Snacktime with BNL

First, let me apologize for the novel that follows... I'm a fan, and can't help it!

I'm finally blogging about our experience with the Barenaked Ladies (BNL) last weekend. For those of you that dont' know who BNL is, they are one of my favorite bands of all time, and they happen to be awesome performers, so any show of their's is a good one!

I got word that one of my favorite bands of all time was going to be up in Boulder, CO at the Barnes and Noble bookstore. They just released their kid's cd, "Snacktime", and were there to promote the cd. They played a 30 minute set, and then spent an hour signing the cds. It was a huge blast! We got there about 2 hours before the show started, because we needed to get wrist-bands to have our cds signed. We still didn't get good seats, but it was kind of a blessing in disguise. We set up camp right near the main aisle as you come in the store. I stayed there and made myself look as big and smelly as possible, while Laurie and Gracie went to look at kids' books. While I was sitting there, I swore that I saw Ed Robertson (one of the "Ladies") walk into the store and right by me... I thought I must be imagining it, but then about 15 minutes later, I know that I saw Tyler Stewart (the drummer) walk by, so I started keeping my eyes peeled. Laurie and Gracie came back to hang out with me, and it was a good thing, because Laurie had the camera. Not too long after she got back, I yelled (not loud), "There's Jim!!! Where's the camera?" (Jim is the bass player for BNL). Our camera takes for ever to power up, but it made it just in time for me to yell "JIM" and he turned to wave!

What great luck!!! I held on to the camera, just in case we saw more of the "Ladies" up close, but no luck at that point...

The concert started, and Laurie and I took turns holding Gracie on our shoulders. She loved the show so much! She saw wiggling, and clapping and laughing... It was really cute!

When the show ended, they started autographs, but they were only letting a few people go at a time, and BNL was only going to sign for 1 hour... It came down to the wire for us, as we were some of the last group to get signatures. It was a total blast to be able to talk to each of the band members. I have to admit that I even got a little tongue-tied when I talked to Steven Page, who is probably my favorite band member. I asked him a question about one of the songs we sang on his solo album, and I couldn't even remember the name of the song, so I totally botched it!!! Ed Robertson was kind enough to allow Gracie and I to have a picture with him. He's my other favorite...

Here's a crappy picture of the other band members (From left, Kevin Hearn, Steven Page, Jim Creeggan, Tyler Stewart):

It was such an exciting day for me, and I think Laurie and Gracie enjoyed themselves as well. If any of you happen to listen to their new cd, check out 7-8-9 and Pollywog. Those are our favorites. By the way, you can watch an animated music video for 7-8-9 here, and you can also download it for free on the BNL website. Check out the music video. There is a hilarious line at the end, but I'll encourage you all to watch it on youtube by not repeating it here.

After the autographs, we took a quick drive up the canyon that Boulder Creek runs through... I'm guessing it's called Boulder Canyon, or Boulder Creek Canyon, but I don't know. Whatever it is called, it was beautiful, and it looked like there were tons of places to pull off and have fun in the water.

Long story short, Boulder can be a fun place to visit even if you're not a hippy or bleeding-heart...