The only band I've heard of with a more clever name than Barenaked Ladies was advertised to me in a Syracuse bar window. Tonight — Free Barbecue! screamed the promo. Alas, it was an ad for music and not meat, and so it is with Barenaked Ladies.
BNL is among my top three music acts. My iPod could survive on them, Bruce Springsteen and Third Eye Blind alone. So with almost no reservations, I paid real, American cash for the new Barenaked Ladies album, Everything to Everyone, which was released Tuesday. I did this after perusing Kazaa — for research purposes — to see what may be available free. And I am pleased (not really) to report that music companies are wising up to an idea I had three years ago: flood the peer-to-peer networks with bogus songs named the same as legitimate album tracks. (Though to not release singles goes against the point of singles in the first place and shows the boneheadedness of said record companies.)
I'd put Barenaked Ladies in the same live music category as Elton John. They're both terrifically talented but have little chance to rouse a large crowd, especially considering their propensity to attract conservative preppies. But that's pop music and not rock music, and it also means their (relatively) harder tunes are going to work better live even if they're not their "best" songs.
I left the show 2/3 of the way through to catch the rest of Game 4 of the World Series. (The Yanks let Jeff Weaver on the plane to Miami?) I split during the band's Q&A session with the crowd, a charming idea that grew a bit tedious, as did most of the band's chatter between songs. Musically, though, I thought they were first-rate.
Another thing that links BNL to Elton John — and even Bruce Springsteen, U2 and Bon Jovi — is white people. I have seen those acts a total of eight times. Figure 300,000 people combined, and I have yet to see one black concert-goer among them. I don't know if that's right, wrong or anyone's fault. But it's gotta say something. And I continue to notice that demographic breakdown when I attend concerts in what is supposed to be one of the most diverse cities in the most diverse country in the world. Few things, it is clear to me, polarizes society like musical taste.
Glad you had a good time at the show, Paul.
I, too, put BNL in my top three list of favorite live shows. I cannot wait for them to get to Kansas City!! I've got tickets to see their Q&A show at the Uptown Theater! It should be a riot of a time.
Posted by Andy at October 23, 2003 8:21 AM