked Rap: Lean On Me / My House / Love Yourself / Work / Can’t Stop the Feeling / Let’s Dance / My Heart Will Go On / Hotline Bling / I Would Die 4 U / You Are So Beautiful / The Imperial March | The Old Apartment |
| encore | encore |
| Allergies / I Wanna Be Sedated / Alcohol | Alcohol |
| Rock and Roll / Blister in the Sun | Blister in the Sun |
| Whole Lotta Love |
| July 2013 | July 2011 |
| Limits | The Old Apartment |
| Did I Say That Out Loud? | Get In Line |
| Pinch Me | Falling for the First Time |
| Gonna Walk | Easy |
| Enid | Brian Wilson |
| Give It Back to You | Ordinary |
| Be My Yoko Ono | For You |
| Brian Wilson | Maybe Katie |
| Odds Are | You Run Away |
| Big Bang Theory Theme | Too Little, Too Late |
| One Week | It’s All Been Done |
| If I Had $1,000,000 | Four Seconds |
| Barenaked Rap | Big Bang Theory Theme |
| Alcohol | One Week |
| Blister in the Sun | Pinch Me |
| If I Had $1,000,000 | |
| Barenaked Rap | |
| Alcohol | |
| Light Up My Room |
|
- The Balloon Festival in question is the QuickChek Festival of Ballooning. It’s pretty close to us and we love sitting in our yard and watching the hot air balloons take off. But the Festival itself has always seemed kind of lame to me. We’ve gone twice and it seems like it mostly vendors selling things (after a fairly pricey ticket fee). There’s some interesting free acts, but overall it seems like you could spend 3 hours instead of three days there. Over the years the Festival has attracted some pretty big name acts, although most of them are older and on the Festival circuit (this year it’s KC and the Sunshine Band and Foghat). It’s an interesting venue to watch a show. And when BNL played, all of the balloons lit up and it was quite delightful. The venue doesn’t seem like it’s that exciting, although in person it’s pretty neat.
- Having said all of that I looked up the Festival and learned that it has won quite a few honors. As the site says: It holds the dual distinction of being a recipient of The New Jersey Governor’s Award for Best Special Event, as well as being designated, for the 6th time, as a Top 100 Festival in North America by the American Bus Association.
- So perhaps not so lowly after all. As long as you go on after the magicians.
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