Barenaked Ladies are about to walk into a Pine Knob crowd that may have come for Train—and the Canadian veterans are treating that as an opportunity, not an insult. The band will play an hour-long set Wednesday alongside Train and Matt Nathanson as part of Train’s Drops of Jupiter: 25 Years in the Atmosphere tour. For BNL, the assignment is familiar songs, fast chemistry and maybe a few listeners who arrived for Train leaving with One Week stuck in their heads.
As reported by The Oakland Press, the group sees Train’s audience as a chance to introduce its catalog to people who may know the band mainly from a handful of radio hits. Ed Robertson also acknowledged that a new record can get overshadowed on a tour built around another act’s anniversary, making the live set the band’s best sales pitch.
The Clarkston show is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. Wednesday at Pine Knob Music Theatre, with Matt Nathanson opening the night before Barenaked Ladies and Train take the stage, according to 313 Presents.
Train’s Nostalgia Tour Gives BNL A Fresh Audience
Train’s tour is built around the 25th anniversary of Drops of Jupiter, the 2001 album that produced the title hit and helped turn the group into a fixture of early-2000s pop-rock. The tour is running through more than three dozen North American cities before wrapping in Washington later this month, according to Live Nation.
That puts Barenaked Ladies in front of a crowd already primed for nostalgia, but the band has plenty of its own ammunition, including One Week, Brian Wilson, Pinch Me, If I Had $1,000,000 and the theme from The Big Bang Theory. The group’s current core lineup features Robertson, Kevin Hearn, Jim Creeggan and Tyler Stewart, a combination that has kept the band touring and recording well beyond its late-1990s breakthrough.
New Songs Are Part Of The Pitch
BNL is not relying entirely on the old favorites. The band released Almost Ready in June as its first new song in three years, and its official announcement said the summer tour would also feature the new track Careful (For Dee) and a limited-edition seven-inch vinyl release, according to Barenaked Ladies.
The group is also looking beyond this summer’s greatest-hits-friendly setting. Robertson told The Oakland Press that the band has reserved the first three months of 2027 for writing new material, while Lyle Robertson is serving as a utility player on the road across guitar, bass and keyboards.
The tour has not exactly been a friction-free cruise, either. Barenaked Ladies have dealt with extreme heat, Canadian wildfire smoke and heavy rain, and canceled their portion of one Tampa stop, adding a little weather drama to a schedule otherwise designed to keep the hits moving.
Pine Knob Stop Comes With A Familiar Summer Concert Formula
For Wednesday’s audience, the formula is straightforward: Matt Nathanson starts the evening, Barenaked Ladies get an hour to win over Train’s fans, and Train closes with its anniversary set. The Pine Knob event listing says doors open 90 minutes before the 6:45 p.m. start, per 313 Presents.
