Barenaked Ladies singer Ed Robertson knows there’s something to be said for talent.
But the “One Week” band’s show comes with impromptu jams and, well, mistakes.
“I know the songs are going to go great because we work really hard on them,” Robertson says via Zoom.
“We take that part seriously. For me, the whole ‘show’ is the stuff that happens between the songs — the banter, spontaneity and the funny, stupid songs we make up. That other stuff happens every night.”
Robertson contends that stale shows cause burnout or boredom with other bands. Barenaked Ladies keep it fresh.
“We’re on a tightrope every night. We’re swinging for the fences,” he says, laughing. “We never know what we’re going to do, let alone what the other guys in the band are going to do.
“It’s so exciting. It adds such a layer of excitement and the unknown for every single show. It keeps it fresh for us and the audience. I was saying to another performer the other day, the superpower of Barenaked Ladies is that we do not care if we screw up. If you don’t care if you screw up, then you have nothing to be nervous about.”
Fans can see that for themselves when the “Last Summer on Earth” tour comes to Arizona Federal Theatre in Phoenix on Thursday, June 9.
A few of Barenaked Ladies’ “spectacular train wrecks” are hilarious to Robertson. The band — which also includes bassist Jim Creeggan, drummer Tyler Stewart and keyboardist Kevin Hearn — just shrugs it off and moves on.
“It’s how people know our shows are real,” he says.
The last two years have been strange for everyone, including BNL, who had to postpone their tour twice. Now that the jaunt with the Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket is back on track, Robertson is relieved.
“I’m thrilled that we were able to keep the lineup and all the shows,” Robertson says. “We actually were able to add a show to the tour.”
During Barenaked Ladies’ European leg of their tour, the set list included a mix of hits; tracks from their latest album, “Detour de Force”; and deep cuts. The collection continues Barenaked Ladies’ penchant for writing quirky-yet-heartfelt songs.
Produced by Juno and Grammy award winners Eric Ratz and Mark Howard, “Detour de Force” fuses the band members’ writing voices into a cohesive work. The 14 tracks include the sonically adventurous “Flip,” the hopeful and infectious “Good Life,” and “New Disaster.”
“It was a weird one to make because everybody had to roll with the punches through this weird time,” Robertson says.
“But for it, (the pandemic break) afforded us something we’ve never had while making a record — that’s time. We got to actually listen to the songs for a few months while everything was closed and think about what some of them needed. Some of them needed things taken away; some of them needed to be fully reapproached.”
One version of “Live Well” was scrapped, and Barenaked Ladies went back to the studio and played live, as opposed to recording one instrument at a time. Nearly all the overdubs were removed.
“New Disaster” was completely rebuilt from the ground up, something Barenaked Ladies hadn’t previously had the luxury to do.
“It’s very expensive to make a record,” he says. “We tour so much that we only build in a limited window to make a record and then everybody’s plans changed.”
The plans stuck, however, to record songs that blend dark lyrics with upbeats. Sometimes, it’s the other way around.
“Even ‘Flip,’ which is a very positive-sounding song, is really about all the insanity of social media and this strange point in communication that we find ourselves in,” he says. “It’s sort of encouraging that there is another side to this discourse.
“Like the old saying, ‘If it rages, it engages.’ Unfortunately, it’s just a bug in the human operating system, and the companies are exploiting it. We need to step away and step back. I heard somebody say recently, ‘I think to myself, did I know that person 5 minutes ago? And if not, I move on.’”
That wordplay is something that keeps Barenaked Ladies relevant — that and caring.
“I think we’ve always really taken our good fortune seriously, and we never take it for granted,” Robertson says.
“We respect our audience, and we try hard every time. I love what I do, and I love that I get to do it. So, I do everything I can to nurture that. It’s also communication within the band. It’s making sure everybody’s engaged and attached to what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.
“I always say this, because it’s true: It’s more fun than ever. Now, I’ve got nothing to prove. I’ve accomplished 10 times more than I ever thought I would. The fact that I still get to be a guy in a rock band and get to get onstage in venues that, frankly, I would pay to play in is amazing. I get paid to play in them.”
Robertson says his good buddy, Canadian musician and actor Alan Doyle, explains it best.
“He’ll say something to the effect of, ‘How lucky are we?’ I’ve really taken that to heart over the years,” he says.
“Literally all my dreams came true 20 years ago.”
Barenaked Ladies w/Toad the Wet Sprocket and Gin Blossoms
WHEN: 7 p.m. Thursday, June 9
WHERE: Arizona Federal Theater, 400 W. Washington Street, Phoenix
COST: Tickets start at $56
INFO: livenation.com
