During the mid-1990s, there were fewer rock-pop crossover bands bigger than Hootie and the Blowfish. But their decline at the end of the decade paralleled their meteoric rise. When the band called it quits in 2008, there was little fanfare or farewell.
Soon thereafter, frontman Darius Rucker emerged as a country star and has enjoyed nearly a decade of success in the genre. But recently there has been a renewed nostalgia for 1990s pop culture, whether it be the Netflix series Everything Sucks, this week’s announcement of a fourth Matrix, or the release of comeback albums by ’90s bands such as Tool. This year was also an important anniversary in the life of Hootie and the Blowfish, having released their smash album Cracked Rear View in 1994. Why not go on a reunion tour?
And so, for nearly four months, the band has been touring the U.S. with supporting band – and fellow 1990s stars – Barenaked Ladies in the Group Therapy Tour. Fans can sing along to their favorite songs from college, or high school, or [cough] middle school. Let’s just say the show that I attended was like a sea of cargo shorts.
The Group Therapy Tour is replete with covers. Barenaked Ladies do a medley of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s “Shallow,” Panic at the Disco’s “High Hopes,” Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode,” and Lil Nas’ X’s “Old Town Road.” Hootie give a fantastic cover of REM’s “Losing My Religion,” which had been a highlight their first time around.
But the show stopper is the pre-encore performance Barenaked Ladies joining Hootie for The Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends,” as arranged by Joe Cocker. It was a fitting performance and high note for a band that was together for 20 years, broke up, and reunited to give a night of nostalgia to an audience there with their friends. The night I went to see them, it was the 50th anniversary of Woodstock. And hearing a cover of Cocker’s version – #2 on our new Best Woodstock Covers list – was the high point of the night.
