 
 Tonight I decided I’d go for something different
and try a bit of indie folk instead of the normal
metal or punk, a bit of a refreshing change of
pace. Tonight Canada’s finest, the Barenaked
Ladies are playing the o2 academy in Birmingham
and as I’ve always had a soft spot for them
I’d head on down. Arriving at the venue
I can see BNL attract a wide range of different
ages from young kids with their parents to old
folks with their carers.
The first act on the bill is Boothby Graffoe,
a comedy vetran who writes material for people
such as Omid Djalil and who has his own show on
Radio 4. He comes on stage with his pint and instantly
makes jokes about Birmingham, most of his short
set is mainly him making jokes but the bits of
music he does play is funny and keeps the crowd
happy. For his last song he is joined on stage
by BNL bassist Jim Creeggan and he sings a song
about Hartlepool in which he gets the crowd to
join in whilst he records his rhythms and layers
them up over one another live to make a rich fun
song.
 The next act on is Canadian indie musician Joel
Plaskett, who unlike Boothby before him has little
banter with the audience and just plays the songs,
but its great as his songs are rich and full of
heart. His latest album is called 3 to 1 and is
all about the number 3 which is summed up with
his song Through Through and Through a catchy
number that reminds me of Bruce Springsteen in
places. His songs are beautiful, folksy and have
soulful melodic rhythms, its breezy Sunday morning
music that’s good to listen to with a hangover.
Joel says “where in the home of Sabbath
so lets rock” and whips out a 5 dollar keyboard
and plays some samba beats whilst using the organ
setting, not really rocking but a nice song to
sway your hips to.
So the supports are over, and now it’s time
for BNL, and as I’m waiting in the photo
pit I catch a glimpse of the set list which is
19 songs long, so the audience are in for a treat
of songs from all their albums spanning 20 years.
They get off to a great start by playing the catchy
and upbeat ‘who needs sleep’ then
onto ‘the old apartment’ a song about
going back to your old house where you and your
ex used to live and all the memories it brings
back. After that they go into a rap about Birmingham
talking about the city centre including things
like Selfridges and The Bull Ring. These multi
talented musicians switch instruments throughout
the gig and also have great crowd banter, they
talk about not being used to venues where you
can see the carpet pattern, and how they dare
the audience to put your tongue on the carpet
for two seconds!
 The band switches styles and keeps the gig going
by belting out a bit of rock roll and guitar solos
during ‘I have learned’ and then switch
a barbershop style and introduce creepy Russian
style music in ‘wouldn’t have it any
other way’. BNL are definitely varied as
they play a song from their children’s album
and then go into a covers medley, which includes;
oh ho ho its magic, empire state of mind, tonight’s
gonna be a good night then ending on California
girls. Whilst they do this amazing medley they
dance like Ok Go and do a rap which thanks the
audience for coming.
BNL are great and my only bad word is the choice
of song they end on which is a terribly slow song
called ‘good boy’. I feel they should
have ended on one of their hits or the theme tune
to Big Bang Theory, but all in all it was a great
gig with a lot going on and it may not be rock
but it was a great night.
Bare Naked Ladies – 4.5/5
Joel Plaskett – 4/5
Boothy Graffoe - 3/5
Review By James Daly
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