October 17, 2019

​

Steven Page, the former lead singer of The Barenaked Ladies played a very fun and entertaining show at The Kent Stage on Tuesday evening.

 

Although it’s been a decade since Page fronted BNL, he has released six solo albums including 2018’s Discipline: Heal Thyself, Pt. II.  Many songs from his solo records as well as songs from Barenaked Ladies were featured in his set.  

 

This time, he is out as a trio that features guitarist Craig Northey and cellist Kevin Fox.  These two gentlemen were outstanding on their respective instruments and their harmonizing with Page’s distinctive tenor voice was very pleasing to take in.

 

Page is very witty and often makes Seinfeld-esque observations throughout the show.  At one point he asked if anyone had an Apple watch. He then noted, “I have one. It’s the most ‘dad tech’ thing that you can get.  It’s like socks and sandals.”

 

After playing a handful of solo songs like “Manchild” and “White Noise,” Page and company broke out some Barenaked Ladies tunes to the delight of the rabid fans in attendance.  “Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel” and “It’s All Been Done” sounded fantastic and the cello really added a freshness to those songs.

 

Page commented that he was looking forward to this show.  He said he didn’t know it until he got here and noticed the towels that were on stage for him.  He said that he has the venue provide the towels and each venue is different. He was impressed that he got a full body towel to wipe his face.  He said he could tell it was a pool towel, because it had a hint of chlorine and he felt that it was from an above the ground pool. 

 

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

 

Before playing “Linda Ronstadt Of The ‘70s,” Page noted that he was playing a “feel good strum” on the acoustic guitar.  He said that several songs have the “feel good strum” and he and his band played several snippets of songs where the strum sounded great.  “My Girl,” “Turn Back Time,” “Love Rollercoaster,” “Rock and Roll All Night” and “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” where he mumbled the lyrics until he got to the chorus (like many of us do), and they all fit perfectly.

 

A trio of BNL songs, “What A Good Boy,” “The Old Apartment” and “Brian Wilson” closed out the main setlist.

 

He and his trio returned to encore with “Powder Blue” and “Call and Answer” where he invited the audience to sing along.  They did, and it gave an awesome sense of community as everyone stood and sang along.

 

It was a great way to end the show.

​

​

Review and photos by Greg Drugan