Train

Matt Nathanson, Barenaked Ladies and Train played a triple bill at the Bowl last Saturday night, and while it wasn’t really an oldies show–all three are still releasing new material–the music we came to hear dated back more than a quarter-century. I heard one concertgoer walking down the hill saying, “I came to hear ‘One Week’ (BNL) and ‘Meet Virginia’ (Train), so I’m happy.” Both came out in 1998.
My fond memory of hearing Barenaked Ladies in Minneapolis back in the day was the two lead singers alternating songs with their distinctive voices. It turns out that one of them, Steven Page, left the band in 2009, so Ed Robertson sang his songs himself. I like their new album, but without Page the Ladies are only half as good. Their energy level suffered (they are Canadian, after all) in comparison to Matt Nathanson’s opener. He worked hard to engage the crowd, most of which wasn’t there when he opened at 6. (He got a 40-minute set; BNL 60, and Train played from 8:15 to 10.) His songs were lively and fun, he took his mike high into the stands, and the couple next to me said they had come just to hear his final song and biggest hit, “Come On, Get Higher.” Barenaked Ladies treated us to their signature numbers–”The Old Apartment,” “Brian Wilson,” “If I Had $1,000,000″–but a frantic video montage behind them that illustrated every noun was silly and a major distraction. Train came on like the pros of the evening: matching black outfits and the aura of having played together for years. I couldn’t have told you a Train song before the concert began, but I quickly recognized such classic rock staples as “Drops of Jupiter,” “Hey, Soul Sister,” “Calling All Angels,” and of course “Meet Virginia.” They were more pop rock than the heavy rock I expected from their look and name; and it made sense that they were headlining an August show at the Bowl.