 |
 |
WINNIPEG - The Barenaked Ladies may be all grown-up but they're still not above letting it all hang out, as they made abundantly clear during their show at the MTS Centre last night.
The title of the group's latest album, Barenaked Ladies Are Men, suggests Canada's favourite alt-pop court jesters may have finally traded in their beach balls and short pants for accoutrements more befitting a band that's been together for nearly 20 years.
But fear not. Even though their act is a lot more polished than it was in their Speaker's Corner early days, the Ladies are still willing to indulge their inner child (inner children?), making for an evening of spontaneous-but-safe, crowd-pleasing hits.
Strangely enough, the band's biggest smash -- the nerd-rap sensation One Week -- drew a rather lukewarm response, though we're willing to forgive the audience's stiff-as-a-board response, given that most of those in attendance didn't really strike us as arena-show regulars.
Things warmed up slightly for the band's second number, Old Apartment, but it wasn't until frontmen Steven Page and Ed Robertson explained the rules of "T-bar Tuesdays" that the crowd's interest was really piqued.
"Every member of the Barenaked Ladies -- band and crew -- is rockin' a T-bar right now," promised Robertson, before turning around and hoisting his butt into the air to prove that he and his bandmates were, indeed, all wearing thongs.
|
After a seemingly improvised song about the aforementioned undergarment, and a relatively sedate spin through Sound Of Your Voice (the prefect showcase for Page's exquisite vocals), the yuks continued as the band goofed on Burt Bacharach and expounded on their love of perogies -- or as they prefer to call them, "nature's ravioli."
Of course, the Ladies are just as capable of being serious, whether lending an air of weary resignation to the sombre ballad Blame It On Me or prefacing their better-than-the-original cover of Bruce Cockburn's Lovers In A Dangerous Time with a heartfelt tribute to Winnipeg's fallen firefighters.
The show wasn't without its glitches. With only 6,000 fans in attendance, the Ladies could have benefited from the arena's vastly more intimate concert bowl set-up instead of a spread-out arrangement that served only to heighten the audience's apparent awkwardness.
But no matter the logistics, the Ladies' affable good nature was enough to touch even those seated farthest away, especially during a mid-set interlude that saw them draw together -- hootenanny-style -- for an acoustic medley of the rootsy gems Go Home, For You, Crazy and Fox On A Run, all performed from centre stage.
Earlier in the evening, Toronto singer-songwriter Tomi Swick gave us a taste of what Coldplay might sound like if Tom Cochrane were lead singer, turning in a solid set of blue-collar anthems offset by vaguely Britpoppy theatrics.