May 11th, 2009: "Thanks, That was Fun"

[Citi]

As I mentioned last week; a thousand dollars just isn't enough for five hundred chickens and a crapload or so of rice. I hope not to mention it again. Seriously.

The nice thing about this point in the storyline is that the formalities are over and negotiations have begun. The upcoming strips get a bit more, interesting (in that they are a bit more complex).

Those of you who are true fans of Barenaked Ladies (the band although I feel the urge to mention that I am also a fan of bare, naked ladies) should recognize the song title in today's blog title. It is particularly appropriate as the band is not what it once was.

Steven Page, after costing the band a shitload of money due to his coke habit (they made a kids album called "Snacktime" and then Page got himself busted for snorting coke in New York and the band was forced to cancel a bunch of Disney Shows) announced recently that he has decided to leave the band to "pursue other opportunites."

As the band has often recognized in thier music, celebrity is a funny thing to account for. It's wierd for the celeb and often wierd for the fan. I've seen BNL a dozen times or more live. I own just about every album they have released (I even got "Snacktime" for my niece and nephew for last Christmas). The first time I ever saw Red vs Blue, heck the first time I saw any Machinima was at a Barenaked Ladies concert (I think it was Church and Simmons from RvB who introduced the band on a giant video screen). And my connection to Rooster Teeth and the friends I've made there, in light of the projects Ed Robertson (now the only lead singer for BNL) has done with them (the voice of Captain Flowers in Red vs Blue and the star of the "City of Heroes" promotional shorts as, Captain Dynamic; when I was in Austin they were mocking up the set and practicing the script for these shorts and it was pretty cool to be there; I missed meeting Ed by one day) has made me even more a fan of the band in general and Robertson in particular.

Not to mention the music itself. BNL is known for thier live act but the music is also just fantastic. I think as they became more succesfull they, like many celebrities, began placing a higher value on thier personal and private lives and subsequently had a harder time writing music that is easily relatable to the common person. But even when they are singing about protest singers or postcards with chimps on it they are exceptional and entertaining.

The vast majority of my musical life can be traced back to bands that opened for BNL or bands that opened (or co-headlined) for bands that opened for BNL. For example, the two reviews I have up in our music section right now (which I really should update I know, I promise I'm getting to it). Guster I saw opening for BNL on New Years Day 2000. Tracy Bonham, I saw the first time opening for Ben Folds (Five); who played with Guster at another show I went to.

Sarah Harmer, Action Figure Party, The Vanity Project, Vertical Horizon, Matt Pond PA, Ben Kweller, Thin Buckle, Duncan Sheik, Jason Plumb, David Poe, Elliott Smith, The Brothers Creeggan, Jim Boggia, Katy Mae, Jason Euringer, Sarah McLachlan, Great Big Sea, Weeping Tile; all of these music acts are connected to the musical life that began with BNL. Even my short lived college band was named after the first song I ever sang with my old friend Joe; Some Fantastic (although we called it SumFantastik); and nearly all the other music in my life can be traced back to the other members of that band, brought together by Barenaked Ladies.

So I felt, like sometimes happens, like I knew these guys, that they were a part of my life; and I felt personally betrayed by Steve Page when he got busted for coke. I wanted to believe it was calcium like he told the cops but no amount of self delusion was going to convince me of that. The protestations of innocence and threats to fight the charges to the bitter end from the band rang hollow in my ears and in the end Page's lawyer bargained the charges down to a misdemeanor which was dismissed after six months of drug tests and probation; just like any other perp.

And why shouldn't they have been? Page was just a guy, is just a guy like anyone else. Human, fallable and subject to temptation. He made a mistake and paid for it. Cest la vie. I have very little patience for drug abusers of any kind. Sorry. But just because I admired the man for the music he creates and have a great deal of disdain for drugs doesn't mean he should be treated to some other form of justice reserved for people who disappoint thier fans.

As much as it saddens me though, the news of his departure from the band, in light of the drug arrest, doesn't surprise me much. I don't know the members of BNL personally so I won't speculate as to thier reasoning (although I am getting pretty tired of the same old press release) or thier personalities. But after twenty years together this can't be easy for any of them.

Although the four remaining members will go on as Barenaked Ladies the trauma is evident by the state of thier website, blog and the plaintive cries from fans on thier message boards. Bands break up. It happened to the Beatles so it can happen to anyone. But BNL was special; not only because of the music and the shows but because of the life experiences that went along with them. I will miss them.

And yes, even though the remaining guys will go on it will never really be the same. Even when they (inevitably it seems these days) reunite with Page for the occasional show or tour it will never be the same. I wish them all well, and would just like to say, thanks, that was fun.

[Citi]

I'd have never guess that someone in BNL had a coke problem.

[Rob]

I'd have never guess that someone in BNL had a coke problem.

Yeah. Apparently the New York cops that busted him literally saw him snorting it through the glass of the front door. The person he was scoring from parked all screwed up with thier car half on the sidewalk and when the cops walked up to the door to tell them to move thier car there was Page sitting at the kitchen table snorting away.

[Citi]

Genius!