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I travelled to Upstate NY one cold February weekend to catch a couple of Barenaked
Ladies shows, talk about dedication. Both shows were on college campuses and both were
sold out, to give you an idea of BNL’s popularity up north. From the opening strains
of "Hello City", a song that sounds like a happy tune, but really describes a
bad experience with confusion about their name, through to the final encore of
"Shoebox", the crowds are dancing and singing along to every tune. I don’t
just mean the singles released from the CDs, but every tune. Check out the complete
set list. Steven Page is the primary singer, but Ed Robertson
picks up that duty on many songs, as well as spotlighted appearances by Jim, Tyler, and
Kevin throughout the show. In addition to singing their own songs, they often sing campy
versions of other people’s stuff like "You Oughta Know" or "Material
Girl" and add interesting choreography and a pretty accomplished beatbox by Ed. They
always pick out something about the town they are in or something that happened to them
that day, and do what appears to be, a very impromptu, spontaneous number. For example,
during the day in Brockport, the band was challenged by the women’s basketball team
to a game of hoops in which BNL proceeded to get their butts kicked. Steve and Ed told the
story and then Steve breaks into a version of "I Shot the Sheriff" with words
replaced by "I got my ass kicked, but they did not kick the rest of me". Later
Ed talks about using the Olympic sized pool and having peed in it (just kidding, I think),
and even later, picks up a condom that had been thrown on stage and proceeds to put it
over the neck of his guitar, saying "it’s not the size of your guitar, it’s
what you play on it". At the Niagara show, there was a whole song about "We're
gonna be on 90210" and how they are gonna "rock the Peach Pit After
Dark". I don’t feel I’m doing them justice with my description. Suffice it
to say that any night with BNL and you’re in for a real entertainment treat.
Just some highlights of songs for the unenlightened. Favorites of mine played during
the shows included "These Apples", a peppy sounding tune that describes
enthusiasm and confusion during the early stages of a relationship, "Jane",
immortalizing a street corner in Toronto and a former alternative couple, Juliana Hatfield
and Evan Dando, and "If I Had $1,000,000", probably the most clever song ever
written that describes from an adolescent’s point of view what they would do if they
had a large sum of cash. "$1M" has achieved a somewhat cult status in which
audience members have been know to throw Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (known as Kraft Dinner
in Canada) on stage during the line "If I had $1,000,000, we wouldn’t have to
eat Kraft Dinner, but we would, we’d just eat more", stuffed monkeys during
"I’d buy you a monkey", art and album covers during "I’d buy you
some art, a Picasso or a Garfunkel", and green dresses "but not a real green
dress that’s cruel". However, in recent shows, the Kraft Dinner throwing has
fallen out of grace with the band, due to the potential for getting pelted in the head,
the disgusting smell of powdered cheese, and just the general waste of food.
All in all, I had a wonderful, memorable Valentine's Day!!! Definitely worth my trip. I
feel like I'm ranting, so I apologize for my lack of objectivity in reviewing this band,
but let that be an indication of just how special they really are. I even got to take a
side trip to their home of Toronto and check out some of their song references and get a
taste for the culture: A beautiful city.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention the opening act, The Odds. This is also a fun group that
gets a lot of play in Canada. Their most recent CD, Nest, is available in stores
and includes the single "Someone Who is Cool". From Vancouver, they further
convince me that everyone in Canada is funny, clever, intelligent, and talented. Check
them out…
On That Note, I'm outta here......
C
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