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Archive for the ‘Kevin Fox’ Category

[ATTENDED: April 22, 2025] Steven Page Trio

I have loved Steven Page’s voice for decades.

I’ve really enjoyed his Trio shows, too.  I think I’d like to see him with a full band to really rock out, but even in this trio format, they can still rock.

The trio includes Craig Northey (of Odds) on guitar and Kevin Fox on cello.  I saw this same trio in the same place six years ago and it was great to see them again.

Like last time, they played a mix of BNL songs and Steven solo songs.  It was fun that they opened with It’s All Been Done (Steven acoustic, Craig electric) and the crowd Whoo hoo hoo’d along with them.  They followed it with Steven’s A New Shore (Land ho!) and the on to another BNL song, Jane.

The conundrum is that I love the BNL songs as much as anyone, but I feel a little bad that he doesn’t play more of his great solo stuff.  And yet, when he satted Alternative Girlfriend–one of my all time faves, it was a glorious moment.  The fact that it segued into Odds’ Someone Who’s Cool was a wonderful touch. (more…)

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[ATTENDED: April 22, 2025] Menno Versteeg

Menno Versteeg is a Canadian musician who fronted the awesomely-named (but I’ve never heard or heard of) Hollerado.  I wasn’t aware of him until this show, and I’m not sure how “big” he is in Canada.

Menno was very funny–a lighthearted storyteller (even if the stories were kind of dark).  Sadly, we walked in during the first song (WCL can be a real pain to get to), but we didn’t miss much.

It was him and his acoustic guitar playing songs from Why We Run, his debut solo album–although he has released music under the name Mav Carlo as well.

His songs were about a rough life as a youth in Canada

We would to drink enough whatever there was
To kill a clydesdale every night
But we’d do enough drugs and punching,
To bring that same horse back to life  [from Videostore]

There was a country vibe, but like most of Canadian country music, there wasn’t that awful twang in the vocals.

I particularly enjoyed the two dog songs.  The 4o some second I Got a Dog which is (entirely):

My mother is dyslexic
Sometimes her letters switch around
She failed grade 10 like a good artist does
And passed those ğood ġenes down
She faints plowers, like she saints pun-sets
Haints her Peart when She bolds a hush
And she assured me I would rind my dog
When I wasn’t in a fush

And then Bad Dog was a funny song story about a real bad dog–but Menno loves him still. (more…)

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[DID NOT ATTEND: April 30, 2023] Steven Page Trio

I really like Steven Page a lot.  I’ve seen him and his trio twice now and I’ve watched a bunch of live from home videos.

Evidently this show had been announced since at least the beginning of the year but it just came on my radar about a week ago.  The Newton Theatre is just over an hour from me which isn’t out of my range (that’s how long it would take to get to Philly) but somehow driving an hour north to Newton, NJ seemed kinda far.  Plus we had just been out the night before for Placebo, so I just gave this one a miss.

Crash Test Dummies are playing Newton in a few months, so maybe I will get to this place and see if its worth the drive.

There was no opening band.

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[ATTENDED: November 6, 2019] Steve Page Trio

I saw the Steven Page Trio about a year ago in Philadelphia.  When he announced that he was touring some more and coming to Bethlehem, I grabbed tickets for me and S. right away.

S. doesn’t really know his solo stuff at all, but she is a fan of BNL and has always said how much she liked his voice, so I thought it would be a fun, relaxing, seated event.

We were so close, we were literally right next to the stage.  When you’re standing, its a coveted spot, but when you’re seated, it’s terrible!  Luckily, they moved Dean Friedman’s giant monitor out of my way so I could actually see them all.  But in hindsight, sitting a few seats back would have been far preferable.

The weirdest thing is every time he picked up or put down his water bottle I thought he was going to talk to me (he didn’t).

I love being up close, the angles were just all wrong.  Any pictures I took were going to be of Steven’s crotch (!).   Fortunately, the vocals sounded fine.

I have learned from past experiences that seeing an artist a few months apart often means the same or a similar setlist.  And that’s what happened here.  Although when I look at other recent shows I see that he seems to have a kind of rotating setlist of some of the songs.  I saw that the night a few nights before us was amazing with “Alternative Girlfriend” (the song I really wanted to hear!) and “Someone Who’s Cool” an Odds cover!  They also played “Manchild,” my favorite new song of his and “Break Your Heart” both of which I have heart before but, come on, they are awesome.  Incidentally Odds opened for Steven Page in Canada.  Once again I wish I was above thee border not for political reasons. (more…)

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[ATTENDED: September 24, 2018] Steven Page Trio

I’ve seen Barenaked Ladies countless times.  I saw them when Steven Page was with them.  I’ve seen them after he left.  BNL is always fun even without Steven.

But Steven Page’s voice is awesome and he is definitely missed in the band (even though his solo albums are better than recent BNL albums).

This is actually the third time I have seen him since he left BNL and all were within the last three years.

The first time (also with Craig Northey) was when they and the Art of Time Ensemble performed Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band.  The second was earlier this year when Steven did his Songbook–singing (mostly) other people’s songs.

These were both great but, man, I wanted to hear him sing his own songs.  So I was psyched when he announced a new tour with a trio playing his own music (and a new album).

The trio included Craig Northey on guitar and Kevin Fox on cello.  And it was awesome. (more…)

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