Thanks That Was Fun

I am no longer a fan of the Barenaked Ladies. I will never again buy their cd's or go their concerts. I no longer like the Barenaked Ladies. This is a sad day, a sad day indeed.

Yes, even the puppies are depressed

I have loved the Barenaked Ladies since I was five years old. I have such great memories singing If I Had a Million Dollars with my dad (we would each take a part and sing it back and forth). I remember hearing Brian Wilson for the first time. I remember driving over four hours to hear them play in Buffalo. I loved, loved, loved this band. They were part of my childhood. They were part of me.

Now, it's over. Of course, I will always love their old songs. Gordon is one of my favourite cd's of all time. And I have listened to Stunt ten million times. I'll keep listening to their old stuff (I'm playing Life, In a Nutshell as I write this). But I will never go to another BNL concert. After my experience last night, I know it's over. So long, old friend, so long. Thanks, it was fun (ooooh, the witty reference for all you BNL fans).

Last night's concert didn't suck. It wasn't as bad the Counting Crows concert I saw a few years ago (which was so bad it actually made the Maroon 5 concert I saw after seem somewhat good!). It was different. But not different good. Why did it suck you ask? Well, let me break it down for you, song by song:

1) The covers of Old Apartment, If I Had a Million Dollars, What a Good Boy, One Week, and Too Little Too Late all sucked

I know, I know, they tried. Ed Robertson gave it his all. I don't blame him. He did the best with what he had. But it wasn't good enough. Every time I heard Kevin Hearn's squeaky, awful voice in place of Steven Page's powerful, amazing vocals, I cringed. It was awful. No one can replace Steven Page, especially not Kevin Hearn. Stick to the keyboards, for all of our sakes. My ears would be very grateful. And not even Ed Robertson could do it. You could hear his voice stretched so thin on What a Good Boy and Too Little Too Late. He just can't sing those songs. And I'm really sick of listening to him try. Next time, I'll just stay home and listen to Rock Spectacle. Believe it or not, that would be more enjoyable.

2) The new songs all sucked

I bought the new cd, All in Good Time, in hopes that the band would somehow strike gold, and prove everyone wrong, showing the world that they were an awesome four piece band. Yeah, well that didn't happen. The new cd is pretty bad. The lyrics suck, especially when compared to the witty lines that filled their previous cds. And the singing was just atrocious. Ed Robertson did the majority of the songs, with his usual vocal stylings, which I typically enjoy. This time though, it was just too much. There was no variety. No, who am I kidding. There was no Steven Page. Plain and simple. With him, the magic was gone. So, last night, when they played EIGHT SONGS from their new album, I was not happy. And the worst part was that the one song I actually like from the new album, Golden Boy, WASN'T EVEN PLAYED. Oh my god, was I annoyed. And mad. And, most of all, bored.

3) The Set List SUCKED

So, they start off the show with an old obscure song called Testing 1, 2, 3. Fine, whatever. I don't know it, but I can deal with one or two songs I'm not familiar with. Then they do an awful butchered version of Old Apartment that makes me want to cry. But whatever, two off songs is okay. But then they do Falling for the First Time, a song they should be able to do well because it's not a Steven Page song, but somehow it falls short. It's slightly off the whole time. But still, I'm not getting too mad. This the Barenaked Ladies, one of my favourite bands of all time. They have some leeway. Yeah, well, that dried up pretty fast, when they played TWELVE SONGS that I had NEVER HEARD OF. I'm not kidding you. There were at least eight from the suckass new album, plus a horrible one from their children's album Snacktime (and just so you know, singing about erasers is NOT THAT WITTY). Then they do a song that they right out say is not from any of their albums. Great! The audience is going to love that! Then, I guess they realized that they had completely alienated their audience, so they try to redeem themselves with a string of hits. It didn't work. But that time I was so bored and so mad that I didn't really have the patience for bad cover songs. Ahhhhhh, was the set list bad. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

There were a few highlights to the evening. They played the Big Bang Theory theme song, which was AWESOME, because I have been watching that show non-stop for the last two weeks. And Pinch Me wasn't half bad. But besides that, it was awful. And the worst part is that it's not going to get any better. A few years ago I went to a Great Big Sea concert that was pretty bad. They skipped some of my favourite songs and it was so obvious the lead singer had been doing drugs. I was angry. But I knew it was an anomaly. I knew it was just an off night, a bad concert. I knew it would get better. With the Barenaked Ladies I don't have such faith. This wasn't an off night or a bad concert. This was just a bad band. And this was a band that I'm not a fan of.

If Steven Page ever does come back (which is not likely, but one can hope), I would go see another show. But until then, I won't be returning. This is not the band I grew up listening to. This was some poor cover band pretending to be the Barenaked Ladies. And I won't settle for anything less than the real thing. I love the Barenaked Ladies circa 2008. But I am not longer a fan.