Barenaked Ladies w/ Gin Blossoms & Toad the Wet Sprocket• June 20, 2022• Red Butte Garden Amphitheater
Reviewed and Photographed by Kevin Rolfe
I don’t know if Red Butte Garden will ever get more 90s than it did on June 20th. Barenaked Ladies brought their Last Summer on Earth Tour to the Amphitheater but they didn’t come alone. BNL was joined by 90s contemporaries, Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket. It was a lineup of hitmakers from top to bottom. I arrived as Toad the Wet Sprocket took the stage. The venue was already full. It was obvious that Red Butte patrons were excited about this whole show.
Toad the Wet Sprocket
The sun was out, and it was pretty warm. But many fans were already on their feet for the openers. After all this time I had still never seen Toad the Wet Sprocket. I remember watching the Santa Barbara band rise to fame in the early 90s and loving their music. I was so glad to finally have the opportunity to see them. As I mentioned, the crowd was really into them. Frontman, Glen Phillips, stated, “Oh, you’re going to make this a fun night for everyone involved, aren’t you?” The crowd loved hearing that and let him know they agreed. He mentioned an infamous concert they had in Salt Lake City with one of my favorite but now defunct bands, The Origin. From what he indicated, it got pretty wild. A friend who had seen them before predicted he’d bring it up. That he always does because it was that nuts.
My favorite “Toad” song is “Good Intentions”. I was really hoping they’d play it so when they played it early in the set, I was happy. When listening to this song the thing I noticed the most was that the guys have not lost a step. They still sound great and they seem to still really enjoy performing.
As the crowd continued to embrace Toad the Wet Sprocket while they played major hit songs like “All I Want” and “Walk on the Ocean”. Phillips said, “I remember you bring Friday night energy during the middle of the week”. Again, the crowd loved hearing that and offered a standing ovation at the end of their set. I would love to see Toad the Wet Sprocket again. I think they could easily play a headlining show here in Utah. But they did their job as a support band phenomenally as the fans were riled up and ready for Gin Blossoms.
Gin Blossoms
Gin Blossoms are one of those bands you see live and as the set goes along you think “Wow. I know so many of these songs!”. I think sometimes people forget just how many hits Gin Blossoms have. And not just hits, but huge huge songs. Most of the crowd was on their feet and it was pretty clear that while this was a Barenaked Ladies headlining concert, a huge chunk of the crowd was there specifically to see Gin Blossoms.
From the get-go, it looked like Gin Blossoms were so excited to be on stage. Like so many bands, I’m sure they had been on a long hiatus from touring due to the pandemic. Lead singer, Robin Wilson shared that he wanted to say something inspiring about being back on stage and on tour. But that he couldn’t come up with anything. He told us to just, “Pick something Bono said and attribute it to us.”. I appreciated the honesty and I felt like their performance and set were inspiration enough.
On a personal note, when I get a photo pass the guidelines most of the time allow for me to shoot for the first three songs. Such was the case at this show. For whatever reason, I totally lost track of the song count and shot into the 4th song. That was the first time I had ever done that. I saw security and a Red Butte Gardens employee waving at me and giving me the kill sign. Rushed over to them and apologized! “I can’t believe I did that!” The security guard laughed and said, “It’s ok, I get it, we’re all daydreaming about high school with these songs.”. He wasn’t wrong.
I was totally thinking about when these songs were released and how much I not only loved that time of life but really enjoyed when these songs came out. The Red Butte Employee just laughed at me. I still can’t believe I did that.
Gin Blossoms shared that they had played Salt Lake City with Toad the Wet Sprocket almost 30 years to the day. It’s hard to believe they’ve been around that long but it’s hard to believe I’ve been around that long. Gin Blossoms, like Toad the Wet Sprocket sounded great. I think that’s why it’s hard to believe they’ve been touring and coming to Utah for 30 years. They’re still performing at a high level.
My favorite Gin Blossoms song is “Hey Jealousy”. I’m guessing since it was their closer that I’m not the only one who feels that way about this song. It brings back so many memories and beyond that, it’s just a really good song. Everyone was on their feet and if it wasn’t sunny, you might have had a hard time convincing me that this wasn’t the headliner. The crowd sang along and even had a chance to sing a verse on their own. Wilson made his way over to the fans on the side patio, went in front of the planter to get close with the people in the front row, and ended their set at a high point. It was good to have these guys back in Utah and with the way this crowd treated them, I don’t expect them to be away for too long.
Barenaked Ladies
I must admit and I’m sure it’s not hard to tell, but I was really at this show for the first two bands. That’s not to say that I wasn’t excited about Barenaked Ladies. However, There’s a strange feeling when you feel like you’ve seen everything you came there to see but there is still another band left. I had never seen BLN so I was looking forward to checking them off my list. Well, I can’t say that I’ve never seen them. The last time they were at Red Butte Garden I was one of the “Hill People” who sat on the hill behind the amphitheater to listen and get an occasional glimpse of the show. It seemed like so much fun that I really wanted to catch their next show inside the actual amphitheater. You may have guessed, it’s a lot better in the garden.
The band was a lot of fun from the moment they walked on stage. They interacted with the crowd and moved about the stage. This tour must be so much fun because all of the bands seem to be having a great time. Come to find out, these guys are good sports because they had quite the adventure making their way into town.
After blazing through their first four songs which included big-time hits like “It’s All Been Done” and “Pinch Me” (My personal favorite BNL song), vocalist Ed Robertson took a moment to address the crowd. He shared with the audience that the band made sure to go to Red Iguana the night prior. The audience cheered. He told the crowd that it helped to erase the “Shittiest day off we’ve ever had”. Robertson proceeded to share that the band flew from Spokane, Washington to Salt Lake City. Along the way, they experienced some turbulence and had to circle SLC for a while. They were then diverted to Boise, Idaho where they needed to land and refuel. Finally, after refueling in Boise, they flew to Salt Lake City. Upon arrival, they hurried to make it to Red Iguana before closing time. Sounds like quite an adventure. Glad they got the Red Iguana payoff.
As much as I enjoyed the music, I think the crowd work and humor were on par. The band was so funny! Ben Robertson especially, but really all of them had their moments. Robertson joked that anyone in the crowd that didn’t sing along on a particular song they were racists. He brought up this thing that happened in Canada called a global pandemic. “Global yet local only” he called it. He brought that up because he shared how nice it was to be playing in front of thousands of people. “Odds are we’re going to be alright”.
There was a moment when the band joked that there was a crowd of people begging them to play songs of their latest album, 2021 released, Detour de Force. “There’s a very vocal group that won’t shut up. They keep saying play more songs from Detour de Force!” They played quite a few songs from that album. It seemed like most of the songs were well received.
Of course, as it is with any band that’s been around for a while people are there to hear the hits! And Barenaked Ladies have a lot of hits. They did not disappoint in that department. They sang, “Odds Are”, “If I Had $1000000” and what has become a hit for them and was definitely a crowd favorite, “Big Bang Theory Theme” from the CBS Sitcom Big Band Theory. I noticed a bunch of people around me pleasantly surprised they sang that one. The song was dedicated to “Anyone who has a TV”.
A couple of cool moments in the show happened back to back later in the set. This show just happened to take place on Brian Wilson’s 80th birthday. As any BNL fan knows, they have a song titled after the legendary member of The Beach Boys. Ed Robertson shared that Brian Wilson once dropped by the studio and played a version of the song “Brian Wilson” for the band. Then he left with some sage advice. “Boys, don’t eat too much”. Barenaked Ladies then performed “Brian Wilson” for the Red Butte audience.
The next song “Good Life” was next. Robertson told the crowd that he wanted to bring a guest out from his hometown to play with the band. It turned out to be his son. The crowd cheered. I guess he has been making guest appearances for years and the fans enjoyed seeing him grow up.
When Barenaked Ladies performed “One Week” you would have thought it was Guns n’ Roses performing “Paradise City”. The crowd was going nuts! I knew this was BNL’s biggest song and that the audience would get into it. I just did not anticipate this reaction.
There were so many jokes and so many fun moments during this concert. The music was great, the weather was perfect and it seemed like everyone had a great time. I felt like Barenaked ladies has a real connection with Utah. It seems like a place they’ll keep coming back to tour after tour. And they’ll have no problem filling any venue they play. But let’s hope it’s Red Butte Garden Amphitheater. It’s such a good fit.
