Wednesday, April 22, 2009

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.

3 comments:

BabelBabe said...

now aren't you glad you didn't stay home? : )

Kathy said...

Yes. :) I'm extremely glad I didn't stay home. I hope he comes back soon!

Jesmi said...

I hope he comes back soon!