Players: Ed Robertson – lead vocals, guitar; Jim Creeggan – bass, backing vocals; Kevin Hearn – keyboard, guitar, backing vocals; Tyler Stewart – drums, backing vocals
With more than 15 million record sales worldwide, the Barenaked Ladies did not disappoint at the Los Angeles stop of their Last Summer On Earth Tour.
On the heels of their 16th album release, Detour De Force, timely opener “New Disaster” delivered a burst of sound with video graphics of forests and lava, kicking off with an erupting volcano alongside the lyrics “here comes a new disaster….” Followed swiftly with an all-out crowd sing-a-long on 1998’s hit, “It’s All Been Done,” the group delivered warm, harmonized vocals and heavy bass lines with a light ska feel and happy synth decoration on “Summertime” before launching into Ed Robertson’s now-infamous rap intro to get the crowd riled up and ready (including lyrics ‘Barenaked at the Greek, best night of the week’). Their set went over 90 minutes and includes songs from nine of their records, with the bulk of their songs from the new record.
Circling back to crowd favorite, “Pinch Me,” attendees jumped to their feet clapping and singing along. Kevin Hearn had to rid himself of a mermaid blue bra on the neck of his guitar before continuing on to “Gonna Walk,” which showcased Jim Creeggan’s trademark upright bass even more engagement, the crowd echoing Robertson on the chorus “gonna walk, won’t quit, until I get…”.
Moving into a trifecta of new releases, “Big Backyard” unfolded as somewhat of a shanty song with country undertones featuring Hearn on lead vocals, followed by “Roll Out” and new-country-feeling “Here Together,” the latter with Creeggan on lead vocals and a great bass lick and retro vibe. The Ladies also went deeper on their new song “Live Well,” which touched on some tougher life moments and featured a beautiful guitar solo by Hearn.
Reaching back into their repertoire, the band performed 2013’s “Odds Are” – an eerily fitting ode to the craziness of the world – and 2017’s “Bringing It Home,” featuring Hearn on accordion alongside Robertson’s guitar, Creeggan’s upright bass, and Tyler Stewart onmarching kickdrum.“Brian Wilson” brought more sing-a-long antics from the crowd, a great blend of vocals from the group, and a phenomenal upright bass solo from Creeggan.
“Man Made Lake,” “Good Life” (with the video screen rolling footage of the band noodling around together on the streets of Toronto), and “Internal Dynamo” were also performed from the new album, the latter with Stewart on vocals and Robertson switching to drums.
Towards the end of the evening, the guys let loose and delivered a cover of the Happy Days theme song (composer Charlie Fox was in the house), their own theme song from Big Bang Theory, and Creeggan broke into a badass bass solo cover of Outkast’s “So Fresh, So Clean,” and nocking out classics, “One Week” (with Hearn on a wailing guitar solo) and “If I Had A Million Dollars”—which evolved into an incredible stadium sing-a-long with every single person on their feet.
The evening wrapped with a mashup of covers including “Just a Friend” (Biz Markie), “No Diggity” (Blackstreet), and “Wow You Can Really Dance” (Handsome Dancer), before Robertson returned the drumkit and Stewart took over on vocals for fantastic covers of “Whip It” (Devo), “Pretty Woman” (Roy Orbison), “Tom Sawyer” (Rush) and “Whole Lotta Love” (Led Zeppelin).
A final encore of the “The Old Apartment” finished things off with a bubbly, jovial crowd and a satisfying sense of camaraderie within the amphitheater. With over 30 years of music behind them, the Barenaked Ladies still put on a phenomenal show and are well worth the effort for a great night out.
Photo Credit: Jackson Beenham
