The Bare Naked Ladies took to the Artpark stage in Lewiston NY last Tuesday for their latest stop on their 2018 “Last Summer On Earth” tour. The veteran Canadian rockers rollicked through the warm summer evening with their good-time style of fun music and expert showmanship. Now in their 30th year of making crowds happy, the Barenaked Ladies have really made a second home on the stages of Western New York. The love affinity with this band and WNY goes way back to the the early 1990’s. Their performances are known to included comedy, freestyle rap, and diversity of song styles. This night would be no different as the band, led by vocalist/guitarist Ed Robertson’s & his distinctive voice, led off with “Odds Are,” “Duct Tape My Heart” and the popular “Pinch Me.” What followed was a made-up-on-the-spot rap about the city of Lewiston, the venue Artpark and the layout of the crowd. Keybordist/Guitarist Kevin Hearn joked about having a bean eating festival at the venue and adding an “F” to the name, just for the day. The crowd laughter was widespread and ended with Robertson instructing everyone to make tame and obscene gestures to a drone camera flying overhead. Just some of the odd things you would see at one of their shows. So goes a Barenaked Ladies concert. The boys are having a good time onstage and the crowd were loving it.
The other reason the crowd packed the outdoor stage was to hear the beautiful songs like “Bringing It Home,” which was dedicated to fellow Canadian & Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie. who recently passed away. The multi-talented Hearn, switching between guitar and keyboards all night, along with Robertson, showed their diverse chops on various instruments. This combination of musical prowess makes the band a unique live act.
Bringing opener KD Tunstall onstage for “Brian Willson” and having Better Than Ezra’s Kevin Griffin join Robertson for “Lookin Up” (which they co-wrote) were highlights of the night and again showed the band’s diversity. Favorites “One Week” and “Million Dollars” put the fans on their feet as the night came to a close. The roar of the crowd was sustained long enough for the band to come back for a two song encore of “Old Apartment” and “Light Up My Room,” which left everyone a sweaty mess. No one in the crowd really believes that this “Last Summer on Earth” tour is the the last one. No way. We’ll see you next time Barenaked Ladies and a I’m sure more fun times will be had by all.
Setlist:
Odds Are
Duct Tape My Heart
Pinch Me
Lewiston/Artpark Adlib Song/sung to: Take Me To The River(Talking Heads
cover)
Bringing It Home (tribute to Gord Downie)
Who Needs Sleep
20/20 Hindsight
Brian Wilson (with KD Tunstall)
Canada Dry
Gonna Walk
The Township of King
Blame It
Enid
We Took The Night
Lookin Up (with Kevin Griffin)
Big Bang Theory Theme Song
One Week
Million Dollars/Rap?Another One Bites The Dust (Queen cover)
Encore:
Old Apartment
Light Up My Room
We would like to thank Wedekindt from Artpark for the credentials to review the show.
