As the temperatures once again exceed triple digits, it is beginning to feel like it could actually be the last summer on earth. In this case, however, it’s the upcoming Barenaked Ladies tour arriving in Phoenix on June 9, 2022, at Federal Theatre in downtown Phoenix. The Barenaked Ladies long-awaited tour, first announced for 2020, postponed to 2021, and then postponed again until 2022, is finally hitting the Valley with local favorites Gin Blossoms and also Toad the Wet Sprocket.
Over the course of their remarkable career, Barenaked Ladies have written a variety of top 20 hits (including radio staples “One Week,” “Pinch Me,” “If I Had $1,000,000”), garnered two GRAMMY nominations, won eight JUNO Awards, had Ben & Jerry’s name an ice cream after them, wrote and recorded the theme song to the TV series The Big Bang Theory, and participated in the first-ever “space-to-earth musical collaboration” with astronaut Chris Hadfield. The band has also been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and received a proclamation from Toronto Mayor John Tory declaring October 1st “Barenaked Ladies Day.”
Formed in 1987 in Tempe, Gin Blossoms’ blockbuster 1992 album New Miserable Experience spawned four Top 40 hit singles (“Hey Jealousy”, “Found Out About You”, “Until I Fall Away” and “Allison Road”), sold more than 4 million units, and established the band as one of the top rock groups of that decade. More than two decades later, Gin Blossoms continue to tour performing fan favorites, while also releasing new music, building on their already extensive catalog. While they’ve come a long way from headlining club shows at Long Wong’s and other long-closed ASU-area bars, Gin Blossoms will always be hometown musical heros in the Valley.
Celebrating over 30 years as a band, Toad the Wet Sprocket continues to make music and tour with the same spirit of unwavering independence that fans fell in love with on Billboard-charting hits like “Walk on the Ocean”, “All I Want”, “Something’s Always Wrong”, and “Fall Down”. The band shares a special kind of musical chemistry that can only come from years of creating music with friends from high school.
Tickets remain available at www.ticketmaster.com.
