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 Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

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. In 2004, Brodsky 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 consisting of 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 ...

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 Joshua Henry Safdie (born April 3, 1984) is an American filmmaker and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing the crime thriller films '' Good Time'' (2017) and ''Uncut Gems'' (2019) with his younger brother Benny Safdie as the ...

. 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 musi ...

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 excl ...

. Venues included the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum, the

Mall of America Mall of America (MoA) is a large shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota. Located within the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the mall lies southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, north ...

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 m ...

, and

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

, 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 filmmaker, film editor, and actor. He and his elder brother, Josh, have directed the films '' Heaven Knows What'' (2014), '' Good Time'' (2017), and '' Uncut Gems'' (2019). Transitioning ...

. 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. Screenings so far have been 2011 in NY, 2012 in MA, 2013 in PA, 2014 in WA, 2015 in OH, 2016 in RI, in 2017 Vancouver, Canada, 2018 in CA, 2019 in CO, 2020 in HI, 2021 in AK, 2022 in NM, 2023 in ND, 2024 in Montana, and 2025 in MO In April, 2024, The Best Thing Ever performed a 20th anniversary reunion concert in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, backed with a choir, as well as a performance in

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence, Massachusetts, Florence and ...

where they were backed by Young@Heart Chorus.

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