concert (elaboration)

When I posted my brief comment about the concert, I was intending to follow up very shortly with a fuller post. I'm finally getting around to it.

There were four bands on the bill - Cracker, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Blus Traveler and Barenaked Ladies

Cracker were on first. Surprisingly, they went on on time, so I didn't see most of their act from my seat. My sister and I were just getting in the Theatre (Jones Beach -- it's an open-air venue) when they started, and we spent time buying food. But I could see them on the monitors. I would have thought I'd like it better, since I have a few Cracker albums. I've never really been into them as a band, but I did like "What the World Needs Now" when I heard it on the radio once about 15 or so years ago. They're OK. A few good songs. But the performance that I saw seemed uninspired.

Big Head Todd were a little better, but for the most part I didn't really get into them. A lot opf loud directionless guitar-leads. There was one really good song -- "Sexy and I Know It." I assume that's the title. Slide guitar, George Thorogood-style vocals. If the whole concert would have been like this, I would have been a happy man. John Popper joined them onstage for a few songs. Boy, has he lost weight.

Blues Traveler was on next. The good thing was that at this point it was clear that each band was better than the previous. The thing with Blues Traveler is that I really want to like them -- they have lots of elements that should make for a band I'd like. But I just can't get into them. They played "Run Around," which was cool. But other than that, meh. The most interesting part of the performance was that at first my sister and I were trying to figure out if it was Blues Traveler or Barenaked Ladies. The presence of John Popper should have given it away, but for some reason I was under the impression that Blues Traveler wasn't on the bill. Finally, after they mentioned their new album, Suzie Cracks the Whip, and we could look it up online we concluded that it was Blues Traveler.

Barenaked Ladies was much better than I expected. Since it's a band I've never really been into, and I'm not really familiar with their repertoire, I didn't expect to enjoy them. But they were good. Humor helped. I actually did recognize a few songs -- "If I Had a Million Dollars," the theme from Big Bang Theory. The set was on the short side, but I have to weigh that against the fact they were the fourth band to perform. The played all the songs my sister wanted to hear, which was good. The liveliest part of the performance was the encore, where the drummer came out from behind his kit and sang lead -- while jerking around the stage like a spastic chicken. I liked that.