BareNaked Ladies, that is. And no, no jiggly breasts; just Steve Page’s jiggly belly.
As always, they were great in concert. The opening was a bit…odd. There was this funky modern-art cartoon with a voiceover talking about how many words rhyme with “maroon,” followed by two giant balloons “dancing” on stage (custom-made balloons, designed to looks like two characters in the cartoon. Hmm…balloon and cartoon. Those both rhyme with maroon…). It was a bit odd, and left you going, “Um, okay…PARTY!” as the concert began.
The opening act, Guster, was something to behold as well. It was just a little three-man band, two guitarists and a drummer. But oh, the drummer. The drummer played congas and bongos, as well as several other more traditional percussion instruments–all with his hands! Slapping cymbals! Smacking a tambourine! Pounding a snare drum! And violently–phew, my hands (and fingers) hurt just watching him. They had a great sound, too–I need to pick up one of their CDs.
Meanwhile, back to the headlining Naked Ladies. I saw them on their Stunt tour a year ago, and it did honestly seem like a better concert. I’m not entirely sure why; maybe it was because it was my first concert with them, or maybe it just was a better concert…ir maybe it was because it was a Tuesday night and I was butt-tired. Regardless, this concert was still great fun. They did several spoofs, including a Weird Al-like melody of recent pops hits (yeah, nothing was funnier than Ed singing “Won’t the real Slim Shady please stand up?”). There was the obligatory “If I Had $1,000,000” performance, during which they were showered with macaroni, despite the “Do not feed the band” sign that came up on the screen. Heh, when we first arrived at the amphitheatre, we were asked if we were carrying any Kraft Macaroni and Cheese!
Call it nerd rock, but I love this band! Literate, witty, don’t take themselves too seriously, musically interesting, original, and just damn entertaining stuff.
Has anyone else caught part of their Maroon tour?
