One of the more interesting lineups this summer is the “Last Summer on Earth” tour that features The Barenaked Ladies, Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark and Howard Jones. This tour opened up “Tuesdays in the Park” which is the Tuesday lineup that Artpark in Lewiston, NY features every Tuesday throughout the summer months.
The show opened with Howard Jones. Jones was very big during the 1980’s with a barrage of hit singles that included “Everlasting Love,” “Like to Get to Know You Well,” and “What is Love.” His type of synthpop was an early influence on a lot of dubstep acts you see today. His 3 piece band were all dressed in white and looked like they just stepped out of 1985. The drums were really a kit with pads and the keyboards had various sound elements that were used primarily in the 1980’s. Jones took the stage promptly at 6pm so he still had a lot of sun and people still arriving at the park. He played a 45 minute set that included 7 tunes and in addition a techno reprise of “Things Can Only Get Better.” Jones was in great spirits and moved around quite a bit and was very appreciative of the audience. He had a keytar and also a keyboard that he played during his set.
Next up was OMD. OMD is a band that really was about electronic music and new wave moreso than what they are known for which is the hit song from the “Pretty in Pink” soundtrack called “If You Leave.” Led by original members Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, they really energized the crowd during their 11 song set. McCluskey really made a connection with the local crowd by mentioning their 1st appearance at the former Skyroom ( located on Seneca Street in Buffalo) back in 1985. After this statement they launched into “Joan of Arc.” All the guys were dressed in black shirts and black jeans making it for a hot night for sure. McCluskey was on bass and acapella the entire night minus one song. For “Souvenirs” Humphreys was front and center taking lead vocals while McCluskey went behind the keyboard. The fan favorite and their 1st ever single was their closing number electric punk “Electricity.”
Headlining and closing the set was Scarborough, Ontario’s own Barenaked Ladies. The band has been a quartet that consists of Ed Robertson on lead vocals and guitar, Tyler Stewart on drums, Jim Creegan on bass and Kevin Hearn on drums for almost 7 years since the departure of former vocalist Steven Page. The band opened up playing a short acoustic set in front of the stage. The set was a fun one as Robertson enraptured the audience by incorporating a rap into a song or a prelude to one. He acknowledged a few guys in front of the stage by stating he bought a pinball machine from earlier in the day and started to free form a bit about that experience.
At one point the band invited Jones out to sing “No One to Blame” as Robertson played a banjo. Creegan played a standup bass for most of the night and it gave a nice low end for their set. Of course what would be a set without hearing such great songs as “Old Apartment” or “Brian Wilson?” The band did a bang up job on them! This being the first sold out show and a very entertaining one will give the other acts something to aspire to for the rest of the summer schedule.
Barenaked Ladies setlist:
Testing 1,2,3
Smile
Peterborough and Kawarthas
Sound of Your Voice
Brian Wilson
Gonna Walk
Duct Tape Heart
No One is the Blame (With Howard Jones –Howard Jones song)
Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel
The Old Apartment
Pinch me
Watching the Northern Lights
Odds Are
Big bang Theory Theme
One week
If I Had a $1,000,000.00
Barenaked Rap
Tyler Show
We would like to thank maria Hays from Artpark for the credentials to review the show.
