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22 December 2023
Ah, the Barenaked Ladies. Brilliant name? Sure it is. If you think otherwise, you’re just wrong. I was lucky enough to see the band play live on their Peepshow Tour on October 29 at Milwaukee’s own Riverside Theatre. How fun! Oddly enough, no other tastes like chicken staffer wanted to go with. What the hell? I ended up giving my extra ticket to some random girl standing outside of the venue. Turns out she was the Barenaked Ladies’ equivalent of a Grateful Dead “Deadhead”-- a “Barenakedhead”?
At first, she was leery of my offer of a free ticket, as women are leery of everything I say or do. Seriously. What the hell? I hate that guys are automatically threatening. I mean, I understand it, but, as a guy, I hate it. Anyway, she eventually relented and took the free ticket. Good for her.
What of the show? Well, Peepshow was billed as an intimate evening with Barenaked Ladies. This meant that they had a little question and answer session during their set. It was cool. "God" was there in his white robe and ol’ beard taking the questions. Gotta be a good feeling to have the Almighty working your shows.
The opening act for Barenaked Ladies was a little Canadian band known as Barenaked Ladies. They were a pretty tight pop/rock band. Their musicianship was down pat. They’re also down with the audience banter thing. Little impromptu raps were a good time, including one about Milwaukee’s greatest feature (as far as I’m concerned): butterburgers.
Barenaked Ladies seemed really happy to be in town. Co-singer Ed Robertson was the most surprising to see live, as he’s pretty fit and thin. See, Barenaked Ladies has had two kinda chunky lead singers since time began. They’re everyday guy rock stars. It’s part of their charm. Now it seems that Ed went on the Atkins Diet, and it’s paying off. Don’t know about fellow co-singer Steve Page. He’s about the same size he was back when their last album was released. If he was jealous (like I would be), though, he didn’t show it.
Most of the songs they played were from their new album, Everything To Everyone. The songs were classic Barenaked Ladies: some funny lil’ ditties, rocky ones, and downright heartfelt and depressing as shit ones. It’s the last kind of song that most people don’t know about.
During the Q&A, they explained how when they first started out, they thought they were just little kids, so they made all their songs "funny" as a defense mechanism. Now, as they’ve gotten older, they feel more comfortable writing “real” songs, but they still get some jokes in once in a while.
It was really a feel-good evening over all, though. The guys clearly have a ball playing together. And the musicianship is truly quite good. Talented mofos.
My only beef? The show was a little too long. Can you believe that? I think it’s me, but I’m usually ready for shows to be over nowadays. They did some encores that included favorites “Brian Wilson” and the bittersweet (but mostly bitter) rocker “The Old Apartment”. I left during that encore as I had to get home. They still hadn’t played “If I Had A Million Dollars”, which I figured would be their last encore. I was just too concerted out.
Bottom-line: These guys are fun, and it’s infectious. You walk into a Barenaked Ladies show severely depressed, and you’ll walk out mildly depressed. Thank goodness for Barenaked Ladies. If Peepshow comes to your town, do yourself a favor and take a peek.
FOR MORE BARENAKED FUN, GO HERE.
PURCHASE THIS OR SIMILAR ITEMS
At first, she was leery of my offer of a free ticket, as women are leery of everything I say or do. Seriously. What the hell? I hate that guys are automatically threatening. I mean, I understand it, but, as a guy, I hate it. Anyway, she eventually relented and took the free ticket. Good for her.
What of the show? Well, Peepshow was billed as an intimate evening with Barenaked Ladies. This meant that they had a little question and answer session during their set. It was cool. "God" was there in his white robe and ol’ beard taking the questions. Gotta be a good feeling to have the Almighty working your shows.
The opening act for Barenaked Ladies was a little Canadian band known as Barenaked Ladies. They were a pretty tight pop/rock band. Their musicianship was down pat. They’re also down with the audience banter thing. Little impromptu raps were a good time, including one about Milwaukee’s greatest feature (as far as I’m concerned): butterburgers.
Barenaked Ladies seemed really happy to be in town. Co-singer Ed Robertson was the most surprising to see live, as he’s pretty fit and thin. See, Barenaked Ladies has had two kinda chunky lead singers since time began. They’re everyday guy rock stars. It’s part of their charm. Now it seems that Ed went on the Atkins Diet, and it’s paying off. Don’t know about fellow co-singer Steve Page. He’s about the same size he was back when their last album was released. If he was jealous (like I would be), though, he didn’t show it.
Most of the songs they played were from their new album, Everything To Everyone. The songs were classic Barenaked Ladies: some funny lil’ ditties, rocky ones, and downright heartfelt and depressing as shit ones. It’s the last kind of song that most people don’t know about.
During the Q&A, they explained how when they first started out, they thought they were just little kids, so they made all their songs "funny" as a defense mechanism. Now, as they’ve gotten older, they feel more comfortable writing “real” songs, but they still get some jokes in once in a while.
It was really a feel-good evening over all, though. The guys clearly have a ball playing together. And the musicianship is truly quite good. Talented mofos.
My only beef? The show was a little too long. Can you believe that? I think it’s me, but I’m usually ready for shows to be over nowadays. They did some encores that included favorites “Brian Wilson” and the bittersweet (but mostly bitter) rocker “The Old Apartment”. I left during that encore as I had to get home. They still hadn’t played “If I Had A Million Dollars”, which I figured would be their last encore. I was just too concerted out.
Bottom-line: These guys are fun, and it’s infectious. You walk into a Barenaked Ladies show severely depressed, and you’ll walk out mildly depressed. Thank goodness for Barenaked Ladies. If Peepshow comes to your town, do yourself a favor and take a peek.
FOR MORE BARENAKED FUN, GO HERE.
PURCHASE THIS OR SIMILAR ITEMS
artid
1790
Old Image
6_3_bnl.jpg
issue
vol 6 - issue 03 (nov 2003)
section
entertainmental