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LIVE
IN CONCERT! |
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Barenaked
Ladies |
Reviewed By
Trey Parks
Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center
Birmingham, AL
11/11/98 |
To all my fellow music-lovers, I bring you
glad tidings of great joy. On my latest pilgrimage to Birmingham
I have discovered the Gods of live music. They go by the not-very-deific-sounding
name of "Barenaked Ladies," and though they cannot
walk on water or raise the dead, they can bring an audience back
from the depths of musical apathy, and restore their faith in
the fact that life is a non-stop party, meant to be cherished,
enjoyed, and served with ice-cold beer.
I experienced a brief moment of panic before their set, though.
The music that was played as their instruments and stage equipment
were being set up was apparently piped in from a local elevator.
Audience members, in fact, were sheepishly trying to hide the
fact that they recognized some of the songs, one of which was
"Tomorrow" from Annie. My guess is that someone from
the Dover company did one of the band members a favor in the
past, and this was a form of payback.
The show itself began with a little Stunt man cartoon (the Stunt
man being the little guy featured on their latest album cover.)
The actual set opened in a rather tongue-in-cheek manner, with
a clever song from the Stunt album called "It's All Been
Done," featuring the perfect line for the opening song of
a set: "It's all been done before."
For the second song, "Who Needs Sleep?" guitarist Ed
Robertson took over vocal duties, and vocalist Steven Page switched
to a flute to play the song's intro. During the song, he danced
around like a manic drum major, conducting the audience with
the flute while the song went on. Though Steven is the "lead
singer" on most songs, he and Ed actually share that role,
and the vocal and verbal interplay between them is amazing. In
fact, watching them perform is like watching David Letterman's
writers (if they possessed musical ability). "Barenaked
Ladies" are serious musicians, but they are wise enough
not to take themselves seriously. They play with one purpose
- to entertain their audience as fully as possible.
There is a lot of dialogue that goes on between songs, and also
a lot of interaction with the audience. At the end of the set's
third song, "Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank," the band
made reference to their 40 minute Birmingham H.O.R.D.E. set and
proceeded to tell of their plan to take the audience members
hostage for 8 1/2 days in an effort to get media attention. Later
in the set, they made reference to the Veteran's Day parade that
was held in town that day, commenting on the fact that tanks
and patriot missile launchers were paraded downtown alongside
Ronald McDonald. At the conclusion of this, they went into a
short rap that talked of a militant Ronald McDonald.
After a few more songs, they launched into something that they
called "Meet the Security Guard." They interviewed
a security guard standing near the stage (Frank was his name),
and then Ed leaned his guitar down and allowed Frank to play
as they launched into a Van Halenesque version of "You Really
Got Me." The stage set-up was sparse, as they relied on
their music to provide the evening's entertainment, but there
were a few surprises. At the beginning of their rocking take
on "Alcohol," a flashing "BNL" sign was lowered
down behind the stage. At a couple of other times during the
set, the Stunt man was lowered down to play with the band.
The energy the band played with was seemingly inexhaustible.
Though I'm a big fan of their albums, they seem to kick things
up a notch on every song when playing live. I must circle the
word "every" in that last phrase. There is no let-up
between one song and the next. They literally attack each song
on stage. Steven Page spent much of the set dancing around like
a kick-boxing Barishnikov." The set included most of the
songs from the "Stunt" album, and numerous songs from
their past catalogue. The audience seemed equally familiar with
the older songs, even though BNL seems to be just catching on
in the states. As pointed out earlier, audience reaction was
amazing. Though they seemed to reach peak decibel level when
the band launched into "One Week," they sang along
to every song. In fact, during the moving ballad "Break
Your Heart," the whole audience linked arms and started
swaying to the music. Had this same thing happened in, say, NYC,
people might have linked arms, but subconsciously they would
have been focusing on where their wallets and purses were.
The show featured a little bit of everything, including bassist
Jim Creegan doing a solo that began with "Itsy Bitsy Spider"
and segued into "Hava Nagila." This represents one
of the few times I've seen people up dancing during a bass solo.
Fans who managed to save some energy for the encores were treated
to several of BNL's most loved older songs, including their first
two legitimate hits, "The Old Apartment" and "Brian
Wilson," and the ever popular "If I had $1,000,000."
I think I was as exhausted and sated as everyone else there when
the show finally ended after a second encore.
All in all, this was one of the most fun concerts I've ever been
to. I think that this is a band that truly shines live, and their
energy and inventiveness are enough to satisfy anyone's hunger
for good live music. If you have not made out your Christmas
list yet, I suggest that you ask Santa for tickets to a BNL concert.
You won't be disappointed.
SETLIST:
It's All Been Done
Who Needs Sleep?
Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank
Hello City
Ronald McDonald Rap
Shoe Box
Never is Enough
Jane
You Really Got Me (with security guard Frank)
Alcohol
Call and Answer
Some Fantastic
Bass Solo (featuring "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Hava
Nagila") One Week
Leave
Break Your Heart
Crazy
The Great Provider
Barenaked Medley (featuring among others "You Got What
I Need," "Gettin Jiggy With It," "The Heart
Will Go On," and "The Boy Is Mine.")
The Old Apartment
If I Had $1,000,000
Life in a Nutshell
Brian Wilson
Good Boy |
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