For music listeners of a certain generation, all it takes is two words (“It’s been …”) to launch them into the chorus of Barenaked Ladies’ ultra-catchy 1998 hit “One Week,” which remains the Canadian band’s biggest-ever U.S. single. While BNL delivered a few more hits in the U.S. with “It’s All Been Done,” “Pinch Me” and “Call and Answer,” the band remains a bit of a cult phenomenon outside of its native country. In Canada, BNL is in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and has won multiple Juno Awards (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys), and still regularly places in the upper reaches of the album charts with new releases.
In the U.S., BNL are still strongly associated with ’90s alt-rock, which is probably why the band’s current U.S. tour features fellow ’90s/’00s radio favorites Better Than Ezra (“Good”) and KT Tunstall (“Black Horse and the Cherry Tree”). Anyone who’s heard “One Week” can tell that the members of BNL have quite a sense of humor, and the band is known for loose, lively concerts full of jokes and banter. And once they belt out those first two words of “One Week,” the entire audience is guaranteed to sing along.
Red Rock Resort, 6:30 p.m. June 16, $56 plus tax and fee. 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster
