Ben Folds

The Concert

I don't know why it's taken me so long to write about this, but I saw Ben Folds at the Saenger Theater on April 6. Simply put, he was amazing! He'd been sick before he got here and still the energy he displayed on stage was unbelievable. He was non-stop -- across the stage -- standing up playing the piano -- jumping on top of something (I couldn't see what it was and although I bought my tickets late, my seats were still very good.) His energy was infectious. He did old, beloved songs (beloved by me anyway) such as Rockin' the Suburbs and Jesusland and he performed tunes from his latest album, Way to Normal.

Set List

1. Bitch Went Nutz
2. Effington
3. Sentimental Guy
4. Annie Waits
5. Cologne
6. Jesusland
7. Old Bastard
8. Lovesick Diagnostician
9. Fred Jones pt 2
10. Lullabye
11. The Last Polka
12. Improv
13. Brick
14. The Luckiest
15. Zak And Sara
16. Frown Song
17. Emaline
18. You Don't Know Me
19. Still Fighting It
20. Rockin' The Suburbs
21. Free Coffee
22. Landed
23. Army
24. Bitches Ain't Shit
25. Encore: One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces

The Audience

Anyone who reads this or knows me is going to be shocked -- I can't complain about the audience -- not at all. Yes, they were loud and some of them were drunk, but most of them had obviously been to Ben Folds' concerts before, and he used their knowledge of his work and their rambunctiousness to his advantage -- he drew energy from the crowd until it became a back-and-forth thing between him and the audience. While I've seen excellent shows before (Wilco just stunned the crowd into submission), I've never seen an artist have such a good rapport with the audience.