Concert Review: Ben Folds

Last night, I had a low key evening planned - play with the dog, do spanish homework, have dinner with a friend, and return to finish homework. Said friend works for a local alternative weekly paper and sometimes covers the music scene. Her boss (& owner of the paper) texted her during dinner and asked if she wanted the two extra tickets he had for the Ben Folds show.

Hmmmmm... Neither of us were very familiar with his music. We both had early mornings the next day. Just a dude and his piano... On a Tuesday night... Sounded like it could be a bit sedate...

But.

The Jefferson, a recently restored beautiful concert venue, was literally just across the street. And the tickets were free. Why not drop by for just a bit to check it out?

The place was packed. The audience members were loyal and enthusiastic (and surprisingly high percentage male). And the dude - the dude can rock a piano. The show was incredibly interactive. The audience did a lot of singing - sometimes voluntary, sometimes Ben Folds divided the crowd and directed beautiful harmonies. The most unusual interactive part was when a stagehand brought out a laptop and a projection screen lit up on stage. Long story short (I didn't know the whole background at the time. Click here and here for links to more of the story), we were logged in to a site called chatroulette.com. The site name is pretty self explanatory. Random strangers log in and are, at random, connected to each other. The connection provides video, audio, and chat capabilities. One box on the screen showed the random stranger. In the lower box appeared Ben Folds at the piano with his audience behind him. Ben improvised and sang to/about the random stranger. There was quite the assortment of random strangers... and the occasional flash of a random penis. It was, well, random. And yet strangely mesmerizing to the entire audience. Who knew surfing the net could be fun with one computer and a couple thousand people. Another "interactive" feature of the show is that he took requests. I really appreciate an artist that listens to what his fans want to hear.

We ended up staying through the entire show and the encore. I was thrilled when he played "The Luckiest" during his encore - I'd heard the song as part of the cool down mix in a class I took at the gym four or five years ago. It's the only Ben Folds song I own and I'd completely forgotten that he sung it and how much I loved it. I also recognized "You Don't Know Me" from radio play. It was great live, especially with the audience singing back up. I didn't really know any other songs but I enjoyed all of it.

Anyway, the night was topped off with yet another text from my friend's boss. Did we want to go backstage? Hell yeah. I'd only been backstage at one other concert. The worst concert of my life. I won't even go into it. I was only there as a good friend - at the concert, I mean. I didn't go backstage willingly - I was a prisoner with no other way home. Back to last night - I assumed it would be 20 or so folks getting a quick picture or autograph, a handshake with a "Great show, man" thrown in. Nope. It was just me, my friend, and her boss hanging out with Ben Folds. While it wasn't an official interview, we had fun throwing out all kinds of questions...

The piano for the show was rented (this had been a subject of debate between my friend and me during the show). He loves to play the drums. Favorite sports are tennis and soccer. His dad got a guitar upon recommendation by his doctor to take up a hobby to de-stress some. Father Folds never made much progress playing but his son Ben took it up quickly. At some point his dad, a capenter, was paid in piano instead of cash by a customer. Talked about his kids. He's a really laid back easy guy to chat with - I could completely see him as an average joe neighbor mowing his yard and then sitting on the front stoop drinking a PBR. We each took a picture with him and called it a night.

Needless to say, I'll be doing Spanish homework after I finish posting this entry.

Justin Townes Earle

Yesterday I wrote about the opener, Joe Pug, at Monday's show. Now, let's get to the main act - Justin Townes Earle. Earle was completely at ease on stage, talking to the audience while rocking vintage glasses and a suit with bowtie. Joined by his fiddler, Josh Hedley, in a 3 piece suit and hat and standing bass player, Bryn Davies, in a flowery dress - the trio almost looked like they could be dropped into the prohibition period, smokey bar scene of a movie. The music was a fun blend of blues, honky tonk, and country -with a tinge of patina, a rough edge, that gave it a sense of sincerity which only made it more enjoyable. I'm a little surprised the crowd didn't break out more dance moves but being a Monday night, I think the audience was a little more sober and sedate than had it been an uninhibited Saturday night show.

Out on a School Night

I tend to go into social hibernation during the winter. Especially on weekdays. But a combination of beautiful warm, sunny weather and the promise of good music inspired me to rally last night and see a show at The Southern, a small intimate venue on the downtown mall in Charlottesville. My friends and I didn't rush to get there on time as we knew there was an opening act - Joe Pug. Upon our arrival I was surprised to be walk in to a quiet but crowded room - an audience fully focused on the stage, and I wondered if we didn't know something that everyone else did. Turns out it would have been our loss if we'd arrived any later and missed the last few of Joe's songs. I can't wait to download some of his music tonight. Earnest, soulful lyrics. Clean, crisp singing and guitar picking.

"Bury Me Far from My Uniform" and "Call It What You Will" were two favorites from last night...

The Big Surprise Tour

The press release described it thus "In a free form ramshackle flow, the bands and artists will share the stage, taking part in each other's songs, resurrecting old standards, and playing newly written collaborative material as they go..."

Went last night. Great show!!! A little bit country, a little bit bluegrass, a little bit rock'n'roll. If you have a chance to go to one of the few remaining performances left - go! Remaining stops are Cary, NC, Louisville, KY, and Nashville & Knoxville, TN.

In a valley in view of the Blue Ridge Mtns

I went to the Albemarle County Fair this weekend with friends. We, of course, wanted to see the animals ... sad eyed jersey cows to floppy eared goats to baby ducks that made you want to dig a pond in your backyard so you could take one home. And there were the blue ribbon fruits and vegetables... the biggest sunflowers, the longest beans, the champion cantalope. And the corn dogs, funnel cakes, ice cream, bbq, homemade donuts. And the flashing lights and the blur of spinning rides. And after partaking in all of this, we were ready to head back into town and kick off our cowboy boots.

But there was the last band of the day starting at 9:30. And we'd heard they were good. There were only about 50 people in the tent. I had my doubts. So glad we stayed to listen.

Introducing The Alternate Routes.

Every night, I tell him "Don't hog the covers"...

Recently the local radio stations have been playing this really beautiful haunting cover of "Heart of Glass." Originally by Blondie. Turns out this version is by the C'ville based band Old School Freight Train. Here's a link to check it out... I actually recommend just listening and not watching the video.

A Medley of Music Info

• Buying my tickets this evening for a girls night out to see Indigo Girls next month at the Charlottesville Pavilion. I didn't realize they had a new cd out until I clicked on the Pavilion's website. Haven't listened to any songs all the way through yet but I like what I heard of "Ghost of the Gang" - acoustic version. (Quick side trip down memory lane, it was Alycia that first introduced me to Indigo Girls. Actually it was Alycia that first introduced me to a lot of good music... I have loving but puritanical parents who generally restricted my music selection to country, gospel or oldies. thank god we moved to Blackshear, GA my junior year of high school so that my ears could be enlightened by Alycia's extensive cd collection.)
• Another blog I like to read about music... http://www.fuelfriendsblog.com/
• Check out this website, 8tracks. I haven't had time to explore it much but looks like it could be an interesting resource. Their tagline is "Share your mix. Discover new music." They explain their M.O. as "a simple, legal way for people to share and discover music through an online mix."
• Last thing, Alycia already mentioned Bela Fleck -the new album & the tour - in an earlier post but I'd like to give a shout out to Vusi Mahlasela who will be touring with Bela Fleck. A friend of mine, Ann Kingston, is his manager. Vusi played at UVA back in February. Unfortunately I was sick the night of the show, but I did get to hear him play a little the next night at a local restaurant where he had a dinner/meet & greet. My friends who made it to the concert had nothing but great things to say about the show. It was in a UVA concert hall with cramped seating that can create a pretty sedate atmosphere but Vusi had everyone up and dancing. Here's a video of Vusi playing at Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday Celebration in London.