Students To Peek at Barenaked Ladies

“It’s the perfect time of year, somewhere (not so) far away from here,” for the Canadian rock group Barenaked Ladies to appear—fully clothed—on campus.

The Harvard Concert Commission (HCC) announced last night that the band will participate in a question-and-answer session on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 1 p.m. in Lowell Lecture Hall.

“It’s not a concert, it’s more of an opportunity for students to interact with artists,” said HCC Promotion Chair Lauren P.S. Epstein ’07.

The event also marks the launch of the HCC’s newest initiative, Harvard LIVE!

The program’s aim is to “bring in big names to meet with students in intimate group settings,” said HCC Director G. Tyler O’Brien ’07 last night.

While the Barenaked Ladies will be the featured speakers, organizers hope to plan similar Harvard LIVE! events in the future.

“We expect it to be a series,” Epstein said.

O’Brien said last night that the Office of Fine Arts (OFA), a co-sponsor with HCC, has been an invaluable resource.

“They provided us with institutional and financial support,” said O’Brien.

The OFA also provided logistical funding for Harvard LIVE! through the Peter Ivers Visiting Arts Fund. The fund was established in 1983 by the family of Peter S. Ivers ’68, a New Wave musician who was bludgeoned to death by an intruder in his Los Angeles apartment.

Unlike for its concerts, musicians appearing at Harvard LIVE! will not receive monetary compensation, according to O’Brien. Rather, participators will be presented with the Harvard LIVE! Arts Achievement Award, which, according to the HCC press release, “recognizes the artists’ achievements and contributions to contemporary music.”

HCC Development Chair D. Zak Tanjeloff ’08 said last night the HCC was still committed to producing concerts.

“This doesn’t take the place of what the HCC has done before,” said Tanjeloff.

O’Brien explained that Harvard LIVE! was a way for the HCC to use its “resources to come up with new kinds of programming.”

The Barenaked Ladies released their newest album Sept. 12 and will begin their official U.S. concert tour at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut on Oct. 21. They’ve already started promoting the album on the road—singing before a crowd of 100,000 at a stock-car racing event in Virginia.

The band’s widely-known song “If I Had a Million Dollars” first gained popularity in Canada in the early 1990s—and the band’s wish has come true: they’ve sold more than 10 million records worldwide.

The concert commission will launch a lottery online this Friday at harvardconcerts.org to allocate seats in the lecture hall. Lottery winners can then purchase tickets for $10.

—Staff writer Alexander D. Blankfein can be reached at ablankf@fas.harvard.edu.