1

Tour Board / Munhall, PA 10-7-16

« on: October 08, 2016, 09:48:44 AM »

This setlist order will be really botched, but I think I'll have everything included:

Phone In A Pool
Effington
Still Fighting It
Bastard
Not A Fan
Capable Of Anything
Annie Waits
Landed
You Don't Know Me
Philosophy

-- intermission --

Paper airplane request:

Support Musicians Of Steel (improv)
The Ascent Of Stan
Dr. Yang
Hiro's Song (shaker + piano)
The Last Polka
Brick
Such Great Heights
Please Let Me Bake You A Cake (improv)
Zak And Sara
Best Imitation Of Myself
Underground
The Luckiest

Encore:

Hava Nagila
Army

So yeah, fun show.  The mayor was there to explain the paper airplane segment and then later pick them up and give them to Ben.  Support Musicians of Steel was inspired by the current Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra strike.  The cake-baking song was inspired by a paper airplane that just included a message about wanting to bake him a cake for 5 years but never doing it due to lack of an opportunity to actually give it to him (the design was something about him climbing Mt. Motherf*cker, with a taxi hanging down the side, in respect to his most "famous" Pittsburgh stories he likes to tell).  He worked in a "rock this bitch" line at the end just for posterity's sake I suppose, as a formal "rock this bitch" was only requested once prior, and it was early in the show and I don't think he heard.

Underground had background vocals sung on an additional mic by the people that requested it, and they thankfully did a bang-up job.  Personal highlight surprisingly might've been Dr. Yang, which he absolutely rocked. Great solo piano arrangement. It was also probably the best I've heard him play the solo out of the live recordings I've listened to.

2

Tour Board / Carnegie Music Hall, Munhall PA - May 4th, 2015

« on: May 04, 2015, 08:13:09 PM »

The lone (?) solo piano show for the new album tour.  Great, great show.

01. Effington
02. Picture Window
03. Best Imitation Of Myself
04. Zak And Sara
05. The Last Polka
06. Sentimental Guy
07. Oh Happy Day / Rock This Bitch / Hertz Story
08. Capable Of Anything
09. Not A Fan
10. Jesusland
11. Still Fighting It
12. Philosophy
13. Steven's Last Night In Town (w/ drum set solo outro)
14. You Don't Know Me
15. Pittsburgh PA / Mt. Motherf*cker tribute
16. Landed
17. Kate
18. Rockin' The Suburbs
19. Not The Same

Encore:

20. Hava Nagila
21. The Luckiest
22. One Angry Dwarf
23. Army

Notable moments:
-Steven's was great.  I hadn't heard it performed solo before, and really dug the arrangement.  And of course the sick solo he ripped out at the end was great.  It was complete with a few funny "Whiplash" references as well for anyone who's seen the film.  Got a standing O after that one.
-Really funny moment during Sentimental Guy where Ben forgot how the very last verse started.... and so did everyone else (myself included).  He actually got up and asked the audience if anyone knew it, and there was a good half-minute before someone finally yelled out "people talking!"  I was like.... oh, I knew that.
-The Rock This Bitch actually started from someone yelling something indisguishable that vaguely sounded like "oh happy day," so Ben just finagled that into what became a Rock this Bitch improv.  Never heard the story about how he got fired from a Hertz for letting some random guy clean his truck's windshield for 10 bucks or whatever it was, but it made for an interesting coda to the song.
-He mentioned that the new album is apparently now called "So There."  So, we'll see if that sticks or not.    Also made the same plea to not post all the songs on YouTube before it comes out.
-Dedicated Hava Nagila to "all [his] Squirrel Hill peeps." (There's a heavy Jewish population there -- Ben clearly knows his way around the 'burgh at this point   )

3

General Board / Getting a Digital Keyboard soon for the first time -- thoughts?

« on: November 26, 2012, 11:35:38 AM »

Hey y'all,  I'm gonna be entering the world of digital keyboarding soon, and I was hoping to get some advice/recommendations from some of the piano vets on this board, in terms of what brands are the most reliable / more oriented (see: durable) towards rock piano, etc.

I'll be transitioning from a baby grand, so obviously in terms of action, I'm gonna try out a bunch of different ones from a few stores before I get anything, but am just looking for some feedback on what kinds of brands/models I should keep an eye out for.  Any help is much appreciated.  Thanks!

4

News / Ben on Rhapsody twitter account Q & A

« on: October 19, 2012, 01:23:33 PM »

I wasn't able to sift through most of the responses since my comp. is being really slow right now, but one I did manage to see was "we're thinking of recording one or two" in response to him being asked if they'd be doing any Hotel Lights songs while on tour.  Which of course, would be simply amazing if it came to fruition.  Make sure you record those Australia/UK shows people!

5

Tour Board / 10/5 Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo NY Setlist

« on: October 06, 2012, 12:35:51 PM »

Obviously the order won't be completely correct, but I'll get every song in..

1. Michael Praytor, Five Years Later
2. Missing The War
3. Hold That Thought
4. Jackson Cannery
5. Selfless, Cold, And Composed
6. Sky High
7. Erase Me
8. Thank You For Breaking My Heart
9. Landed (seemed kinda weird without background vocals)
10. Alice Childress
11. Draw A Crowd
12. Brick
13. Rock This Bitch in Buffalo (was actually decent, had a great jazz outro)
14. Do It Anyway
15. Philosophy
16. Kate
17. Battle Of Who Could Care Less
18. Song For The Dumped
19. Army
20. One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces

Encore:
21. Magic
22. Underground

The last 6 or so songs before the encore was the highlight part of the show -- everyone was on their feet and the guys absolutely killed it.  So much energy in the room.  Overall it was a great show.  Crowd was pretty good.  The mix seemed a tad off.  I would've like the piano to be a bit brighter, and the lead vocals and Darren's kick drum were a bit too reverb-y for my taste, which overpowered Robert and the piano at times, but it was still pretty good.  Ben did some of the craziest piano work I've ever seen him do (had great seats) but just couldn't hear every note of it all the time.  This usually happens during the indoor concert hall shows for some reason.  Maybe it's because I always sit so close I'm not in the auditory sweet spot, haha.

Agree that Ben's voice is in really fine form.

6

Tour Board / Ticket for Buffalo, 10/5 available

« on: October 03, 2012, 07:25:53 PM »

Hey yall,

This is a little late obviously, but I have an extra ticket to the show on Buffalo this Friday.  It's $50 -- it's the 3rd row, on the left, so should be a great piano view.  If you are (or you know anyone who is) looking to upgrade, send me a PM and we can work it out!

7

News / 'On Being Frank' stream

« on: September 11, 2012, 11:49:29 AM »

For those of y'all who can't wait a day    http://idolator.com/6896532/ben-folds-five-on-being-frank-the-sound-of-the-life-and-mind?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Also, lol at that picture.

8

News / 'The Sound of the Life...' stream

« on: September 10, 2012, 11:19:50 AM »

TSOTLOTM title track stream has been released here:  http://www.fuse.tv/2012/09/exclusive-ben-folds-five-premiere-the-sound-of-life-of-mind

Now I personally will be holding off on this one (and anymore full-length previews) -- gotta save SOMETHING for the official album release (which will hopefully be tomorrow anyways) -- plus the first couple previews erased any doubts the album would rock, which I like to think was my main motivation for listening to them.

9

News / 'Sky High' stream

« on: September 07, 2012, 08:42:34 AM »

Alas, Spinner.com (the site that's hosting this one) is blocked at my work.  I need an Andy edit up in here!

Edit: Andy edit done!

10

News / 'Michael Praytor' stream

« on: September 06, 2012, 05:56:18 AM »

http://teamcoco.com/content/ben-folds-five-audio-premiere?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Woo-hoo!  I think the intro is my favorite part.

The only minor criticism I have so far of the three songs released is that the way the background vocals are mixed, Darren and Robert's voices don't sound as distinct as they could.  But then again, it started trending that way on Reinhold, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised it's continued in the same direction.

On the flip-side though, it should make the live performances even more exciting.  Great track btw.

11

Tour Board / Pittsburgh, PA 11/11/2010 setlist

« on: November 11, 2010, 10:01:17 PM »

The order is most likely far from exact, but I'm pretty sure I've got all the songs down.  I'm a bit fuzzy on a few songs being played either before or after the solo set.  If someone was there who had the correct order, by all means correct my post!


Intro/Working Day
Doc P.
Belinda
Sleazy (Ke$ha cover)
Gone
Give Judy My Notice
Saskia
Bastard
Still Fighting It
Effington
Rock This Bitch (Tambourine Man Blues)
Landed
Claire's 9th
Annie Waits
Levi Johnston's Blues

SOLO:
All U Can Eat
The Luckiest
Lullabye
Practical Amanda

BAND BACK:
Hiroshima
Zak And Sara
random Billie Preston cover/jam (couldn't hear the title and wasn't familiar with the song)
Kate
Your Dogs
You Don't Know Me
Army
Rockin' The Suburbs / Purple Haze

ENCORE:
Bitches Ain't Shit
Underground

The Rock This Bitch was pretty inspired, with Tambo. Man playing what Ben dubbed "the first ever blues tambourine solo."  Purple Haze sounded great too. Ben was trying to get a lot of improv stuff going, some of which took off, some which didn't -- I'd imagine the chemistry isn't quite there yet for the current trio.  Other than that, pretty solid.  Club Zoo is a crap place to see a show, but I think Ben likes it for some reason.

12

General Board / Video of Spin NYC concert

« on: November 03, 2010, 10:12:38 AM »

http://www.spin.com/articles/exclusive-ben-folds-nick-hornby-live-nyc?ref=nf

Piano-only Saskia sounded pretty good.

13

Transcription / Belinda Chord Tab

« on: September 23, 2010, 09:42:43 PM »

Since I just learned the song via a combination of the album version and the live version (for the bridge mainly), I thought I'd share the solo piano chord tab for anyone who's interested -- Hopefully this format is easy enough to follow to get the changes down and everything!

Bb                                           Dm
Every night around this time he has to sing 'Belinda'
    Bbsus4
"Belinda I love you/ Don't Leave me/ I need you"
     Bb                                          Dm
He tried to stop, a while back, but what is he, without her?
    Bbsus4/Eb                             
A one-hit wonder with no hits is what he is.
    Bb/D      F/C                               D7
And anyway he always hears how much it means to people
              Gm/Bb                              Bb7/Ab
There's a lot of forty-somethings who wouldn't be in the world without it
Eb/G                                Bb/F
So now he does it with this lyric in his head


    Cm     Cm/Bb            F/A             Bbsus4/F
Belinda I loved you, I'm sorry that I left you
        Bb                   F/A                     Gm7       Gm7/F
But I met somebody younger on a plane
             Cm                Cm/Bb                 F/A      
She had big breasts, A nice smile, and no kids, either
       Gbmaj7                                Bb
She gave me complimentary champagne

Transition chords: Eb, Db

Bb                                         Dm/Bb
No one ever wants to hear the song he wrote for Cindy
Bbsus4/Eb
"Cindy I love you / I need you / Don't leave me"
     Bb                                                     Dm/Bb
And he can't blame them - they can tell his heart was never in it
       Bbsus4/Eb                                                           Bb/D
And Cindy never liked it, but she never much liked him


     Cm    Cm/Bb            F/A             Bbsus4/F
Belinda I loved you, I'm sorry that I left you
        Bb                   F/A                     Gm7       Gm7/F
But I met somebody younger on a plane
             Cm                Cm/Bb                 F/A      
She had big breasts, A nice smile, and no kids, either
        Gbmaj7                              Bb
She gave me complimentary champagne

(Transistion chords)

(Bridge/Outro)
Fm, Eb/G, Ab, Bbsus4, Bb
Db, Eb
Fm, Eb/G, Ab, Bbsus4, Bb
Db, Eb/C

     Bb                                         Dm/Bb
So every night about this time he feels the old self-loathing
              Bbsus4/Eb
While the old folks in the audience sing along
          Bb                                                   Dm/Bb
And he smiles and waves the mic at them so they can do the chorus
       Bbsus4/Eb
But he's not there, he's somewhere else
         Bb/D    Cm     Cm/Bb      F/A        Bbsus4/F
He's with Belindaaaaaaaaa
          Bb              F/A                           Gm7        Gm7/F
In the days before he made it all go wrong
      Cm      Cm/Bb       F/A
Belinda I love you
        Gbmaj7                              Bb
She gave me complimentary champagne

Transition chord: Bbm7/Eb
(Bridge/Outro)
final live version chords: Eb, Db, Cm, Bb

Also, for the bridge, during the live version, the licks he plays over the Fm and Ab chords you can mostly replicate by messing around the Fm scale.

 

14

News / Worthwhile article/interview from the Guardian

« on: September 20, 2010, 08:56:28 PM »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/sep/19/nick-hornby-ben-folds-lonely-avenue-album

My favorite part..

Folds: "I think so. And we're both the exception because we happen to be in good relationships. But most people consume music in their mid-20s and that's when the clock is going off and you're thinking: 'OK, the next mother-f*cker that comes through the door is going to be it.'

15

General Board / Designing a Ben Folds T-shirt... input?

« on: February 25, 2009, 09:02:26 PM »

Hey all,

With the lack of Foldsian merchandise around, I figured I'd just 'design' my own shirt.  I don't how many of you are familiar with zazzle.com, but that's what I'm using, as they seem to be pretty legit, so to speak.  Anyways, I was just gonna go with a simple text design, with one line from a Folds song on the front, and another line from the same song on the back.
Right now the best I've got is,  on the front "We can be happy Underground"  and on the back "I click my heels, and I'm there"  Also I'm thinking of maybe "I took her with me to the Christmas office party" on the front, and "Mistake."  on the back

Any opinions/thoughts? I'd like to here any ideas yall have before I make the final version and order it (a gift from me to me!).