Barenaked Ladies
2/24/10 Hard Rock Café
I wasn’t sure what I was walking into when I showed-up for the acoustic mini-set BNL were doing last night, but to be honest I was very surprised. Still being leery since the departure of singer Steven Page last year, I must admit that the Ladies have far exceeded even my most cynical expectations. How can you not wonder what a band will do without one of its two defining voices?
The band bantered back-and-fourth on stage, in the irreverent way they’re notorious for as they rattled off some of their more beloved songs like “Testing 1,2,3” from 2003’s Everything to Everyone; and “Pinch Me” from 2000’s Maroon. The highlight was the acoustic re-imagining of the band’s notoriously scattered 1998 hit “One Week”. The band also debuted a couple of songs from their upcoming album All in Good Time, which will be released March 30th. The new songs seem to take on a more introspective, if not a little darker tone than what the Canadian quartet usually puts out. And of course the set had an even more jovial, being in such an intimate setting.
It did feel a little remiss to have the guys on stage with acoustic guitars and to not hear some of their songs that lend themselves to such a medium perfectly. “Brian Wilson” or “If I Had $1,000,000” would have made the set spectacular – and it would answered the question for the last time…Steven who?
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