Tag: Barenaked Ladies

This just in, from the “It took you a year to post this?” department:

I caught one of my favorite bands, the Barenaked Ladies, for the first time on May 11, 2010. I had tried to get two people to go: my sweetie, because I like doing things with her, and my brother’s wife, because she’s a similarly huge fan, but they both have jobs with regular office hours, so only I with my week-on/week-off schedule was able to spare the four hours it took to drive to Columbus. Even by myself, though, the concert was awesome.

Ingrid Michaelson opened for the Ladies. I’d never heard of her, but I was very happy to hear her that night; she’s a very clever and talented musician. I was especially blown away by her rendition of REM’s awesome “Nightswimming”. It was a cappella, but only in the sense that it was only her singing. Michaelson created multiple layers of accompaniment by (using an electronic audio setup she deftly handled live) starting recording, singing a line until it would have repeated, ending recording, then playing that recording back in endless loop, while repeating the process with the next line. When she was done, she had three repeating harmonizing lines of notes, over top of which she sung the lyrics of the song. Smart idea, beautiful execution.

Then the Ladies came out. This was their set list:

• Testing 123
• The Old Apartment: this was the first song that Steven Page originally sung, and I wanted to see how different the band would sound now that Page was no longer in it. As for most of the Page songs, Ed Robertson sung lead vocals, but aside from that I’m guessing, at least in this case, not much changed. I know Steven and Ed were an integral part of the interplay between band members that made their live shows so great. Not for the last time, I kicked myself for not having seen them earlier. This was a great show, but they may have been even better before.
• Falling for the First Time
• Put My Hands in Scalding Hot Tea: I’m at a loss for this one. Some of their songs weren’t necessarily even songs at all; skits, medleys, or whatever popped into their heads. “Put my Hands in Scalding Hot Tea” is what I wrote down, and it was the most often-repeated line of this part of the set, but I’d never heard it before. But that’s how the Ladies roll, and that’s one of the big reasons to go to one of their shows.
• Never is Enough
• On Every Subway Car: I hadn’t yet gotten All in Good Time, this song’s album, so I didn’t really know what I was listening to here. I did get the album at the concert, though, and after a few listenings, this became my favorite song from it.
• Another Heartbreak
• Bank Job: Simply a great song, because it’s so good at conveying the passive rage at its heart. Ed substituted “Ohio” for “Ontario”, which was a nice touch. It was awesome to hear those who hadn’t heard it before laugh at “But how do you plan for a bank full of nuns.” That exact experience is why concerts will never die.
• Pollywog in a Bog: Though I’ve gotten all their albums since then (as well as Stunt), and am slowly but surely listening through the first three, at the time I had no experience with any BNL songs off their first three albums that weren’t on All Their Greatest Hits, which means I’d never heard this song, or the next two, before. Alas; I appreciate live music most when I’ve had a chance to fully digest its recorded version first.
• Sound Of Your Voice
• Fell Asleep at the Wheel: I was almost glad I’d never heard this song before; the hammer of grief and longing this song drops on a first-time listener was even more potent at the live show. Many songs are great not because of what they say, but how well they say it. FAatW is an excellent example of this.
• Aluminum
• Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way
• Easy
• You Run Away: Ironically enough, I was visiting Canada (Toronto) for the first time when this song was out as a single; it was all over the airwaves then.
• On the Lookout: In my notes, I had this as “This All Will Pass/On the Lookout So In Love”, as, not having gotten the album yet, it sounded as if BNL were mashing up two different songs into one. Turns out it was just one song all along. Sorta like the video for Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic”; the director thought it was almost as if the song was sung by three different people, so he made a video with three different Alanis’ in it.
• Too Little Too Late
• One Week: The BNL standard. Ed sung the verses in both the studio and live version. Steven did the studio vocals for the chorus; it’s been so long, however, that I can’t remember who did them in the live version. Perhaps it was a Creegan/Hearn/Stewart vocal tag team?
• It’s All Been Done
• Pinch Me: My two favorite BNL songs are “Some Fantastic” and “Light Up My Room”, neither of which, alas, they played at the concert. After those, though, “Pinch Me” is my favorite; they certainly did it justice here.
• If I Had $1000000
• It’s Magic/Finale: This was another improvisation, though from what I’m reading online “It’s Magic” is a standard cue for improv. I must go to many more shows to obtain proper context!
• Big Bang
• Have Another Look Around
• What a Good Boy

That was the set. After it ended, I picked up a copy of “All in Good Time” as a souvenir, called my sweetie, then started the drive home. All in all, a great day.