The Best Thing Ever

Last updated
The Best Thing Ever
Origin Boston & Westchester, U.S.
Genres Punk
Years active2003 – 2014
LabelsHIG Records
Members Noah Britton
Alex Billig
Jen Page
Past membersEmilyn Brodsky

The Best Thing Ever is a punk band/performance art group formed by autistic singer/songwriter Noah Britton [1] [2] in the summer of 2003. The label "punk" is adequate to describe the band's influences and ethics, but the sound that they exhibited changed drastically from show to show.

Contents

Biography

The Best Thing Ever's original lineup consisted of Noah Britton, Alex Billig, Jennifer Page, and Emilyn Brodsky. Although the band officially consisted of four people, they played in various incarnations. Britton was the only constant member.

Brodsky landed the band big gigs opening for such acts as The Dresden Dolls, The World/Inferno Friendship Society, and The Gossip, but when she was offered a spot opening for the Magnetic Fields at New York University (NYU), she decided to leave The Best Thing Ever to make it on her own.

On May 1, 2006, Britton, Billig, and Page officially revived The Best Thing Ever moniker before embarking on The Bathroom Tour. For twelve straight days, The Best Thing Ever invaded bathrooms across New England to perform their music for unsuspecting audiences. [3] [4]

The Bathroom Tour DVD, which documents the events of the tour, was released in April 2007. [5] Part of it was filmed by Josh Safdie. [6]

In the summer of 2007, the band reunited for The Surprise Tour, playing exclusively unbooked shows all over the country with acts including Andrew Bird and Gravy Train!!!!. Venues included the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum, the Mall of America, Corn Palace, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where they put up their own exhibit as inductees for the class of 2007. [7] A film documenting the tour was released on April 1, 2011, edited by Benny Safdie. [8] [9]

During the last week of June 2008, the band went on what they claimed would be their last tour, The Retirement Tour, a tour of retirement-related venues. However, in April, 2009, they played a surprise show at a donut shop in Allston, Massachusetts. They now claim that The Retirement Tour never happened, and that they will continue to perform occasionally. [10]

In February 2010, the band went on The Animals Tour, performing exclusively for animals in the New York City area, including surprise shows at a zoo and an aquarium, and a booked show at a dog shelter, which was filmed and edited by Benny Safdie. [11]

On April 1, 2011, The Best Thing Ever premiered The Surprise Tour DVD at UnionDocs in Brooklyn, NY. [12] They decided to only screen this film every April 1 in a different state, and continue to do so annually. [13]

In April, 2024, The Best Thing Ever performed a 20th anniversary reunion concert in Cambridge, Massachusetts, backed with a choir, as well as a performance in Northampton, Massachusetts where they were backed by Young@Heart Chorus. [14]

Filmography

DVDs

YearTitleLabel
2007 The Bathroom Tour HIG Records
2011 The Surprise Tour HIG Records

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aerosmith</span> American rock band

Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums), and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has also incorporated elements of pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists. Aerosmith is sometimes referred to as "the Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". The primary songwriting team of Tyler and Perry is sometimes referred to as the "Toxic Twins".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Diamond</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1941)

Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts: "Cracklin' Rosie", "Song Sung Blue", "Longfellow Serenade", "I've Been This Way Before", "If You Know What I Mean", "Desirée", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", "America", "Yesterday's Songs", and "Heartlight". Thirty-eight songs by Diamond have reached the top 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts, including "Sweet Caroline". He has also acted in films, making his screen debut in the 1980 musical drama film The Jazz Singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Troggs</span> English band

The Troggs are an English beat music band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper "Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all of which sold over 1 million copies and were awarded gold discs. "Wild Thing" is ranked No. 257 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was an influence on garage rock and punk rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cave In</span> American rock band

Cave In is an American rock band that formed in 1995 in Methuen, Massachusetts. The band's lineup solidified with the 1998 release of Until Your Heart Stops through Hydra Head Records, and their early albums were prominent in the metalcore scene. The band later experimented with other genres, receiving mainstream recognition for their 2003 RCA Records album Antenna and its lead single "Anchor," which had an overall alternative rock style. The group went on hiatus in 2006, later reforming in 2009 with the release of the Planets of Old EP, followed by the White Silence LP in 2011, both of which saw a return to Cave In's earlier and heavier sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arcade Fire</span> Canadian indie rock band

Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's touring line-up also includes former core member Sarah Neufeld and multi-instrumentalists Paul Beaubrun, Dan Boeckner and Eric Heigle. Each of the band's studio albums features contributions from composer and violinist Owen Pallett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feist (singer)</span> Canadian musician

Leslie Feist, known mononymously as Feist, is a Canadian indie pop singer-songwriter and guitarist, performing both as a solo artist and as a member of the indie rock group Broken Social Scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Medeski</span> American jazz keyboardist and composer

Anthony John Medeski is an American jazz keyboard player and composer. Medeski is a veteran of New York's 1990s avant-garde jazz scene and is known popularly as a member of Medeski Martin & Wood. He plays the acoustic piano and an eclectic array of keyboards, including the Hammond B3 organ, melodica, mellotron, clavinet, ARP String Ensemble, Wurlitzer electric piano, Moog Voyager Synthesizer, Wurlitzer 7300 Combo Organ, Vox Continental Baroque organ, and Yamaha CS-1 Synthesizer, among others. When playing acoustic piano, Medeski usually plays the Steinway piano and is listed as a Steinway Artist.

<i>Zoo TV: Live from Sydney</i> 1994 concert video by U2

Zoo TV: Live from Sydney is a concert film by Irish rock band U2. It was shot on 27 November 1993 at Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney, Australia, during the "Zoomerang" leg of the group's Zoo TV Tour. Directed by David Mallet, the concert was televised worldwide via pay-per-view, and was released on home video in May 1994 on VHS and Laserdisc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Evans (comedian)</span> British stand-up comedian and actor (born 1964)

Lee John Martin Evans is a British former comedian, actor, musician, singer, and writer. He co-founded the production company Little Mo Films with Addison Cresswell, who was also his agent prior to Cresswell's death in December 2013.

Ronald Thomas Verrell was an English jazz drummer. He played in two of the United Kingdom's "most famous" big bands, the Ted Heath Orchestra and the Syd Lawrence Orchestra. Verrell also worked extensively in television, including as a drummer in Jack Parnell's ATV Orchestra and Sunday Night at the London Palladium. He also provided the drumming for The Muppet Show's Animal, and was a "Skinnerette" on The Frank Skinner Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Gaslight Anthem</span> American rock band

The Gaslight Anthem is an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 2006. The band consists of Brian Fallon, Alex Rosamilia, Alex Levine, and Benny Horowitz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Airborne Toxic Event</span> American indie band

The Airborne Toxic Event is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2006. It consists of Mikel Jollett, Steven Chen, Adrian Rodriguez, Daren Taylor (drums), and Miriam "Mimi" Peschet. Anna Bulbrook and Noah Harmon were formerly members of the band.

The Eskalators are an American Brooklyn-based steampunk and vegan musical collective, puppeteering ensemble, and experimental street mime troupe, formed by Eric Williams in the summer of 2007. The group is known for holding elaborate, public performances, fire poi artistry, and flash mobs on New York City Subway cars without formal written consent from the subway's operator, the MTA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oneohtrix Point Never</span> American musician

Daniel Lopatin, best known as Oneohtrix Point Never or OPN, is an American experimental electronic music producer, composer, singer, and songwriter. His music has utilized tropes from various musical genres and eras, sample-based composition, and complex MIDI production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safdie brothers</span> American film directors

Joshua Safdie and Benjamin Safdie are independent American filmmakers and actors based in New York City, who frequently collaborate on their films. They are best known for writing and directing the crime thriller films Good Time (2017), starring Robert Pattinson, and Uncut Gems (2019), starring Adam Sandler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal Collective</span> American experimental pop band

Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist, and Deakin. The band's work is characterized by an eclectic exploration of styles, including psychedelia, freak folk, noise, and electronica, with the use of elements such as loops, drones, sampling, vocal harmonies, and sound collage. AllMusic's Fred Thomas suggests that the group "defined the face of independent experimental rock during the 2000s and 2010s."

<i>Uncut Gems</i> 2019 film by the Safdie brothers

Uncut Gems is a 2019 American crime thriller film directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bronstein. It stars Adam Sandler, LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, and Eric Bogosian. The film tells the story of Howard Ratner (Sandler), a Jewish-American jeweler and gambling addict in New York City's Diamond District, who must retrieve an expensive gem he purchased in order to pay off his debts. Filming took place from September to November 2018. The original score was composed by Daniel Lopatin. Uncut Gems is the last film directed by the Safdie brothers before dissolving their partnership in 2024.

<i>The Curse</i> (American TV series) American black comedy television series

The Curse is an American satirical black comedy thriller television series created and written by Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, and starring Emma Stone, Fielder, and Safdie. It was filmed from June to October 2022 and premiered on streaming and on-demand for all Showtime and Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers on November 10, 2023, before making its on-air debut on Showtime on November 12. Its first three episodes premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 12, 2023. The first season concluded on January 12, 2024, receiving critical acclaim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benny Safdie</span> American actor and director

Benjamin Safdie is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and film editor best known for working with his older brother Josh as a filmmaker. His directorial works include Heaven Knows What (2014), Good Time (2017), and Uncut Gems (2019). Transitioning towards acting, Safdie was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his role in Good Time and has since taken on roles in films such as Licorice Pizza (2021), Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. and Oppenheimer. He co-created, co-wrote and starred in the television show The Curse (2023).

"The Fire Burns On" is the sixth episode of the American television satire black comedy The Curse. The episode was written by series creators Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, and directed by Fielder. It originally aired on streaming and on-demand for all Showtime and Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers on December 15, 2023, before making its on-air debut on Showtime on December 17, 2023. The episode was screened at the Film at Lincoln Center.

References

  1. ↑ "Asperger's Are Us". BU Today. Retrieved 2018-07-28.
  2. ↑ "Noah Britton;". Autism Higher Education Foundation. Archived from the original on 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
  3. ↑ "On the Download: The Best Thing Ever;". The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved 2009-09-29.
  4. ↑ "Interview;". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  5. ↑ "Flyer of the Week: Best Thing Ever's Bathroom DVD Premiere;". Village Voice. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2009-09-29.
  6. ↑ "The Bathroom Tour;". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  7. ↑ "went through the rock and roll hall of fame". The Best Thing Ever. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  8. ↑ "FINALLY!". The Best Thing Ever. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
  9. ↑ "The Surprise Tour". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  10. ↑ "retirement? what retirement?;". The Best Thing Ever. Retrieved 2009-09-29.
  11. ↑ "The Best Thing Ever Coming to an Animal Palace Near You This Long Weekend;". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 2010-02-15. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
  12. ↑ "The Surprise Tour, Featuring, The Best Thing Ever;". UnionDocs. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  13. ↑ "Sorry it's been a while ;". The Best Thing Ever. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  14. ↑ "Hello again ;". The Best Thing Ever. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.