BNL’s mammoth Last Summer on Earth tour wrapped up last night in Bangor; with Cracker, Big Head Todd & The Monsters, Blues Traveler and Barenaked Ladies sending off their 2012 summer tour in style.

The Last Summer On Earth tour has taken the four bands across North America, where audiences were hungry for some 90s nostalgia: the tour sold out arenas far and wide, and was met with glowing reviews. BNL even wrote on their Facebook page that it was their “best tour yet” and their pals in Blues Traveler Tweeted similar sentiments.

As is traditional for Barenaked Ladies, the last show of the tour was met with a string of pranks and shenanigans. During Big Head Todd‘s cover of LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It”, Ed Robertson stormed the stage before stripping down to reveal only an ill-fitting thong protecting his modesty. He then proceeded to parade the band with some, er, ‘vigorous thrusting’ – and if you want to see it, you can click here.

It seems the tour finalé fun didn’t stop there: later in the evening, Blues Traveler Tweeted some photos suggesting that Ed really cannot keep his clothes on, as he showed up in their tour bus, again wearing very little… the Last Summer On Earth after-party apparently included a lot of naked flesh!

The tour has been a real treat to follow, with some magnificent clips showing up online – from Ed joining in on Blues Traveler’s cover of ‘Sledgehammer’, to the new Barenaked Rap, to the new podcasts, up close and personal recordings, and all the craziness in between. We’re glad the bands seemed to have had so much fun; the quadruple-billed line-up certainly has been a winning formula.

So what’s next for BNL?

The hard work doesn’t stop there for the Ladies: having already recorded one brand new song in a Toronto studio, the band will continue to work on new material; although the format in which these songs are released remains to be seen (Ed: “It’s kind of more interesting at this point to maybe just record a couple of songs and release them as we record them”).

BNL also continue work on the musical score for the Broadway adaption of “Animal House“; of which Robertson has commented: “It’s a very long process, like writing two records’ worth of music that’s constantly being tweaked and changed and revised”. The show is earmarked for a June 2013 opening, although this is subject to change.

Then, later in the year, the band hit Canada for a series of “Symphony Barenaked” shows, showcasing rearrangements of some old favourites, holiday classics, and much more. We can hope to see BNL back in the UK in 2013, although no dates are currently scheduled.

More…

For more on the artists included on the LSOE tour:

• Cracker
• Big Head Todd & The Monsters
• Blues Traveler

So this tour was so much fun & none of us can remember having as much on a package in10years easy… Everyone involved was so gifted & striving to make the tour a better experience & it seemed to me that though all tours can become a grind, there were always two benevolent forces at work… a real sense of musicianship, be it Cracker’s genuine sense of throbbing as a band & taking the audience with them thru such killer tunes as they build… (&U forget how many good ones they’re responsible for)… Or Big Head Todd & his Monsters with such tight soulfull playing that to me has the trademark pocket brought about or creating a perfect place for Todd’s vocal stylings that can only be described as the truth about blues music… there is adventure to his fretboard when he lays his hands on for real… & then The Barenaked Ladies!! I have seen them segue from “used to know” into Journey & into a decent rap tune w/choreography & with partial nudity… & they commit to it with such masterfull execution that all of it works & this creates a world of musical possibilities… & then one need only concider their body of work & there are so many great songs they are responsible for… & all done with this wonderfull sense of fun… which brings me to the second consistent aspect of the tour… There was always a sense of fun in the air… I would credit BNL for that, but it was contagious… & perhaps because we’d all worked on the road so long, we all knew instinctively to let benevolent vibes flow,… or maybe we simply had no choice, but I can tell U it is a rare thing indeed!

LSOE Media:

• Talking with Barenaked Ladies: New tour, play, songs – and life without Steven Page
• Barenaked Ladies, Blues Traveler Tour a winner
• Inside the Last Summer on Earth tour
• After a shake-up, Barenaked Ladies redefine themselves
• List Girl: the LSOE Barenaked experience
• Glide Magazine Review
• Millionaire Playboy review
• Tampa Bay Review
• For BNL, doomsday is a time to party
• BNL keeping active, set to play Wolf Trap
• Meeting BNL, by Tori Schallhorn

As always, stay tuned to BNLUK for the latest.