Welcome to Gaia! ::

A MESSAGE FROM BARENAKED LADIES

By mutual agreement, Steven Page will be parting company with the remaining members of Barenaked Ladies. Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart will continue recording and touring together as Barenaked Ladies. Steven Page will pursue solo projects including theatrical opportunities while the band enters the studio in April 2009, and hits the road in the fall.

Page says "These guys are my brothers. We've grown up together over the past twenty years. I love them and wish them all the best in the future."

The band also wish Steven well in all of his endeavors. Ed Robertson says: "It's the start of a new chapter for all of us. Here's to the future!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well that's a fine way to celebrate twenty years of being together in a band.

It's hard for me to put into words all of the different emotions that I'm feeling at this moment, but mostly, I'm torn between extreme sadness and anger. The sadness does not need to be explained because I'm sure you're all feeling as I do, but at the same time I'm angry becuase I feel like he lied to us all and gave us false hope.

In his last blog entry, Steve Page said that he was "doing great" and that he was looking forward to a "chance for a renewed and fruitful relationship with my band...". This seemed to suggest that he was going to put the troubling events of 2008 behind him and move on. Well, move on he did, but without the other Ladies. For this, I resent him.

Another thing about his departure from the band that angers me is the fact that many of the signature aspects of Barenaked Ladies concerts that fans have grown to love will most likely be gone. The stage banter, the rap, the dancing...out the window, goodbye. I realize that the other Ladies will still be there to exchange dialogue with Ed, but who knows if they have the improvisational genius that Steve did.

Also, who will sing Steve's songs during concerts? Will they play them at all? I don't think that anyone else in the band could match Steve's vocal range.

While I know that this is entirely selfish on my part (though, I'm sure many other fans feel the same), deep down, I almost wish that the solo career and other artistic opportunities presented to Steve will not give him the new sense of direction that he is looking for. I feel this way for the simple fact that if they do not, I'm sure the remaining Ladies would welcome him back. But, would he want to come back?

I sincerely hope that this is not so, but could Steve's departure be the catalyst for the eventual disbanding of Barenaked Ladies? There's no two ways about it, Steve was an integral part of the band, and now that he's gone, I fear for their survival.

The Ladies have inspired me in so many ways over the past ten years. From learning to play guitar to deciding to pursue an Environmental Policy major at my University, I have always looked to them as a source of motivation in many of my interests. Now everything has changed. I will never be able to listen to their old albums in the same way again. I'll still enjoy the music, but there will always be a hollow feeling, knowing that Steve, the singer of so many great songs, is no longer with the band.

As fans, we wanted and expected them to always be there together, no matter what, to entertain us and to make us happy. We often do this without giving consideration to how they might be feeling. The same is true for myself and it would chase a lie if I tried to say anything different. That being said, I would like to wish a heartfelt "good luck!" to both parties in all of their future endeavours and may the next Barenaked Ladies record go quadruple platinum.

I can't believe this.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Soon after I heard the news, I picked up my guitar and played You Will Be Waiting, which was the first BnL song that I ever learned. I cried through the whole song.

Yup. I'm still pretty much feeling like it all sucks. Ditto to just about everything you said. I hadn't even thought about half of it. Like what they will do about Steve's songs at concerts. I seriously wanted to cry. Still kind of do. I'm terrified for what this means for the Ladies. I don't actually want to know what exactly went down, because it might taint past and future music, but I seriously want to smack whoever is responsible.

Alright, when the news broke, I was understandably all doom and gloom about the situation, but after letting it settle in and hearing/reading multiple interviews, I don't feel the same sense of "It's all over!" that I previously did.

My biggest fear/sense of sadness about Steve leaving was the thought that there was some kind of fight and that they weren't friends anymore. That was killing me more than the fact that he was no longer in the band. Thankfully, that fear was laid to rest. They are all still good friends who remain supportive of each other. So worry ye not phlipp! Here's a nice and lengthy interview with Steve in which he clears some stuff up. Also, he mentions the possibility of getting back together to "do a one-off" sometime in the future!

As to the "Who's going to sing Steve's songs?" question, I've heard Ed sing some of Steve's songs in the past, such as Brian Wilson and What a Good Boy, and he sounded good. I've also heard Kevin and Jim sing some Steve songs. I'll provide some links so you can hear for yourself!

Ed sings Brian Wilson
Ed sings What A Good Boy
Ed rocks the hell out of Old Apartment!
Ed sings all of One Week
Kevin sings Shopping
Kevin sings Sound Of Your Voice
Kevin sings Call and Answer
Jim sings Maybe Katie
Jim sings Maybe You're Right

And yes, they performed If I Had A Million Dollars

Oh hell, they did their first show without Steve last night down in Florida. Just go to YouTube and type in "BnL Universal"!

Here's the setlist.. It deffinitely was more of an Ed song-centered show, but I'm sure they'll incorporate more Steve songs when they work out the necessary instrumental key changes to compensate for their different vocal ranges.

I still miss Steve, but judging by this, I think they'll be just fine!

well, Jim's rendition of "Maybe Katie" has restored hope for the future of BNL

Kev and "Shopping" made me laugh.