BEN FOLDS!
Tonight's show was amazing. After seeing Ben twice now, I think he is now my favorite musician ever. Here's a rundown of tonight's show.
8-ish - Tegan and Sara opened up. They were a pretty good sister duo, but their music was kind of mellow. Not really what I was in the mood for as an opening act.
9-ish - Ben walks on stage, sits at the piano, and begins to play. Here's the set list.
Don't Change Your Plans I really like this song a lot. I've never heard him play it live before. A bit slow for an opener, but not bad.
Emaline I have to admit, I like the Ben Folds Five version better, but the Ben solo version is good too.
Zak and Sara A crowd pleaser, and the first really upbeat song of the show. The audience, which was disappointingly unresponsive to Ben's playful nature, started to get into this song.
Annie Waits This song has a much bigger following than you'd imagine, apparently. The place went nuts when he started this.
Philosophy Another good one. A few voices could be heard in the crowd during the chorus.
Chopsticks This is a cover of a Liz Phair song, apparently. A love song sung to a man about having sex backwards "so we can fuck and watch tv" is not the way to convince a slightly unwilling audience that you are straight.
Golden Slumbers Beatles cover. Very good.
Mess Good song. Nothing special about it.
At this point, people began heckling Ben as he was telling a story. First off, the stories between songs are the best part. That's why you come see someone live instead of listening to a CD. Second, who pays to come to a show just to be a dick to the musician? One guy was screaming "this guy is an asshole!" to the stage. Ben started joking around about hecklers, and played it off, saying "You guys provide entertainment, and YOU'RE not even getting paid." I thought that was funny.
One Down This is the song that his story, which was rudely interrupted, was about. I'd never really listened to the lyrics before. This song is funny!
Girl I've heard this song before, I think on Ben's site. He told a story about how this is the ".6 of a song" that he talks about in the previous song.
Careless Whispers A WHAM song that he covered at the last show up in D.C. I felt kind of cheap, knowing that he didn't learn that song special for the last show I was at.
Kate Another crowd pleaser.
Where's Summer B? So much fun. This is the first song of the night where he had the audience sing the other parts in this song, which is always fun.
Fred Jones, Pt. 2 The coolest waltz ever.
Army Seriously, this might just be the coolest song ever. I'm ALWAYS in the mood to listen to it. I sang the saxophone part tonight.
One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces Again, a solid crowd pleaser. Also, Bill's favorite of the night, I do believe.
Steven's Last Night in Town Very very good. Even though no one else in the audience sang, I was loud and proud on the chorus.
As this song was ending, Ben began to pound on the piano. A stagehand came out with a drum and some sticks, and Ben played the drum as he walked over to the other side of the stage with the stagehand. They brought out a stool and a kickdrum, and Ben continued to play, adding in the kickdrum. Slowly, the stagehands built up a drum set around Ben as he sat there, and Ben did a drum solo followed by a call and response. It was really REALLY cool.
Rockin' the Suburbs I hate to say it, but this song needs a full band. As cool as the Ben solo version is, it needs the other instruments to round it out.
The Luckiest When I first got this CD, I didn't like this song. However, it's slowly become one of my favorites. It really is a beautiful message.
Not the Same The best song about an acid trip ever. Or at least the best one I've heard. Another singing one. Woo hoo!
That's it for the main set. Here's the encore.
Evaporated Man, I love this song so much.
Brick The crowd went nuts, because it was the only song most of them had heard (going back a little bit, at one point in the show, a heckler asked about the band; Ben said, simply, "there is no band"). One thing that really bothered me was that a lot of couples were nuzzling and kissing during this song, which isn't the sweetest song in the world. However, there was no kissing at all during The Luckiest, which is beautiful. Go figure. College kids are pretty stupid.
Song for the Dumped He started playing "Dream On" by Aerosmith first, which was pretty funny. He played this song in the minor key, as he has been doing all tour. It sounds awesome either way.
That's about it. The show was amazing. I just wish the crowd had been a little more responsive and less obnoxious. It's a shame to let a bad crowd ruin a great show.
Tonight's show was amazing. After seeing Ben twice now, I think he is now my favorite musician ever. Here's a rundown of tonight's show.
8-ish - Tegan and Sara opened up. They were a pretty good sister duo, but their music was kind of mellow. Not really what I was in the mood for as an opening act.
9-ish - Ben walks on stage, sits at the piano, and begins to play. Here's the set list.
Don't Change Your Plans I really like this song a lot. I've never heard him play it live before. A bit slow for an opener, but not bad.
Emaline I have to admit, I like the Ben Folds Five version better, but the Ben solo version is good too.
Zak and Sara A crowd pleaser, and the first really upbeat song of the show. The audience, which was disappointingly unresponsive to Ben's playful nature, started to get into this song.
Annie Waits This song has a much bigger following than you'd imagine, apparently. The place went nuts when he started this.
Philosophy Another good one. A few voices could be heard in the crowd during the chorus.
Chopsticks This is a cover of a Liz Phair song, apparently. A love song sung to a man about having sex backwards "so we can fuck and watch tv" is not the way to convince a slightly unwilling audience that you are straight.
Golden Slumbers Beatles cover. Very good.
Mess Good song. Nothing special about it.
At this point, people began heckling Ben as he was telling a story. First off, the stories between songs are the best part. That's why you come see someone live instead of listening to a CD. Second, who pays to come to a show just to be a dick to the musician? One guy was screaming "this guy is an asshole!" to the stage. Ben started joking around about hecklers, and played it off, saying "You guys provide entertainment, and YOU'RE not even getting paid." I thought that was funny.
One Down This is the song that his story, which was rudely interrupted, was about. I'd never really listened to the lyrics before. This song is funny!
Girl I've heard this song before, I think on Ben's site. He told a story about how this is the ".6 of a song" that he talks about in the previous song.
Careless Whispers A WHAM song that he covered at the last show up in D.C. I felt kind of cheap, knowing that he didn't learn that song special for the last show I was at.
Kate Another crowd pleaser.
Where's Summer B? So much fun. This is the first song of the night where he had the audience sing the other parts in this song, which is always fun.
Fred Jones, Pt. 2 The coolest waltz ever.
Army Seriously, this might just be the coolest song ever. I'm ALWAYS in the mood to listen to it. I sang the saxophone part tonight.
One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces Again, a solid crowd pleaser. Also, Bill's favorite of the night, I do believe.
Steven's Last Night in Town Very very good. Even though no one else in the audience sang, I was loud and proud on the chorus.
As this song was ending, Ben began to pound on the piano. A stagehand came out with a drum and some sticks, and Ben played the drum as he walked over to the other side of the stage with the stagehand. They brought out a stool and a kickdrum, and Ben continued to play, adding in the kickdrum. Slowly, the stagehands built up a drum set around Ben as he sat there, and Ben did a drum solo followed by a call and response. It was really REALLY cool.
Rockin' the Suburbs I hate to say it, but this song needs a full band. As cool as the Ben solo version is, it needs the other instruments to round it out.
The Luckiest When I first got this CD, I didn't like this song. However, it's slowly become one of my favorites. It really is a beautiful message.
Not the Same The best song about an acid trip ever. Or at least the best one I've heard. Another singing one. Woo hoo!
That's it for the main set. Here's the encore.
Evaporated Man, I love this song so much.
Brick The crowd went nuts, because it was the only song most of them had heard (going back a little bit, at one point in the show, a heckler asked about the band; Ben said, simply, "there is no band"). One thing that really bothered me was that a lot of couples were nuzzling and kissing during this song, which isn't the sweetest song in the world. However, there was no kissing at all during The Luckiest, which is beautiful. Go figure. College kids are pretty stupid.
Song for the Dumped He started playing "Dream On" by Aerosmith first, which was pretty funny. He played this song in the minor key, as he has been doing all tour. It sounds awesome either way.
That's about it. The show was amazing. I just wish the crowd had been a little more responsive and less obnoxious. It's a shame to let a bad crowd ruin a great show.
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