BARENAKED LADIES / SUGAR RAY / FASTBALL – LIVE AT THE HHA
BARENAKED LADIES / SUGAR RAY / FASTBALL – LIVE AT THE HHA
By Joe Perusse
Barenaked Ladies, Sugar Ray and Fastball at the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater Amphitheater, Bridgeport CT
Fastball opened up the night down a man as drummer Joey Shuffield was feeling under the weather. Sugar Ray’s drummer Dean Butterworth jumped into help out on the first three songs of the set, “Sooner or Later”, “Hummingbird” and “Love Comes in Waves/The Joker” a Steve Miller Band cover. Miles Zuniga (Guitar/Vocals) was very appreciative of the help so they did not have to cancel their part of the show. While Butterworth took a break, Kevin Hearn from the Barenaked Ladies jumped on the keys while his bandmate Tyler Stewart took over on the drum kit for “You’re an Ocean”.
Tony Scalzo (Bass/Vocals) shined during his turn at the mic for “Out of My Head”. Adding to the party Barenaked Ladies lead singer Ed Robertson came to play guitar on Willie Nelson’s “On The Road Again” and joked afterward that he really enjoyed writing that song. “Fire Escape” followed and everyone stayed on stage while Butterworth returned for “The Way”, a huge crowd favorite.
Sugar Ray was up next and Mark McGrath (Vocals) had the crowd up waving their hands like it was 1999 for opening hit “Every Morning”. “Someday” was next and Mcgrath got a big round of applause when he announced he was born in Connecticut. McGrath grabbed a guitar and joined Rodney Sheppard (Lead Guitar) on “Answer the Phone”. Band intros followed and McGrath commented Kristian Attard (Bass) looked like all the members of Kings of Leon put together.
“Falls Apart” led into the nintyfied section of the set where the band plays a couple songs and McGrath had to hope he knew the lyrics. Tonight was “Pony” and “I Hate Everything About You”. Ending the set, “Fly/ What I Got” had everyone singing and jumping around.
The members of Barenaked Ladies returned to the stage along with Jim Creeggan on the stand up bass as the crowd rose to their feet for “Gonna Walk”. Hearn left the keys and jumped on guitar as Stewart led into “The Old Apartment” with a drum solo. “Hello City/I Love You” was next and then Robertson thanked the openers while joking about the unbelievable musicians that joined Fastball on stage. Creeggan took over vocals, while adding a smooth bass line for “Just Wait”. “Pinch Me” followed and Hearn was on vocals for “Big Back Yard”.
Robertson jokingly thanked all the social media influencers for making this all possible before “Clearly Lost” and “Brian Wilson”. Stewart came out from behind the drum kit to join the band up front for the next 4 songs, “One Night”, “Raisins”, “Jump” a Van Halen cover that saw Hearn with a Eddie Van Halen taped accordion and “What Do We Need?”. Stewart returned to the drum riser for “Fifty for a While”. Michael Ray (Trumpet) from Kool and the Gang joined in on “Lookin’ Up”. “Odds Are” led into the song you probably know even if your not a Barenaked Ladies fan “Big Bang Theory Theme”.
Creeggan grooved an impressive solo on the stand up base and singing “Mahna Mahna” with Hearn adding his Swedish chef impersonation at the end. Robertson encouraged the crowd to sing along and Hearn ripped a guitar solo in the middle of “One Week”. The accordion returned and everyone was singing along with “If I Had $1000000” with Robertson adding a lyric that he would buy CT pizza which got a big roar. Hearn returned to the keyboard and lead vocals during “Love and Mercy” a Brian Wilson cover.
Hearn grabbed a banjo and played the keys while Stewart was out dancing around for the medley “Pink Pony Club/TEXAS HOLD ‘EM/The Gambler/Abracadabra/HOT TO GO!/Forever Young/Sometimes When We Touch”. Stewart took over vocals on “So Long, Farewell” a Rodgers & Hammerstein cover and AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”. Robertson jumped on the drums and Miles Zuniga from Fastball joined on guitar. Returning for an encore “Lovin’ Life” led off and then everyone form Fastball and Sugar Ray joined the stage for a great cover of Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69”.
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