Ahead of the upcoming 30th anniversary of their first gig together, five members of the Barenaked Ladies appeared together in Calgary on Wednesday as the band took its place in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
“It’s pretty gratifying to know that we’ve contributed something,” said singer and guitarist Steven Page who left the band in 2009.
“To be amongst such distinguished company like Oscar Peterson, Rush and Neil Young, it’s pretty incredible,” added drummer Tyler Stewart.
Barenaked Ladies are the 51st recipient of the honour and the National Music Centre opened an exhibit showcasing the history of the band from Scarborough, Ontario that’s released 15 full length albums .
“It’s a first to walk into a museum and see yourself on the wall and know every moment where those pictures were taken from,” said bassist Jim Creegan. “It was unfamiliar and then immediately familiar.”
Ed Robertson, the band’s lone frontman following Page’s departure, said the flood of memories hit well before Wednesday’s ceremony as he went through old lyric books and set lists. “Opening boxes that hadn’t been opened in 25 years to find all this stuff, that was really fun.”
The hall of fame ceremony comes on the heels of the band’s reunion at The Juno Awards in March in Vancouver where the band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. When questioned on whether Page would rejoin the band on a more permanent basis, Stewart elected not to speculate.
“We had a great time at the Junos getting back together,” explained Stewart. “It had been almost 10 years. We had fun.“We both have respective things we’re going to do. We’ve going on a tour right away, Steven’s going over to the U.K. right away. We all continue on with our lives but you never know. Maybe one day down the road, mom and dad will get back together and Santa Claus will be real.”
The new exhibition at Studio Bell, called Milestones: Barenaked Ladies, celebrates the 30-year career of the band and runs until February 2019.
October 1, 2018 will be the 30th anniversary of the band’s first concert.
