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Jump to BNL Reviews This is my little corner of the world dedicated to the musical group, Barenaked Ladies, known in fan circles as BNL. Barenaked Ladies is my favorite band and the only band that I am willing to travel great distances to see. Although I have been quite pleased with their frequency of visits to TX in recent months, that has simply not been enough for me, so from time to time, I have been known to hop a plane and jaunt to whatever city in which they might be playing. Since I go to so many of their shows, and many of them are outside of Houston, I decided to create an area just to record these experiences. I have seen BNL in Cincinnati, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, New York, Dallas, Austin, Las Vegas, DeKalb, IL, Seattle, Raleigh, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Washington, DC as well as Houston. If you've heard of BNL, then you already know how great they are. If not, pull up a chair and learn more about them. Barenaked Ladies are five, typically fully-clothed men from Toronto, Ontario. They consist of Steven Page, vocals and guitar, Ed Robertson, acoustic and electric guitar and vocals, Jim Creeggan, bass guitar and standup bass, Tyler Stewart, drums, and Kevin Hearn, keyboard and accordion, and guitar (Kevin is temporarily being replaced by Chris Brown while he recovers from Leukemia treatments. Information on his condition can be found at the Friends of Kevin Hearn page). Their style is hard to describe succinctly because they are so diverse. They are generally an alternative pop/rock band with strong influences of country, jazz, and humor. Words like "eclectic" and "whimsical" are often used to describe them, but any singular adjective does not do this group justice. Their live show is their signature, with an excellent mix of music, banter, jokes, silly songs, and seriousness. This is no novelty act. BNL displays accomplished musicianship in every member. Their songs range from the hard rocking to ballads, but all have interesting, clever, and sensitive lyrics, that can and have been interpreted on a variety of levels. The band has been together since 1988 when Steve and Ed played together at the Scarborough Music Camp (suburb of Toronto). Since then, the lineup has grown to include the others, with a slight personnel change in 1995. Andrew Creeggan, the original keyboardist and brother of Jim, left the band to pursue higher education and was replaced by Kevin. If you would like to find out more about the band, I have included a link to their site at Reprise Records, but a simple Internet search in Yahoo will get you a plethora of BNL links. Although many of you may not have heard of BNL, trust me that there are fans the world over. This is one of music’s best kept secrets. They don’t get a lot of traditional radio play on commercial stations in the US and very little in Texas (although the popularity of "The Old Apartment" is starting to change this). Don’t let the fickle media rule your taste. BNL has a song on the popular, Friends soundtrack, as well as having appeared on the most recent Mighty Ducks and The Coneheads. They are in an upcoming movie by Dave Foley of Kids in the Hall fame, called The Wrong Guy and appeared on an episode of Beverly Hills 90210 in March. They’re a busy group. One of the great things about this band, outside of their incredible talent and showmanship (there’s more), is their dedication and consideration of their fans. BNL will go to great efforts to meet with fans, sign autographs, have pictures taken, and even partake in some meaningful chats. They are the most friendly, regular guys that I have ever met, and I frequently have to stop and remind myself of their vast accomplishments to completely appreciate this quality in them. They are huge in Canada, having won a Juno (their Grammy’s) in 1993 for Best Group. They have received vast critical acclaim, and have appeared on countless Canadian TV shows as well as several appearances on Conan O’Brien in the US. They have been touring an exhausting schedule since early 1996 and have visited just about every corner of the US, as well as their home country of Canada and in Europe. If you haven't already heard of them, I hope that one day you’ll pick up the newspaper or turn on the radio and hear about a BNL show in your town, and because of these reviews, you’ll go check it out to see just what I’m talking about. In the meantime, go out and buy "all" of their CDs, Gordon, Maybe You Should Drive, Born on a Pirate Ship, Shoebox (EP), and their most recent live effort, Rock Spectacle (pronounced Spek-tak, the french way). Several of their CDs have the added benefit of Multimedia CDROM which further provides insight into the clever talent of this group. This is my tribute to the men that, no matter what they are wearing, are always barenaked in my mind...;-) Shows I have gone to, starting December 1996: A Barenaked Christmas, December 1996 Barenaked Ladies, Upstate NY 2/13/97 and 2/14/97 Barenaked Ladies, Las Vegas, April 4, 1997 Barenaked Texas Weekend, April 10-13, 1997 Midtown Festival, Atlanta, GA, May 3, 1997 Barenaked Ladies, Washington, DC, May 7, 1997 Barenaked Ladies, NC, May 31/June 1, 1997 Barenaked Ladies, Ziggy's, NC, June 14, 1997 Barenaked Ladies, Seattle, WA, August 13, 1997 Barenaked Ladies, Labor Day 1997, OH and MN Mixfest and Providence Radio Show Another Barenaked Christmas December 1997 Q101 Jamboree, Chicago, May 23, 1998 Preview of Stunt, by Steve Rosenberg, 99X BNL at HORDE Festival, Oklahoma City, July 15, 1998 HORDE Festival, Austin and Dallas, August 22/23, 1998 BNL in Vegas, Baby, Halloween 1998 Barenaked for the Very First Time, Texas, November 1998 BNL in 'Bama, December 8, 1998 Three Times The Ladies, Yet Another Barenaked Christmas, December 1998 On That Note, I'm outta here...... 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