Under a perfectly clear sky (but a little chilly) last night at the Filene Center, Ben Folds performed a 100 minute set rich with tunes from his Ben Folds Five years, multiple selections off LPs Rockin' the Suburbs and Songs for Silverman, and a handful of tracks from his upcoming September release which is yet to be titled. Much to my surprise, the crowd consisted of predominantly 20-25 year olds, with the occasional high school posse mixed in, helping to counterbalance Wolf Trap's general attendee age range of 35-60. Folds definitely has his share of hits, and the Wolf Trap employee gathering at our usual spot on the lawn referenced the crowd as jumping beans, or popcorn kernels given their eagerness to pop out of their seats or spring from their blanket at the first hint of notes from "Kate", "Zak and Sara," or "Army."
Folds is a quirky guy with an extremely witty and infectious sense of humor, so if you've never seen him live, don't expect 90 minutes of straight music; rather get on board for on the spot antics and impromptu songs that make his performance more of a well rounded "show" than a "concert". For example, a high point of the evening was one of a few improv songs during which he tested the sign language vocabulary of Wolf Trap's hearing impaired interpreter situated on the wing of stage right. I can't exactly share with you the words that were on his little musical quiz, but you get the idea. :)
Overall, the performance was excellent, emphasized by Folds incendiary key riffs, his wide vocal range, and a very accomplished bassist and drummer who both impressed me with their ability to keep pace with Folds' ever changing set list and deviations from standard song arrangements. I thought you'd enjoy seeing this scan of his original set list, although Folds deviated from it a bit, adding "Gracie," and "Kylie," and removing "Brick", "Lullabye," "and "B*tches Ain't Sh*t."
I'll post a slideshow of photos once our house photographer uploads them to our archive.
Talk soon,
Graham
Loved his show - try to hit it every yeat. But, either by choice or technical difficulty, there was some obnoxious distortion from the house sound (at least as heard from the back of the lawn). Was that just me? I'm usually impressed with the sound mix at Wolf Trap. Did Ben forget to take that clever cookie tin lid out of his piano for the rest of the set?
ReplyDeleteNow I see what he means about not sticking to the set list. Damn!
ReplyDeleteHere's the complete setlist, from thesuburbs.org.uk. Looks like he just gave up on the setlist after "Hiroshima".
ReplyDeleteBrick was on the set list?
ReplyDeletesigh.
Thank you for the concert review.
ReplyDeleteRusty Rivers here and I got one thing say: what an epic epic show that was last Wed. Listen up, I’m gonna go on record as saying Ben Folds is one of the greatest song writers, maybe even human beings, of our generation. That’s right people. Oh yeah and to that yuppie complaining about all the distortion, all I got to say is "whatever man.” actually, would also like to say “how about you loosen up a little and stop with the weekend warrior antics. That's raw organic live music man, and if you can't handle it, then why don't you just head back to your Subaru and BS suburban life."
ReplyDeleteAlso, want to give a shot out to my all my Wolf Trap soldiers out there (bang, bang). You guys are out there on the frontlines busting your butts day in and day out to bring us the best summer concert series possible and I for one salute you. I mean if there's one word to desscribe the Wolf Trap summer schedule it's gotta be relevant. Seriously, Kenny G, Hootie, Riverdance. Seriously, you guys are blowing my mind.
On a more serious, I recently got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I had been having pains in my gut and a bad case of the runs for about 3 months so I finally went to my Dr. (who is also a naturopathic healer, I mean come on this is Rusty baby) and he ran some tests. When he told me the verdict, at first I was like "whoa, man." Then I was like "wait, isn't that what Patrick Swayze has?" He was like "yes, but I’m not really clear how that's relevant." And I just laughed and was like "come on buddy, Patrick Swayze is always relevant.” Which brings me back to the Wolf Trap summer concert series: relevant, just like Patrick Swayze, and just like my pancreatic cancer. Alright that’s enough from me for now. This is your boy Rusty saying, let's keep the good vibes going, micro brews a flowing, and all you ladies out there I’ll be seeing you in your dreams.