Twas TEN years ago tonight

The Bowery Ballroom. A Sunday night in NYC. A show that was not originally part of Ben's 2001 RTS tour. A show that really was a substitute for the 9/13 show at Irving Plaza that got canceled because of 9/11.

There was no band. Just Ben and his piano. And the first crowd horn sections.

And amongst the crowd that night were the Bowery Bandit and Greyseal. Who were taping. And who began putting that show up on the interwebs for fans to share.

The recording was so good that Ben himself requested a hard copy be sent to him down in Oz where he was germinating the ideas that became the 2002 Ben Folds and a Piano tour.

Which led to the release of Ben Folds Live.

In many ways, Ben's career pivoted that cold evening in the City.

And as hard as it is to imagine, it happened 10 years ago tonight.

I remember downloading every track on good old dial up speed internet at the time.  It took days but I was blown away and hooked on every note as I downloaded a new track every few hours, allowing me to play each song ten times over before I could get to the next one. 

It still is today one of my favourite bootlegs and some of Ben's best live performances.    A staple to my music collection, almost on par with Ben's studio albums, not to mention the enjoyment i have had seeing Ben and a Piano tours over the years since.  International public holiday to celebrate anyone?

Can anyone point me to a place online to download the show? Thanks Mike

Thanks for posting Zeek. Just listened to a few songs--sounds great! Mike

very cool info. wonder if ben ever thinks fondly of that night.

Great show....especially considering it was the start of the "piano" only shows. Even with my primitive downloading skills I managed to download the show and get it in my itunes. I did notice Ben's notes in the Retrospective that a year later when came back to do another solo show there the crowd was something like "ten times" the previous crowd at the Bowery. Must have been a special show.