The Best Thing Ever

The Best Thing Ever
Origin Boston & Westchester, U.S.
Genres Punk
Years active 2003 – 2014
Labels HIG Records
Members Noah Britton
Alex Billig
Jen Page
Past members Emilyn Brodsky

The Best Thing Ever is a punk band/performance art group formed by autistic [1][2] singer/songwriter Noah Britton 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.

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.

All four original members of The Best Thing Ever played together for the last time in November 2004 at the home of Franz Nicolay when Franz produced their unreleased 7", "Would You?"/"What I Want." One month after this recording session, The Best Thing Ever went on hiatus.

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 by HIG Records, in April 2007.[5]

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!!!!. A film documenting the tour was released on April 1, 2011.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8]

On April 1, 2011, The Best Thing Ever premiered The Surprise Tour DVD at UnionDocs in Brooklyn, NY.[9] They decided to screen this film every April 1 in a different state, with the 2012 screening in Beverly, Massachusetts, the 2013 screening in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the 2014 screening in Seattle, Washington.

In February 2013, the band booked a concert at a homeless shelter in Boston Harbor in Massachusetts, and dubbed this "The Homeless Sheltour." That August, all four original members performed a 10th anniversary reunion concert, opening for Jeffrey Lewis, where they performed one song from each year of their career, in chronological order.[10]

In June, 2014, The Best Thing Ever debuted a Kickstarter campaign to perform at Carnegie Hall, promising all backers a chance to sing with them at the show. [11]

Discography

EPs

Year Title Label
2004 Would You?/What I Want 7" HIG Records

DVDs

Year Title Label
2007 The Bathroom Tour DVD HIG Records
2011 The Surprise Tour DVD HIG Records

References

  1. ↑ "Noah Britton;". Autism Higher Education Foundation. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
  2. ↑ "Too Much Has Happened for Me to Write About. I Gotta Sleep;". The Best Thing Ever's Livejournal. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
  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. Retrieved 2009-09-29.
  6. ↑ "FINALLY!". The Best Thing Ever. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
  7. ↑ "retirement? what retirement?;". The Best Thing Ever. Retrieved 2009-09-29.
  8. ↑ "The Best Thing Ever Coming to an Animal Palace Near You This Long Weekend;". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
  9. ↑ "The Surprise Tour, Featuring, The Best Thing Ever;". UnionDocs. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
  10. ↑ "The Best Thing Ever shows". H.I.G. Records. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  11. ↑ "Sing with The Best Thing Ever at Carnegie Hall". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
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