The Best Thing Ever is a

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band/performance art group formed by autistic 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 Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer (lead vocals and piano; additional: keyboards, harmonica, ukulele) and Brian Viglione (drums and backing vocals; addi ...

The World/Inferno Friendship Society The World/Inferno Friendship Society (also referred to as World Inferno, or Inferno) was an American band from Brooklyn, New York. Its style merged punk, soul, klezmer and jazz, while its collective membership featured horns, piano and guitar ...

, and

The Gossip Gossip (or The Gossip) was an American indie rock band formed in Searcy, Arkansas, originally active from 1999 until 2016. For most of their career, the band consisted of singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Brace Paine, and drummer Hanna ...

, but when she was offered a spot opening for

the Magnetic Fields The Magnetic Fields (named after the André Breton/Philippe Soupault novel '' Les Champs Magnétiques'') are an American band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocalist, as well as fr ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

(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 New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

to perform their music for unsuspecting audiences. The ''Bathroom Tour'' DVD, which documents the events of the tour, was released in April 2007. Part of it was filmed by Josh Safdie. In the summer of 2007, the band reunited fo
The Surprise Tour
playing exclusively unbooked shows all over the country with acts including

Andrew Bird Andrew Wegman Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American indie rock multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Since 1996, he has released 16 studio albums, as well as several live albums and EPs, spanning various genres including swing music ...

and

Gravy Train!!!! Gravy Train!!!! were an electroclash band from Oakland, California. The band released material on the labels S.P.A.M. Records, Cold Crush, Kill Rock Stars, Cochon Records, and Retard Disco. The band had four members (represented by the four exc ...

. Venues included the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum, the Mall of America,

Corn Palace The Corn Palace, commonly advertised as The World's Only Corn Palace and the Mitchell Corn Palace, is a multi-purpose arena/facility located in Mitchell, South Dakota, United States. The Moorish Revival building is decorated with crop art; the mu ...

, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where they put up their own exhibit as inductees for the class of 2007. A film documenting the tour was released on April 1, 2011, edited by

Benny Safdie Benjamin Safdie (born February 24, 1986) is an American film director, screenwriter, actor and film editor best known for working with his older brother Josh as a filmmaker, whose works include '' Good Time'' (2017) and '' Uncut Gems'' (2019). ...

. 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. 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

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

Filmography

DVDs

References

External links

Tiny Mix Tapes interview

Official Band Website

"Why I Write" inspired by TBTE

Day 1 of The Bathroom Tour on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Thing Ever, The Punk rock groups from Massachusetts