I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: June 19, 2017] Barenaked Ladies

It was almost exactly a year ago that we saw Barenaked Ladies.  And it was almost exactly a year ago that I decided that even though their shows are a ton of fun, I didn’t really need to see them again (it’s been like 7 times now), because they have gotten kind of samey.

And then I saw that they were playing Steelstacks–the place where I have gotten unbelievably close to quite a few bands.  So this was the chance to go out with a blaze of glory and see them up close for the first time.

But then there was the threat of torrential thunderstorms.  So they moved the show inside to the Musikfest Cafe.  We were pleased about that as the thought of standing in the rain isn’t appealing.  The rain all ended by about 7 so it was moot, bit whatever.  This meant that we could see this band in a teeny tiny club where the sound was amazing.  A local paper says that the outside show approximates 3,000 tickets.  The Cafe holds about 1,000 people.  The paper said that 1,032 tickets were sold for the show.  That’s not much for a fairly large band like BNL, but I have to wonder (and hope) that a lot of people came as walk-ins and were turned away.

The only problem was that we didn’t want to see the opening act, and the place was pretty packed so we didst get very close–I had imagined that if it was outside we’d have been right up against the stage.  Nevertheless, being fifteen or so people away is certainly better than being fifty rows away.  So we settled in for a some fun.

Before this show I had made a list of 30-some songs that I would love to hear at this show (it’s at the end of the post).  Primarily, they were songs that I hadn’t heard them play before, but there were some that I really like that I’ve heard a few times).  I even posted it on the group’s Facebook site, hoping for discussion.  I thought for an intimate show with no lighting rig they could play whatever they wanted.

Well, imagine my surprise when the first song they played was on that list!  “Who Needs Sleep” is one of Sarah and my favorite BNL songs.  What a great way to start!  They followed that with two other old favorites that I have seen them play, but which I was really psyched to hear: “It’s All Been Done” is catchy and super fun to sing along to.  And “Life, in a Nutshell” is a fantastic old song that I’ve always liked.  Last show we saw them do an acoustic version, but this time it was full band!

Ed told a story about sneaking through the fenced-off, unfinished Levitt lawn before a show at Sands Bethlehem Event Center in 2011.  Upon seeing the Bethlehem Steel SteelStacks, he said to himself, “I want to do a show in front of those.”   And then the concert got moved inside which, he said must mean that “apparently Mother Nature is not a big Barenaked Ladies fan.”  Or that maybe she IS a huge fan and had to show up for the concert.  And then they did their intro improv rap, this one had a cool death metal riff and a chorus of “Sideways Rain.”  It was hilarious and super fun and I’m bummed I didn’t record it.

And then Ed tried his best to oversell the importance of us singing along to the next song.  Which of course we did, as “Gonna Walk” is an epic earworm.  (It was on my list even though I’d heard it before, just because it’s so much fun).

They joked that they were going to do a song not from the last decade or the one before that or the one before that but the one before THAT and they played an incredibly unexpected “Blame It on Me.”  Not one of my favorite early songs, but a real treat to hear that brought back–Ed even joked about the Milli Vanilla reference in the songs.

I was perched pretty close to Jim Creeggan who is so much fun to be around–he’s lively and flirtatious, posing and goofing.  And it was really cool to see just how complex his basswork is. He also got to sing a song that I was stunned to hear, a truly deep cut from Are Me “Peterborough and the Kawarthas.”

I didn’t get to see Kevin Hearn very much as he was on the far side of the stage.  But occasionally he came to the front and I could see his groovy jacket.

 

Kevin started talking about a video for a song and Ed joked that that would have been a good segue when they actually played that song. Instead, here was “Boomerang.” which was another song on my list!

And then, yet another song from my list, Keepin It Real, a new song that I think is a real fun stomper made even more so live.

I was so psyched by this set so far, although I gather so people weren’t.  But they erupted when “The Old Apartment” started.  But rather than just play through a bunch of old hits, they then played a Kevin Hearn original called “Don’t Shuffle Me Back” (which is on their new album with The Persuasions).

And then the one final song on my list was “Light Up My Room.”  They played this song when we saw them at the Balloon Festival and it was magical because the balloons all lit up as they sang.  It wasn’t quite as magical this time but it still sounded amazing and I was glad they played it.

And then they began the popular song section.  I had joked with Sarah that I never needed to see “Brian Wilson” again and yet every time I love it just as much as the last time.  And being able to see Jim Creeggan play his wonderful “solo” section up close was a highlight.

And then there was a great two fer of “Odds Are” and perennial fan favorite “Pinch Me” (I was worried that they weren’t going to play it it was so late in the set).  I was never really able to get a picture of Jim with the bra on his bass (you have to listen to the lyrics to get why someone would throw a bra on stage).

I have often said that they could lose the Big Bang Theory song (critics don’t like it at all, although I think it’s fine).  As an intro to this song, Ed said that it was for all of the people who were dragged to this show by diehard fans, this song might be familiar to them.

They had some fun in Bethlehem about steel.  With Ed even telling the awful but funny joke “there’s an old saying in the steel business … ‘He who smelt it, dealt it.”  This led to a series of fart jokes culminating in Jim Creeggan getting blamed for all of them as his intro to his bass solo which seemed to center around the riff for Owner of a  Lonely Heart.  This led right into “One Week.” and a great sing along of “If I Had $1,000,000” which I never get sick of and on which Kevin played the accordion.

As that song ended, Kevin started playing and singing a song I didn’t know.  And that meant that the ending medley was coming up.  I’ve relied on a review in the local paper to tell me the songs: Bruno Mars’ “That’s What I Like,” The Chainsmokers’ “Closer,” and TLC’s “No Scrubs.”  There was some fun with The Isley Brothers’ “Shout,” and when he began Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” (he changed the opening line to “Stop spreading fake news”).

The band did go for an encore break (it was funny in that tiny setting that they bothered to leave the stage).  The encore is the Tyler show.  Ed plays drums, Tyler is out front.  He sang a ripping version of  “Alcohol” which was followed by a manic version of “Blister in the Sun.”  And with that they were done.

I had hoped that they’d hang around for meetings but we left before finding out if they did.  I have to assume they were going to go take pictures of Steelstacks lit up.   But I’ll never know.

This show was tremendous for a number of reasons.  Sarah described it as seeing a huge band  in an inmate setting–like a special show just for close friends.  And it was.  We were close enough for them to seem like they were looking at us.  And the sound was tremendous.  That and the fact that they played 5 songs off of my list made this an unforgettable show.

Will I see them again?  Maybe, although it seems unlikely.  But if they ever do get to play in front of Steelstacks again, I’ll be there.

I really wished I’d gotten a better shot of them playing with the Steelstacks behind them, but this will have to suffice.

Amusingly, as I left, I heard this conversation:

• guy 1: I counted 17 songs, not including covers.
• guy 2: they did a lot of covers.  How about that Bryan Adams song.
• guy 1: you mean Brian Wilson?
• guy 2: yes that was good.
• guy 1: yea, I didn’t that one, it as really good.

How could he have never heard that song before?  Why was he counting songs if he doesn’t know one of their more famous live songs?  I’ll never know.

 

June 2017	June 2016	October 2013
Who Needs Sleep	Testing 1, 2, 3 (acoustic)	Odds Are
It’s All Been Done	Life in a Nutshell (acoustic) / “excellent beard”	Never Is Enough
Barenaked Rap–Sideways Rain	Maybe Katie (acoustic)	Pinch Me
Life, in a Nutshell	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 )
Gonna Walk	Brian Wilson	Gonna Walk
Blame It on Me	Ad lib (Zavar Hummus)	Let There Be Light
Peterborough and the Kawarthas	Gonna Walk	Best Damn Friend
Falling for the First Time	Duct Tape Heart	Smile
Boomerang	No One is To Blame (With Howard Jones)	Blame It On Me
Keepin It Real	Ordinary	Maybe Katie
The Old Apartment	The Old Apartment	Brian Wilson
Don’t Shuffle Me Back (Kevin Hearn song)	Pinch Me	Easy
Light Up My Room	Jerome	Did I Say That Out Loud
Brian Wilson	Odds Are	Falling for the First Time
Odds Are	Big Bang Theory	Big Bang Theory Theme
Pinch Me	One Week	One Week
Big Bang Theory Theme	If I Had $1,000,000	Barenaked Rap
One Week	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
If I Had $1,000,000	encore	encore
Barenaked Rap Bruno Mars’ “That’s What I Like,” The Chainsmokers’ “Closer,” TLC’s “No Scrubs,”  The Isley Brothers’ “Shout,” Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” (which included the line “Stop spreading fake news.”	Allergies / I Wanna Be Sedated / Alcohol	Alcohol
encore	Rock and Roll / Blister in the Sun	Blister in the Sun
Alcohol		Whole Lotta Love
Blister in the Sun

 

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

These Apples*
Get Back Up*
Bank Job*
Adrift*
Wind It Up*
Boomerang
Aluminium*
I Know*
Say What You Want*
Down to Earth*
Maybe Not*
Take It Outside*
Four Seconds
Piece of Cake*
Matter of Time*
Passcode*
Silverball*
Who Needs Sleep
Keepin It Real
For You
Golden Boy*
Give It Back to You
Told You So*
Hold My Hand*
Leave*
When I Fall
Globetrot*
Another Postcard*
I Have Learned*
How Long*
Take It Back*
Crawl*
Duct Tape heart
Testing 123
Never is Enough
Light Up My Room
Gonna Walk
Easy