The Barenaked Ladies brought their annual Last Summer On Earth Tour to the St. Augustine Amphitheater on July 11 with special guests Colin Hay and Violent Femmes. BNL is best known for their self deprecating sense of humor as well as their ability to freestyle and ad lib songs on the fly while Colin Hay was the lead singer in the 80's group Men At Work. The Violent Femmes are also a band best known for their many 80's tunes such as "Blister in The Sun" and "Kiss Off".
As is typical for midsummer Florida weather the humidity was thick and heavy. The show kicked off with an early start of 6:30 with the Violent Femmes taking the stage and playing a 40 minute set consisting of their better known songs many of which had the audience singing along. Hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin the Femmes (as they are nicknamed ) have been around since the early 80's and have gone through many phases much like most bands who have stayed together. When you've been together as long as they have, band members will come and they will go. Most notably with drums/percussion. They are currently on the third drummer while the original singer and bassist have stayed true.
Colin Hay is best known for his work in the 80's Australian group Men At Work. Their success won them a Grammy in 1983 for Best New Artist and their songs " Down Under" and " Who Can It be Now" are still radio staples today. While Men At Work permanently disbanded in 2009 after a couple of failed reunions, Colin Hay has not let that stop him from continuing his music career as a solo artist. While best known for his MAW material, he has subsequently recorded 12 solo albums. Not bad for a guy who was left without a band. In the the mid 2000's Hay's career got a boost from actor/director Zach Braff as he included songs in both the tv show "Scrubs" as well as in movie "Garden State".
Hay worked the St. Augustine audience with his mix of MAW material while playing solo stuff which received a nice response from the slowly filling crowd. Playing songs that were written for a full band is a lot different then when you are solo and left feeling vulnerable to the music and the audience. Hay did a very nice job of rearranging his MAW material and giving it new life by means of slower melodies and stripped components leaving the songs with nothing but bare bones. Throughout his set Hay would interject in between songs and let his sense of humor shine through which will prove to be a perfect fit for touring with BNL.
After delivering a strong 45 minute set, the Canadian rockers Barenaked Ladies stormed the stage opening with "Get Back Up" and " Old Apartment" which set the mood for a great night of music. Lead singer and guitar player Ed Robertson was all smiles as he took the stage as was bass player Jim Creeggan who bounced around the stage all night as if he had springs in his shoes. The band delivered a variety of songs from throughout their 25 year career including songs from their latest effort "Silverball" which was released June 2, 2015. One thing that BNL have always done is improv songs on the fly and on this night the band broke out a rap about a fish sandwich. Other highlights of the night include a cover version of Men At Work's "Who Can It Be Now" with Colin Hay singing lead vocal and saxophone support from the Violent Femmes sax player. In 2007 BNL got asked to write an intro for a new tv show pilot. That show would go on to not only become a tremendous hit but it would bring BNL an entire new audience. That show was "The Big Bang Theory" and the 20 second intro spawned an entire new generation for the band. You can imagine that everyone was as surprised as me when the "Big Bang" theme song started but then continued for another 3.5 minutes of never before heard lyrics which was a great treat.
The night concluded with a great rendition of the Led Zeppelin cover "Rock and Roll" which again, was a total surprise to everyone and left the audience on a high note for what was surely a fantastic night for music out by the beach!
To see the full setlist click here http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/barenaked-ladies/2015/st-augustine-amphitheatre-st-augustine-fl-bf6ed2e.html