If you could only see how old this band is...

So I'm melting my way to work and as I approach the building I see tents set up. This sparks my interest because I was told that they always have some sort of free event in front of our building, but since they started construction on the wobbly stones that tried to kill me out in front, I didn't think there'd be anything good this year. But alas! there were 2 tents and a stage by the Mix being put up! Excited, I hurried to my desk to find out who could be playing.

Better than Ezra. That's who's playing. Better than freaking Ezra is going to be playing at noon. Who? Who did you say Connie? Better than Ezra? Am I in a time warp? Did I just go back to 1997? No, you did not. And unfortunately I am not crazy, they are really playing. This angered me greatly, seeing as it is not 1997 and if I ever did have their tape or CD for them to sign, I probably threw it out oh, I don't know, in 1999? Who the hell do they think they are trying to stage a comeback? I started to get unexplainably annoyed, mainly because I could not for the life of me remember any of their songs. Go ahead, try to think of a Better than Ezra song right now....
....
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you can't. And if you're thinking of any crappy song from the late 90s, I bet a million dollars you're thinking of that song that goes "if you can only see the way she loves me, maybe you will understand, blah blah blah". sorry- you loose. I looked that up almost certain it was one of their songs, but apparently it's by the band Tonic. Further annoyed, I then did what every red-blooded American does when they don't know the answer- I Googled it. That led me to Wikipedia, the most useful web tool ever. However even Wikipedia did not have much info, but that led me to their "hit" song A Lifetime, which I looked up the lyrics to and--nothing. No recollection. Then that website led me to their song Extraordinary and STILL nothing.

Deeply aggravated, I am at the point of staging a protest against the concert across the street so that people don't get sucked in thinking, "Oh, Better than Ezra, I know them" and being horribly misled once they start performing. I was even planning on calling the Spin Doctors and asking them if they'd come play that Two Princes song (you laugh, but I bet I could get them to come for $5 and free subway) just so people who were looking for a good 90s one hit wonder band could come across the street and find some real entertainment.

But alas, I could not let it go. So I did one more search and found the lyrics to Good:

Looking around the house
Hidden behind the window and the door
Searching for signs of life but there's nobody home
Well maybe I'm just too sure
And maybe I'm just too frightened by the sound of it
Pieces of note fall down but the letter said
Uh huh, it was good living with you
Uh huh, it was good, good, good, gooood

Which led me to this:

OHHHHHHHH, BETTER THAN EZZZZZRAAAAAA!

So now that I know WHO the hell they are, I'd still like to know what the hell they're doing outside my work, setting up and bothering me with their sound test. Honestly I probaly walked right past one of them in my sprint to the air conditioned building. I have mixed feelings now and am in between being annoyed by them for being so lame and attempting a comeback, or sorry for them because nobody knows them.

This isn't the only 90s one hit wonder band to come to Chicago. Have you seen the set list for the Taste? It includes Barenaked Ladies, Wallflowers and Counting Crows. Seriously?? When I first looked at it I was certain the Taste people accidentally put up the set list for 1999 instead of 2009. What's going on why are all these bands coming back? Don't get me wrong, I looooovvvved me some crappy one-hit-wonders. I remember listening to the radio and having my tape ready to hit 'record' the second one of these bands' songs would play. But that was a long time ago, before I had a job, before I could drink, BEFORE I COULD STAY OUT PAST 9PM. That's quite a long time ago.

So, although I don't condone these bands to live on because I think its wrong for bands to try to linger on once their fans can't even remeber what they sing, I will probably be listening to some Better than Ezra 'hits' today at the comfort of my desk.

Stay tuned next month for Collective Soul- no, seriously, that's who's playing next month. =/