Big Head Todd and the Monsters are teaming up with the Barenaked Ladies for an upcoming series of concerts dubbed “The Last Summer on Earth” tour. Featured guests will include Blues Traveler and Cracker.
Big Head Todd, featuring college chums Todd Mohr, Rob Squires and Brian Nevin, will help launch the new tour on July 6 at Toledo, Ohio, part of a 30-stop trip. (See complete concert listings below.)
The group, which transformed into the Big Head Blues Club for a roots recording last year in tribute to Robert Johnson, is already in the midst of its own club tour, their first in more than three years. At select stops, Big Head Todd is performing its breakout album Midnight Radio in its entirety.
Here are the dates for the Big Head Todd and the Monsters spring club tour:
March 14: Greenville, SC, Handle Bar
March 15: Charleston, SC, Music Farm
March 16: Charlotte, NC, The Fillmore
March 18: Crested Butte, CO, Crested Butte Mountain Resort (co-headline with Guster)
March 25: Ludlow, VT, Okemo Mountain Resort (co-headline with Guster)
April 1: Newbury, NH, Mount Sunapee Resort (co-headline with Guster)
April 14: Phoenix, AZ, McDowell Mountain Music Festival
May 5: Uncasville, CT, Mohegan Sun Casino
May 12: Myrtle Beach, SC, House of Blues
June 9: Morrison, CO, Red Rocks Amphitheatre (with special guests Barenaked Ladies)
June 16: Sioux City, IA, Awesome Biker Nights
Here’s a look back at our recent thoughts on Big Head Todd and the Barenaked Ladies. Click through the titles for complete reviews …
BIG HEAD BLUES CLUB – 100 YEARS OF ROBERT JOHNSON (2011): Enjoyable as guest appearances by B.B. King, Hubert Sumlin, David “Honeyboy” Edwards and Charlie Musselwhite no doubt are, 100 Years would simply be filed away as another tribute album but for the engaging, positively un-worshipful fun clearly being had by Mohr and Co. This is no funeral. It’s a celebration, and Big Head Todd — rather than getting lost amidst so much history — play it that way.
You hear it in the layered shuffle rhythm put down by Squires and Nevin during “Kitchen,” in Mohr’s subtle but vital vocal turn on “All My Love’s in Vain,” in Lawton’s just-right old-timey piano on “Kind Hearted Woman.” Ruthie Foster shares the lyric with Mohr on “When You’ve Got a Friend,” to great effect, as well. The song is remade into a conversation between two people, adding a new complexity.
During these moments, perhaps more so even than when contemporaries like Edwards reinterpret the music, Robert Johnson’s sweeping influence is underscored once again. And not in the liner notes. But right there, in the grooves.
GUILTY PLEASURES: BARENAKED LADIES – EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE (2003): Ignoring a few select ‘outtakes’ (one is, of course, a huge radio hit), this album is right in my pop music wheelhouse. Full of some fun tunes spun up in quite a few different styles. “Next Time” is a lilting and catchy epic. “For You” has quite the folk/country flair, with great harmonies (gees, I wish I could sing like that) and cool instrumentation (is that a glockenspiel in there?). “Testing 1, 2, 3” is another fun one that mixes in a little XTC karma. On “Upside Down,” you’re surprised first with a full string section in the introduction … which then morphs into a pop song-cum-tango! (Hint: turn this up loud.) Honestly, there’s not a bad song in the bunch.
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Here are the date and venues for the “Last Summer On Earth” tour with Barenaked Ladies, Blues Traveler, Big Head Todd and the Monsters and Cracker:
July 6 Toledo, OH Toledo Zoo Amp
July 7 Rochester, NY Marvin Sands PAC
July 8 Dayton, OH Fraze Pavilion
July 9 Chicago, IL Charter One Pavilion
July 11 Vienna, VA Wolftrap
July 12 Raleigh, NC Raleigh Amp
July 13 Charlotte, NC Uptown Amp
July 14 Charleston, SC Family Circle Stadium
July 16 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Amp
July 17 Tampa, FL Ask Gary Amp
July 18 West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amp
July 20 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods
July 21 Austin, TX ACL at Moody Theat.
July 22 Dallas, TX Gexa Amp
July 24 Albuquerque, NM Sandia Casino
July 25 Phoenix, AZ Comerica Theatre
July 27 Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amp
July 28 Las Vegas, NV The Joint @ Hard Rock
July 29 San Diego, CA Harrah’s Rincon
July 31 Saratoga, CA Mountain Winery
Aug 2 Boise, ID Botanical Gardens
Aug 3 Redmond, WA Marymoor
Aug 9 Council Bluffs, IA Harrah’s Council Bluffs
Aug 10 West Allis, WI Wisconsin State Fairgrounds
Aug 11 Detroit, MI DTE Amphitheatre
Aug 12 Indianapolis, IN The Lawn @ White River State Park
Aug 14 Wantagh, NY Jones Beach
Aug 15 Philadelphia, PA Penn’s Landing
Aug 17 Bethlehem, PA Sands Event Ctr
Aug 18 Boston, MA Bank of America Pavilion
Aug 19 Bangor, ME Bangor Waterfront
Tickets and additional information is available at www.lastsummeronearth.com.
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