Barenaked Ladies (3)

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V2000 (Chelmsford) 2000

Saturday 19th to Sunday 20th August 2000
Hylands Park, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 8WQ, England MAP
weekend around £75 (with camping)

Having watched the Bloodhound Gang the day before, I had reminisced of seeing Faith No More live, and the pop rip-offs they would throw into their live sets. It wasn't until I started watching the Barenaked Ladies, that I began to wonder who had started the trend.

I remember hearing Barenaked Ladies as early as 1992. With hits like "If I Had A Million Dollars" and "I'll Be Your Yoko Ono" they have never been a band to vie for the 'serious musician' tag. In Faith No More tradition, they've been dropping in pop parodies to their sets for 8 years, pipping the Bloodhounds to the post (difference being that the Bloodhound's set involves more vomiting and nudity). And they do it sooo well! In the middle of an impromptu song about bestiality, they drop in Kelis' Caught Out There (I hate you so much right now).

In the absence of a comedy tent at V, the 'Ladies make a fab substitute for a stand-up show. Declaring themselves as a boy band, they launch into a medley of cheesy pop melodies (Westlife/Chris De Burgh/Phil Collins) and ending in a high pitched "I swear I'm not gaaaaay…". They're there to entertain, not to shuffle on in a disgruntled manner, play and leave.

They can play all genres of music and pull it off. As comic as the set is, they're talented too. Making the crowd laugh and jump to the music at the same time is some feat. How can any other band write lyrics like:

"I love you more than the week before…I discovered alcohol..."

"If I Had A Million Dollars" (cue singalong audience participation) is cut with Ed and Tyler commenting on the man who sells the foil helium balloons…and then a BNL version of Nena's 99 Red [foil] Balloons.


The finalé: Tyler singing 'Memories' in on-stage Broadway voice, with snippets of I Am Slim Shady, Wild Wild West, Oops I Did It Again, to a rap sequence, to My Heart Will Go On, to Cher's Believe, to Rockefeller Skank, and the piéce de resistance, The Bad Touch by the Bloodhound Gang.

I guess you had to be there, and next time you should be. If you want vulgarities, see The Bloodhound Gang, if you want good clean fun, Barenaked Ladies are the masters...