Thursday, September 25, 2008

Ben Folds let me down.

Last night Torsten and I went to a Ben Folds concert, the fifth time I've seen him live. It was held downtown in Constitutional Hall, which was great because most big concerts around here seem to be held out in the Maryland or Virginia suburbs, which are a giant pain to get to. I was the one who wanted to go and talked Torsten into it, but I think he wound up enjoying it more than I did. Although we both had our issues with it, at least Torsten wasn't really familiar with Ben Folds, so he didn't have all the complaints that I did.

I think part of my problem with the whole thing is that I've been a huge fan of Ben Folds since high school, and my favorite stuff of his is from the Rockin' the Suburbs era, and so that's all I really want to hear him play. And that must suck for musicians, because they move and evolve and their styles grow with them, and yet their fans are still stuck back in the glory years, screaming for them to play "Zak and Sara" just one more time.

So, he totally flouted us and played only new songs that nobody recognized. But that wasn't the whole problem. Part of it was the venue, which had a lot of reverb. And part of it was that it wasn't just Ben Folds up there--there were four other guys. And my preference when it comes to Ben Folds is just him and a piano up on the stage. Admittedly, two of the guys weren't doing much--but it was like a huge competition between the drums and the piano to see who could play louder. It was seriously an assault on the ears.

And it was just... a lot of it felt very experimental, very esoteric, very postmodern. Like they were just up there banging around on instruments and were as surprised as the rest of us at what sounds came out. And there were none of the fun, sarcastic stories that Ben Folds always used to tell during his concerts. And it was so loud during the songs that you couldn't hear the lyrics, which are usually clever and a very important part of his performances. And he didn't do any of the audience participation stuff that he usually does, like having people clap along and sing parts of the chorus and whatnot.

And I know I wasn't the only one who felt disappointed, because it was the first of the five Ben Folds shows I've been to where the majority of the audience wasn't standing up dancing. Everyone was just sitting there, not looking into it at all, with the exception of six college students in the very back row. They seemed to be having the time of their lives, and it made me wonder if maybe you have to be in college to enjoy a Ben Folds concert.

The best one I ever went to was my junior year of college, I think. He came to my campus and tickets were only $9 for students, and it was general admission so my friends and I camped out in line for about five hours and wound up in the second row. Everyone in the audience was a huge Ben Folds fan and knew all of his songs, and he was totally eating it up and playing to the audience. It was super interactive and he played one fantastic song after another. He even played some of the old Ben Folds Five stuff and since it was just him, he set up different sections of the audience to play the other instrumental parts. It was the best concert of my entire life and you could tell that he really loved it too. It was exceptional from start to finish. And afterward I ran into him on the lawn outside my dorm and we had a chat about the town we're both from and how he hoped that when his daughter grew up she would go to my school, and he autographed a dollar bill because that was all I had.

This was the opposite of that. Very weird, very removed. He did play a few old songs that people recognized during the encore, but only four of them and not even his best ones. I recognize that he wants to try out and promote his new material, but just mixing in a couple of songs that people could sing along to early on in the show would have really warmed them up for the new stuff. Instead I could tell we all felt alienated. It was like going to a Beatles show and hearing the White Album when what you really wanted was A Hard Day's Night.

All in all, a disappointment. The opening act was good, though. Her name was Missy Higgins and I had never heard of her, but she was great. Not worth the price of a Ben Folds ticket, though.

29 comments:

  1. I saw Ben Folds at the Warfield in San Francisco in 2002 and it was by far the best concert I've ever been to. I would have been disappointed by his lackluster performance too.

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  2. Well, you can't have it all. You can either go out to Wolf Trap and deal with the drive but have a real kick ass show because it's a great venue, or you can have it local and maybe not get the best sound. It is the ying and yang of life.

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  3. Your story reminds me of one of the little comments on Guitar Hero 3 that comes up while it's loading songs...it says something like "The audience didn't pay good money to listen to you jam." (Should that have quotes around it if I'm not sure that's exactly how it's worded??)

    Do you think you will go to another of his concerts?

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  4. Check out this blog:
    http://lemmonex.com/2008/09/25/on-notice/

    She was at the same concert and sounds like she echos your sentiment.

    Plus she has some yummy receipes.

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  5. So spot on. I was devastated last night.

    What an pretentious ass. He can be better--I have seen it.

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  6. I saw Ben Folds last spring and he was great! I definitely would have been disappointed if the concert turned out like the one you attended :( . I had a similar experience with a Dave Matthews concert in 2002. They played ZERO old songs. They were touring for the single purpose of promoting an upcoming album. I will never go to a DMB concert again! What a waste of $50!

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  7. The last time I saw John Mayer I was really disappointed too.

    He just seemed so...bored.

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  8. Eeesh. I've seen BF play 3 times - all at smaller, awesome venues. I was skeptical about the DAR venue so i told Adam not to bother with getting tickets because it just wouldn't compare to the intimate venues i've seen him at.

    that's so crappy - especially since he's SUCH AN AWESOME PERFORMER!!! Gah! I can't imagine the disappointment :/ I'm sad for you :(

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  9. This is so disappointing. Ben Folds is on my MUST SEE list (Have no idea how I got this far without seeing him as I am a huge fan) but I don't like it when artists use the concert to play their entire new album that no one has heard. They have to mix it up or the audience is bound to be upset.

    I love Missy Higgins and she's good live but not for what you paid to see Ben.

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  10. SO frustrating. I get it, artists want to experience. But when you ignore your past, I think it's almost disrespectful to the people--your fans--who shelled out real money to see you.

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  11. I'm new here [well, a new commenter], but I just couldn't resist replying to this. It sucks that you've had a bad concert experience, I've had several and can totally relate... but at the same time, and please don't be offended, not everyone is "on" all of the time, they can't be. Everyone has bad days at work or times when they don't want to be there. When that happens they go to work, hammer out what they need to until they go home and then they leave, right? Maybe last night was one of those nights for him.

    Again, don't get me wrong, I totally understand that you don't feel you got your money's worth [been there, trust me], but at least you have several other good experiences to think about. Don't let this ruin those for you.

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  12. That's why I almost don't like going to see someone more than once in concert. Eventually, you get disappointed. Carrie Underwood was awesome the first time I saw her (as an opening act for someone) and the second time? I was really let down. She wasn't all gung-ho like she had been.

    At least you have the one great ben folds concert to remember!!

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  13. oh man, that sucks!! i was at the wolftrap show earlier this year - it was fantastic. of course, i'm more of a peripheral Ben Folds fan, so i don't have a set list that i am dying to hear. and i know i'm in the minority who thinks it's SUPER COOL when people do wacky shit on piano (like playing directly on the strings w/a morrocca, which he did @ wolf trap)... so i enjoyed that aspect, but i'm fully aware most people are.. um.. indifferent, at best, to that sort of thing :-)

    i almost went last night! my girlfriend who brought me to wolftrap in the spring had tkts to the DAR show too. i'll have to ask her what she thought - she's a longtime fan too, like you.

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  14. I love Missy Higgins, and like you I adore vintage Ben Folds. But he falls into a category that I like to call Persnickety yet Flaky Musicians. Other examples of artists who fall into this category: Jude, Tori Amos, and the talented yet loathsome Ryan Adams. All of whom are immensely talented in their own ways, and have some fantastic material and commanding stage presence at their disposal that they can choose to utilize. But attending their shows can be a crap shoot because you can't always predict whether or not you are in for another great show, or a total let down.

    But on the other hand Ben Folds and a piano when he is totally on? Nothing beats it, which is why I almost always take the risk.

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  15. Hmm. I've actually been trying to convince somebody to go with me to Ben Folds's upcoming show here, and haven't had any success yet. Maybe I shouldn't bother? (But I love him! Would he really let me down??)

    Also, I feel very old all of a sudden, because your version of vintage Ben Folds was the version you listened to in high school, and for you, that is "Rockin' the Suburbs." Oof.

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  16. That's kind of a bummer. I've been waiting and waiting for him to bring his "tour" up here to Boston, but not if it's going to suck!

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  17. I am sorry you had such a negative experience...i's sad when concerts don't do artists justice...

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  18. I haven't listened to a lot of Ben Folds, but I love the song "Rockin' the Suburbs." Hilarious. I'm sorry the concert wasn't good though.

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  19. That sometimes happens when you really love a band/musician. I was let down recently when I went to see one of my favorites, The Fratellis. The acoustics just weren't right and it ended up being a really disappointing show. Ah well, it happens.

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  20. I so heart Ben Folds, it's not even funny. When you mention his songs, his old songs, they bring a smile to my face. And I saw him just over a year ago. When it was exactly as you described. Ben Folds. A piano. A stage. Hilarious stories. And lots of great music. What a bummer he didn't deliver.

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  21. I am/was a HUGE Blue October fan and I feel the same way. I used to see them when it cost $5 to get in and they hung out afterward to chat. They sang songs that were angry and passionate and suprising. Now that they are on the radio and have sell out crowds of thousands, it's not the same. The songs are watered down and the passion is gone. It makes me sad and I refuse to see them in concert anymore unless they play old stuff. I prefer my live cd from back in the day when they were there to have fun, not try and make it on a movie soundtrack.

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  22. I passed this along to my fiance who is a HUGE Ben Folds fan (I teast him that he is their biggest fan) but missed him when he was here recently.

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  23. Missy Higgins is great. I'm sure she has newer stuff by now, but her self-titled album is really good.

    DAR, on the other hand, is NOT good. I went to see one of my faves there a year or so ago (Ryan Adams). TERRIBLE acoustics. I almost wanted to leave, and trust me, I NEVER feel that way at a Ryan Adams concert. :) I don't know why they continue to have concerts there!

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  24. I actually quite like Missy Higgins-- she's got some catchy tunes and a sweet voice.

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  25. That's a bummer. Its like when I saw Modest Mouse this summer and they didn't play Float On. I've only seen Ben Folds once (a free show at the University of Pittsburgh), and it was pretty good. I went as part of a group from the college I attended (not Pitt) and halfway through everyone else went to a bar... aaand I stayed.

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  26. Lol, I've never heard of Ben Folds but Missy Higgins is Australian and she is massively popular over here!

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  27. hey there - I just recently saw Ben Folds play at Terminal 5 in NYC. Hopefully you will appreciate this. He mentioned that at the start of this tour, he noticed that a lot of his fans were a bit stand-offish to the playing of his new album. He noticed they were kinda like "wtf?" (told in his classic witty storytelling style). He decided to add in more of his old work, and yes - he taught the backup vocals to Landed and had the audience sing, as well as the 'horn section' of Army. Just thought you should know that he did notice a sad vibe from the audience and made a change.

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