Last Summer On Earth Tour

One of my happiest memories was the first time I saw the Barenaked Ladies in concert.  It was at the H.O.R.D.E. Festival on Friday, July 24, 1998 at the Polaris Amphitheater in Columbus, Ohio.  I had no idea who they were, but my coworker Mark lent me the "Rock Spectacle" CD a couple of weeks before the concert, and I was hooked.  This was a very special Friday, because we took it off work and it was the Friday after my last graduate school presentation on Wednesday.  My grueling two years of working full time and going to grad school at night for my MBA degree was over.  As I was lying on the grass at the Polaris Amphitheater, I looked up at the big blue sky while listening to the Barenaked Ladies, and this feeling of complete freedom and unencumbered joy came over me.  The feeling was so rare and indescribable that I wanted to bottle it and keep it forever.

On Sunday night, July 29th, 2012, I got to relive it again.  I had seen BNL in concert many times since 1998, but this time they are touring with Blues Traveler and Big Head Todd and The Monsters, which is practically re-living the H.O.R.D.E. Festival! 

The concert was at the Open Sky Theater at Harrah's Rincon Casino.  It was a 45 minute drive over the mountains from our house.  When we got there, the sun was just setting and Big Head Todd and The Monsters were on.




As we walked into the venue, Todd saw that they were selling popcorn and he could not resist.  After all, he biked like 65 miles in the morning.




A long-arm self-portrait.

Our seats at the front row of the back section was fantastic!  Lots of leg room and we sat above the floor section without anyone obstructing our view to the stage.

Next was Blues Traveler.  John Popper is definitely not as big as he was back in 1998, but he's still pretty big!




And finally, the band I came to see... Barenaked Ladies!  They are now a foursome, sans Steven Page.




BNL was AWESOME!  They still put on a GREAT show after all these years.  And we've seen them many times!  I think this may be the 5th time we've seen them in concert since 1998. 


They were so extemporaneously entertaining, making up stuff as they went.  I wrote down the set list so I can find some of the newer songs I like that I don't have yet.  I did miss Steven Page a little bit, but they are still great as a foursome.


They are the best live band I've ever seen, still.  We stayed until the very end, after the encore.  That's how much I still love them, LOL.


We had a great time.  The concert lived up to my expectations and they were quite high since I've seen BNL so many times.  I'm so fortunate to get the chance to re-live one of my happiest moments in my life!

Barenaked Ladies Set List | July 29, 2012 @ Harrah's Rincon:

1. Never Is Enough
2. The Old Apartment
3. It's All Been Done
4. Boomerang
5. Too Little Too Late
6. Ordinary
7. Wishing
8. Blame It On Me (Acoustic)
9. Brian Wilson
10. Get In Line
11. Pinch Me
12. Big Bang Theory Theme
13. One Week
14. If I Had $1,000,000
15. Barenaked Rap
16. Light Up My Room (Encore)