The Last Summer On Earth Tour features nostalgic lineup of headliner bands

Guster

On Friday, July 5th fans filled The LC Outdoor Amphitheater for the Last Summer on Earth Tour. With a line up of acts that could have each individually headlined a show it was truly an overload of nostalgic tunes from these ‘90’s era bands.

First of the three acts was Guster, who have been touring since the early ‘90s. The band displayed a lot of talent and showed why their existence as a band is still necessary and relevant. The band played newer songs including “Do You Love Me” which fans were still really receptive to hearing live. During older track “Airport Song” fans began tossing Ping-Pong balls to the stage, which drew smiles from the five members.

The band also touched on their most popular track “Satellite” before closing the set with “This Could All Be Yours Someday.” Mixing new and old tracks into one performance they were able to connect with the crowd on older tracks before familiarizing them to their newer, lesser-known songs. This will serve as a popular trend for the evening.

 

Ben Folds Five

Not much time passed before the show moved along to the next act, Ben Folds Five. Judging by the excitement it was easy to assume that a majority of those in attendance were there to see Ben Folds Five. The band really have just gotten back together recently so this slot could have been the first time most fans have seen them in close to a decade. Their set list, in the same suit as Guster’s set, mixed new and old tracks to an appreciative crowd.

Opening with “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces,” the crowd chanted the lyrics back to Folds as he and both other members were reunited once again on the same stage. The audience seemed to be disconnected from the performance during the band’s newer tracks like “Sky High.” The energy attention quickly returned when BF5 performed their improv-song “Rock This Bitch.”

They then played what is arguably their most popular song, “Brick”, which is a slower ballad but kept the audience enthralled and singing along. From then the slower ballads ended and the rest of the set consisted of older hits with heavy sing-alongs. “Underground” and “Song for the Dumped” rekindled an appreciation for these upbeat songs dating years and years back. The band ended their set with “Army” which was the perfect note to end on. Ben Folds Five’s quick-witted and smart-ass lyrics really fit perfectly with the evening’s light-humor tone.

As the sun set, Barenaked Ladies finally took the stage as the main and final act for the evening. Having just released a new album, Grinning Streak, last month they started off their set with two songs from that release. “Limits” and “Did I Say That Out Loud” didn’t exactly provide the show with an explosive introduction. There seemed to be a disconnection between the band and the fans that then was quickly diminished when they went into their hit, “Pinch Me”.

The band then played another new song, “Gonna Walk”, which involved the crowd being taught the chorus beforehand. There was then some bantering from the band about catching Rush’s set during their time at Summerfest in Milwaukee before playing “These Apples”. The song’s chorus highly resembled the band’s hit “It’s All Been Done” which was strangely omitted from the set.

Barenaked Ladies

The band’s set had a certain corny quality to it. They told a story about a rude coffee barista they encountered during the daytime in Columbus before then going into a completely improvised song about it. They also called upon Boothby Graffoe, a comedian-musician

who performed prior to Guster, to sing the vocals on “Be My Yoko Ono”. The song is already humorous but seeing Boothby perform it in the style of your embarrassing uncle in front of a crowd of close to 5,000 people was slightly cringe worthy.

Continuing in their humorous streak they performed the “Big Bang Theory Theme Song”. It is understood that BNL are goofy both lyrically and performance wise but at points it may have seemed like overkill. They regained a level of seriousness on their performance of mega-hit “One Week” and were joined by Ben Folds on “If I Had $1,000,000”.

They closed their initial set with a rap and medley on modern pop songs, which included “Thrift Shop”, “I Knew You Were Trouble”, “Get Lucky” and “Titanium”. This closer was awkward and seemed somewhat out of place. With over 20 years of material available it was a slight disappointment not to see them perform something of their own.

Coming back out for an encore, they performed hits “The Old Apartment” and “Alcohol” which drew a lot of response from excited fans. They then closed their encore with a quick cover of “Blister in the Sun” which again felt awkward as it was the second time in the evening they were ending with a song that was not their own.

Overall, the lineup of Guster, Ben Folds Five and Barenaked Ladies made for an entirely entertaining evening of music and humor. Each band having made its mark in music and having been around for close to two decades brought out long term fans as well as new. The humorous undertones carried on by the bands of the evening kept it light hearted and almost impossible to leave without having a smile on your face.