It was an evening of false advertising as four completely clothed gentlemen took to the stage for an evening of what was billed as Barenaked Ladies. Yeah, I know, the joke is as old as the band itself, but I couldn’t resist. All joking aside, however, the Canadian super-hitmaking pop group brought their Hometown Holidays show to Caesars Windsor on Dec. 21 for the largest audience of its monthlong tour that ended in Toronto last night.
Packed with hits like Pinch Me, Brian Wilson, Enid, One Week, Big Bang Theory and If I Had $1,000,000, a Christmas show from BNL is only as good as the Christmas songs themselves, and this one was loaded with an abundance of festive cheer. With about a dozen seasonal originals and traditional favourites (performed in their own unique style), BNL gave the fans exactly what they were looking for. An absolute favourite from the band was one of the songs featured on the new deluxe version of the 2004 album Barenaked For The Holidays, Santa Sabbath, sung to the tune of Black Sabbath’s War Pigs. If Christmas music is actually capable of bringing people into a frenzy, this one is THAT song.
The stage was nicely decorated with some lit-up cartoonish trees, stockings and everything else you’d expect at a Christmas show. The concert oddly began dimly lit as the band performed the Christmas favourite Carol of the Bells, which at one point displayed a video of the band on the big screen that looked much like the famous Queen pose from the Bohemian Rhapsody video with the members (Ed Robertson – vocals, guitar, Jim Creeggan – bass, vocals, Tyler Stewart – drums, percussion, vocals and Kevin Hearn – keyboards, piano, accordion, vocals) posed in a slight diamond shape. After that beautiful intro, it took a few songs for the lights and Ed’s voice to settle in, but then the band looked and sounded like the BNL we all know and love.
After this show, it’s pretty evident, we all need to get a little barenaked for the holidays.
Barenaked Ladies
Caesars Windsor
Windsor, ON
December 21, 2022
All photos by Dan Savoie
