Barenaked Ladies @ Universal Studios Orlando Mardi Gras - 3/7/09
As my (slightly early) birthday ~thing this year, I'd been planning to see Barenaked Ladies at Universal Studios Orlando's Mardi Gras Saturday night. And then, as you may know, Steven Page left the band by mutual agreement about a week and a half before the show. I was distraught at first, and then a mix of sad/excited, because still, BNL and I hadn't seen them live in far too long.
The show was at a huge new(-ish) outdoor stage in Universal Studios Orlando theme park on a beautiful night. It was big and awesome. They made up a song about how large the crowd was, even (see later in the recap). I was unsure how things would go down at the show exactly and yes, there was a little sadness in moments when you felt the missing piece (I know I wasn't alone there!). But I was impressed with how they adjusted and reworked and embraced huge change with so little preparation and I felt really lucky to be there witnessing the start of a new era. :-)
After the first or second song when Ed greeted the crowd, he addressed the elephant in the room (or, park, as it were) by saying that they'd "gone through some changes recently" and kind of understatement-laughed a little and looked over at Jim. Some of the crowd laughed with him, some said "Awwww!", some booed, some seemed confused. I was up pretty close, so I'm sure most everyone around me knew what he was talking about at least. There were things said by all the guys without outright saying them, that were mostly thinly veiled jabs at Steve and self-depreciating humor. Which can all be interpreted as scandalous I guess, but really, isn't that what BNL does to each other all the time anyways? (Some of the details to follow later in the recap; make your own judgments!).
The Setlist (with some notes)
Testing 1,2,3
Maybe Katie (sung by Ed & Jim)
Falling For The First Time
Get In Line
Long Way Back Home
Sound of Your Voice (sung by Kevin & dedicated to Steve)
Crazy
For You
One Week
The Big Bang Theory
Wind It Up
These Apples
Shopping (sung by Kevin)
Pinch Me
Never Is Enough
Old Apartment (sung by Ed)
(Encore:)
If I Had $1000000 (Ed & Kevin + audience hehe)
When I Fall
Show Notes In No Particular Order:
No BNL show would be complete with out random stories and made up songs, obviously. And I happen to have a ridiculously good memory. Here's what I remember in no particular order:
Pictures
I was really close, but unfortunately the angle I was at put Kevin behind Ed and Tyler behind Jim for about 85% of the show. :-( Still, I got some decent pics. I kept them pretty large mostly because I'm too excited to make them smaller. Hee!
Video
Soundchecking Maybe Katie. (I didn't take this one, but I found it today and it's cool.)
Now my videos. A bit of Get In Line.
Ed telling the mac & cheese story.
Tiiiiny clip of Sound of Your Voice because my camera wasn't behaving. But still, a little of what Kevin sounded like.
Most of Crazy.
Some of When I Fall. Misbehaving camera started it late and cut it short again. *sigh*
BNL is amazing in studio, somehow approximately 287% better live, and ridiculous entertainers (and I mean that in both senses of the word), which is very rare to find all in the same band. And yes, I'm sad that I'll never hear another Ed/Steve on-the-spot original or songs like What A Good Boy the same way ever again. But watching the Fantastic Four last night, having so much fun and being incredible musicians, I can't wait for what's coming next.
In conclusion: ugh, I love this band. ♥
The show was at a huge new(-ish) outdoor stage in Universal Studios Orlando theme park on a beautiful night. It was big and awesome. They made up a song about how large the crowd was, even (see later in the recap). I was unsure how things would go down at the show exactly and yes, there was a little sadness in moments when you felt the missing piece (I know I wasn't alone there!). But I was impressed with how they adjusted and reworked and embraced huge change with so little preparation and I felt really lucky to be there witnessing the start of a new era. :-)
After the first or second song when Ed greeted the crowd, he addressed the elephant in the room (or, park, as it were) by saying that they'd "gone through some changes recently" and kind of understatement-laughed a little and looked over at Jim. Some of the crowd laughed with him, some said "Awwww!", some booed, some seemed confused. I was up pretty close, so I'm sure most everyone around me knew what he was talking about at least. There were things said by all the guys without outright saying them, that were mostly thinly veiled jabs at Steve and self-depreciating humor. Which can all be interpreted as scandalous I guess, but really, isn't that what BNL does to each other all the time anyways? (Some of the details to follow later in the recap; make your own judgments!).
The Setlist (with some notes)
Testing 1,2,3
Maybe Katie (sung by Ed & Jim)
Falling For The First Time
Get In Line
Long Way Back Home
Sound of Your Voice (sung by Kevin & dedicated to Steve)
Crazy
For You
One Week
The Big Bang Theory
Wind It Up
These Apples
Shopping (sung by Kevin)
Pinch Me
Never Is Enough
Old Apartment (sung by Ed)
(Encore:)
If I Had $1000000 (Ed & Kevin + audience hehe)
When I Fall
Show Notes In No Particular Order:
- As you can see, it was 97% Ed-lead songs.
- Kevin did lead for two "Steve songs" and it was different, but good.
- Kevin dedicated Sound of Your Voice to Steve and I'm pretty sure that was the only time his name was directly mentioned all night.
- Ed's version of Old Apartment was so good it took me awhile to actually realize the change, as strange as that is.
- Jim did almost all of the other usual Steve vocals, Kevin did the rest. As far as I could tell anyways.
- The crowd was great and as the night went on, you could see the guys getting more confident with the fact that the fans will still stay with them as a foursome. They thanked Universal over and over for "having faith in the band" (I wonder if there was controversy about them canceling or being canceled after Steve left?). They thanked the fans in the crowd multiple times too and said our "support at this time means a lot to them". Tyler said we were there to witness the start of a new chapter. :-D
No BNL show would be complete with out random stories and made up songs, obviously. And I happen to have a ridiculously good memory. Here's what I remember in no particular order:
- Tyler had a Fantastic Four logo on his kick drum, which was pointed out during the talk about the "big changes" in the band. It was decided right away that Jim was the Human Torch, due to his hair. Tyler was dubbed the Thing next and got all grumpy that drummers always have to be the animal or the creature or the... Thing. But then Ed pointed out that it would be easiest to draw jagged rock outlines on his head and then he conceded. Ed then claimed that he'd be "the chick", which left Kevin to be Mr. Fantastic, the stretchy guy. He was at his piano at the back corner of the stage and he made a joke about staying where he was and playing a song at his smaller keyboard across the stage. Hehehehe. Jim pointed out that the casting would mean that Ed and Kevin would have to be dating and they took a moment to reconsider.
- Ed told a story about how his son got excited at dinner recently and said, "DAD! These places with the white napkins always have the best macaroni and cheese!" Ahaha. So Ed looked at the menu and of course, there was no mac & cheese. Ed asked for a kids menu, but they didn't have one. So his son asked if they could make him mac & cheese, they said of course they could and he turned to Ed all smug and said, "Told you!". Ed called back to this later in the show: "We wouldn't have to eat Kraft dinner... of course we wouldn't, the places with the white napkins always have the best macaroni and cheese!"
- Jim's border guard on the way in from Canada for the show apparently ran into him after the crossing, bought him and Egg McMuffin and sang him country songs. This evolved into the guys taking turns writing country songs about airport security. Ed decided to invent and wear entirely metal pants the next time he flies and Kevin said he just wears really really big shoes to be difficult. Which was a set up Ed couldn't resist, of course.
- Tyler was mocked after "Crazy" for having very expressive eyebrows. Ed: "I can't actually tell if you're changing notes when you sing, but your eyebrows sure go up and down like you are. You have a crazy four inch vertical span there!"
- Ed talked about "that other park" nearby and how Universal is cooler because it has tie-ins that are more relevant to kids today. Like Shrek and... The Creature From The Black Lagoon. He let us know it's a fact that 85% of kids' Halloween costumes last year were The Creature From The Black Lagoon and Tyler agreed ("Yes! It's right up there with Hannah Montana!"). The Creature became a running gag all night (in Pinch Me: "And change into The Creature From The Black Lagoon's clothes").
- Kevin offered up a self-admittedly embarrassing story about dancing. He says he's not much of a dancer, but a girl asked him once when he was leaning against the wall, so he said okay. After a few minutes, she leaned over and said to him, "You dance a little gay, yeah?" And then Tyler jumped in with, "And so he stopped dancing forever and spent the rest of his days behind a keyboard because... that's... any less gay?"
- Ed gestured at the massive crowd and said, "That's a lot of human beings!". Kevin starting using a weird voice effect to keep repeating that in a robot/alien kind of way, which turned into a made-up song about the band being rhyming aliens. Ed divided all beings into either humans, aliens or Richard Dreyfuss. ♥
- I half forget already, but someone called someone a freak (Jim called Ed? Ed called Tyler? Ed called Richard Dreyfuss? The last one, probably. Can't remember!) but then Tyler was all comforting: 'He means 'Freak' in the tenderest way!"
Pictures
I was really close, but unfortunately the angle I was at put Kevin behind Ed and Tyler behind Jim for about 85% of the show. :-( Still, I got some decent pics. I kept them pretty large mostly because I'm too excited to make them smaller. Hee!
Video
Soundchecking Maybe Katie. (I didn't take this one, but I found it today and it's cool.)
Click to viewNow my videos. A bit of Get In Line.
Ed telling the mac & cheese story.
Tiiiiny clip of Sound of Your Voice because my camera wasn't behaving. But still, a little of what Kevin sounded like.
Most of Crazy.
Some of When I Fall. Misbehaving camera started it late and cut it short again. *sigh*
BNL is amazing in studio, somehow approximately 287% better live, and ridiculous entertainers (and I mean that in both senses of the word), which is very rare to find all in the same band. And yes, I'm sad that I'll never hear another Ed/Steve on-the-spot original or songs like What A Good Boy the same way ever again. But watching the Fantastic Four last night, having so much fun and being incredible musicians, I can't wait for what's coming next.
In conclusion: ugh, I love this band. ♥