These are Days...: BNL and Me

Have you heard the news? Steven Page and Barenaked Ladies have decided to part ways. May not be big news to most people but to me it is like a knife in the heart! BNL is one of my two favorite bands of all time (Rusted Root being the other one). Some of my best memories include BNL in some way, shape, or form. I'm not sure why I love them so much. It is probably a combination of their hilarious lyrics, their rhythmic songs that make you sing and dance, and their onstage presence that is more enjoyable than the circus. Despite the fact that I am so upset with this change in their band, I will still consider them one of my favorite bands and will never forget all the wonderful songs, albums, concerts, and memories. Thanks BNL! I love you guys.

My favorite BNL memories:

I loved the song Broken Apartment so much that I would play it over and over again and I wore my Rock Spectacle CD out in about 3 days I'm pretty sure when it first came out.

When I first heard the song One Week, I made it my mission to learn all the lyrics asap! So one day on the beach, an old friend and I played it over and over again about 100 times until we had every word down in the fast pace tempo. We were quite the impressive duo later on when we could sing along with Ed and no one else could!

BNL was coming to Hartford as part of summer concert series and it would be the first time I ever saw them live. They came on and played a few songs and I was in heaven. It ended all too quick but I made up for it by seeing them more than 15 times since then.

I have small obsession with Ed Robertson. I think he is so amazingly talented, handsome, and basically he's my "Mick Jaggar". The kind of guy I would leave my husband for (not really, just kidding! love you, Jared!). Every concert I went to, I would wear "I love Ed" paraphernalia and/or have an "I (heart) Ed" sign. A supreme dork, I know but what can I say, I love that guy!

My friends and I all loved BNL and one summer they were playing in Hartford so we all got tickets and decided to go together. (PS, this is one of my favorite stories ever!). I decided to drive us all in my new VW Cabrio, Bree. Bree was my favorite car of all time and I could go into more detail but I digress. So anyways, all six of us squish into my convertible with the top down and head up to Hartford for the event of the year! I am so excited that I get on the road and drive right through a red light. I mean literally, completely not paying attention fly through it. All the girls start to scream and luckily we live. We get to the parking lot alive and squished like sardines and hop out to do our version of tailgating. This consisted of us amateurs hanging out by my car, sipping stoli ras and sprite in styrofoam cups that start leaking... Boy are we good! Anyways after a while we get all jazzed for the show and go in to get our seats which might I add are the best seats I ever got for a BNL show. They are maybe 8th row. I am immediately freaking out excited.

The first band comes on and I think it was Vertical Horizon. So they play their set and afterwards the drummer throws out his drumsticks which happen to land right into my hands. I am astonished. I have never been so lucky to catch anything from a concert. The girls whip out their cell phones to call other friends that have crappy seats to let them know the scoop that Jessie caught the drum stick and we have way better seats, etc. I'm sitting there revelling in wonder at my new prize when some dude comes over to me with tears in his eyes. He looks at the drum stick and asks me if he can just look at it or maybe hold it. The drummer up there was his hero and all he wanted was to see it and maybe get a picture of the drum stick. The guy was salivating over it so I definitely just gave him the drum stick. He was freaking out and so grateful but it was really no big deal. I was only there to see my boys, BNL. But I had a feeling that this was going to be a good night!

When BNL came on that night, wow, they were amazing. I danced and sang the night away with my girls, proudly holding up my "I (heart) Ed" sign. When the show was coming to an end I was getting sad as I usually do. But the cool thing was I was so close to the stage that when they said their final farewell I rushed over there to see if I could get a hand shake or something. I saw Ed approaching so I beelined it over there. He was in arm's length away and I was in heaven! He picked something up off the stage and was heading right towards me. He looked down at me, obviously seeing my "I love Ed" shirt, and this other girl next to me reached up and I disgustingly smacked her hand away (yes, I am ashamed) and Ed presented me with the BNL play list from the show. I was ecstatic and ran to show my friends. Of course I was so embarrassed at my think fast smack to the other girl! But what can I say! There was my hero, my favorite musician ever within my reach and no other skank was getting in my way!

It was the greatest night of my life, I had kept saying over and over again as we walked to the car going over the details of the show. I was in seventh heaven and the smile could not have been erased from my face. That was until I got to Bree. Someone had completely vandalized my car during the show. The VW sign was gone, the hood was dented and scratched and the side was scratched. My favorite car of all time, all messed up. Instantly I was in tears. I went from a huge high to an extreme low. Now that is what I call a memorable night!

Another favorite BNL memory was on New Year's Eve in Boston in 2001. They were bringing in the new year so my friends and I made it a point to be there. Another friend of ours lived in Boston so he through a party that night at his place too. It worked out perfectly! My friends and I made shirts to go to the show in. I was the "N", Bobbi-Jo was the "B", Kathleen was the "L", and Holly was the thumb's up logo. We looked awesome. Before the show, we were at the party having some cocktails. I was getting introduced to Jack. Jack Daniels that is. Before I knew it I was given about 8 shots of whiskey in record time before I was out on the T on my way. When we got to the show, we were all a bit sloshed. Two of us had to pee and I think they peed outside somewhere (not the finest moment). Once we handed over our tickets we got checked through security but we had all brought mac n' cheese to throw which you can understand more about here. They would not allow us to bring it in and threw away our baggies of the macaroni. After we walked away and the security turned around, I ran back and grabbed the mac out from the trash. The girls were in hysterics! That was interesting! The show was amazing and eventually we all sobered up. Especially because at one point I specifically remember telling my friend that I thought I could jump to the stage from our high up seats and almost tried... Yikes! That was a wonderful concert and night.

I went to a BNL show at a new arena in CT once with Jared. It was the first time there was a concert at this arena and that was very obvious. When BNL came on, I stood up and started to sing and dance. But I was the only one. I mean ONLY one in my section. People began to look and then after a few songs a security guard actually came over to me and asked me to sit down because I was obstructing the view of the people behind me! Are you kidding me! I am just barely five feet tall and this is a rock concert. I am NOT sitting throughout the show on my ass. This is live music. You are supposed to get up out of your seat and dance. I was fuming and pretty much told the security guard as such. He did not have the right to make me sit down and he knew it. Especially when all over the place in other sections were people standing and dancing, having a good time. I didn't care and I just stood and danced even more! Jared was mortified and I was the most hated person at that show.

One of my all time favorite BNL songs is Brian Wilson. I just love it. I am not allowed to listen to in my car any more because I have almost gotten in too many car accidents so it is now banned. I am unable to control myself when hearing that song. When I hear the first chord to that song play at a show I jump up screaming and then just bounce up and down with my eyes closed listening and enjoying Steven Page's gorgeous voice and the band's awesome beats. I will never be able to experience that again... tear...

My friend Holly's favorite song is Alcohol. It was her theme song back in the day and she was introduced at my wedding to that song!

Here is my collection of BNL shirts that I have kept: