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Tour Board / Re: Thoughts on AMAA/VIP/Soundcheck stuff
« on: October 02, 2017, 12:14:44 AM »
My rambley report back on the AMAA/Masterclass in Vancouver.
I loved the soundcheck but I could've skipped the AMAA. There were only 10 of us for the questions, but Ben's answers were a little long and rambly so I was a little bummed my question got skipped (plus a couple people got double questions). More were let in for the soundcheck (maybe 30-40 total). Again my request wasn't picked, but luckily people had good requests for stuff that I was thrilled to hear so that worked out. The extra soundcheck folk were streamed out and the VIP folks got to get their stuff signed plus a photo op with Ben. I don't know if the photographer was trying to be stylish or what but she cropped off the top of Ben's head in my photo. I feel like she had one job and kinda blew it, so that was also a little disappointing. When you compare the two VIP packages, I was essentially paying $170 extra for the questions, photo, and meet & greet. I'm glad I did it but would probably go for the lower tier next time. I think it's worth it if you've never met Ben before. In my 30-second interaction I got him to sign a photo of the two of us taken in Chapel Hill in 2008, plus tell him I was the one behind the mash-up that he once played live with Neil Gaiman, Amanda Palmer, and Damian Kulash. The price point makes me wince, but I suppose a lower tier would lead to a less intimate affair.
Sound check snippets:
All that said, the main show itself was probably the best I've seen solo and the package came with a front row seat! Coincidentally, I sat right next to fellow 'burber Makiko from Japan who I first met at the BF5 reunion 9 years ago. The setlist was wide-ranging and the paper airplane requests were excellent. This is probably the first show I've seen where he didn't play Army and it's definitely the first I didn't hear someone yell out Rock This Bitch (he did an improv song anyway about a blank piece of paper). The one-two combo of Uncle Walter followed by Bastard seemed like a not-too-subtle commentary on the US president. The Vancouver crowd admirably filled in the Regina Spektor parts of You Don't Know Me. Later he had to turn down a request for Dear Theodosia (on a giant paper airplane) since he said he doesn't really remember it and apparently screwed it up over the summer when he tried. He got a round of applause when he declined Bitches Ain't Shit, which he said he's put on hiatus not out of political correctness, but empathy since he recognizes it's just a bad time for a bunch of white folks to be singing that these days. We got Protection, which was a rare treat. We heard the full story behind Hiro's Song and how he came to start playing Tiny Dancer, which I knew nothing about previously.
Loved this setlist!
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/ben-folds/2017/vogue-theatre-vancouver-bc-canada-63e3b22b.html
I loved the soundcheck but I could've skipped the AMAA. There were only 10 of us for the questions, but Ben's answers were a little long and rambly so I was a little bummed my question got skipped (plus a couple people got double questions). More were let in for the soundcheck (maybe 30-40 total). Again my request wasn't picked, but luckily people had good requests for stuff that I was thrilled to hear so that worked out. The extra soundcheck folk were streamed out and the VIP folks got to get their stuff signed plus a photo op with Ben. I don't know if the photographer was trying to be stylish or what but she cropped off the top of Ben's head in my photo. I feel like she had one job and kinda blew it, so that was also a little disappointing. When you compare the two VIP packages, I was essentially paying $170 extra for the questions, photo, and meet & greet. I'm glad I did it but would probably go for the lower tier next time. I think it's worth it if you've never met Ben before. In my 30-second interaction I got him to sign a photo of the two of us taken in Chapel Hill in 2008, plus tell him I was the one behind the mash-up that he once played live with Neil Gaiman, Amanda Palmer, and Damian Kulash. The price point makes me wince, but I suppose a lower tier would lead to a less intimate affair.
Sound check snippets:
- Rock Star
- Belinda
- Gracie
- Selfless, Cold and Composed
- All U Can Eat
- Rocking the Suburbs
- Jesusland
- Fired
- Your Dogs (this would've been one of my plane requests and he really stumbled through it, which was a hoot)
- Adelaide
All that said, the main show itself was probably the best I've seen solo and the package came with a front row seat! Coincidentally, I sat right next to fellow 'burber Makiko from Japan who I first met at the BF5 reunion 9 years ago. The setlist was wide-ranging and the paper airplane requests were excellent. This is probably the first show I've seen where he didn't play Army and it's definitely the first I didn't hear someone yell out Rock This Bitch (he did an improv song anyway about a blank piece of paper). The one-two combo of Uncle Walter followed by Bastard seemed like a not-too-subtle commentary on the US president. The Vancouver crowd admirably filled in the Regina Spektor parts of You Don't Know Me. Later he had to turn down a request for Dear Theodosia (on a giant paper airplane) since he said he doesn't really remember it and apparently screwed it up over the summer when he tried. He got a round of applause when he declined Bitches Ain't Shit, which he said he's put on hiatus not out of political correctness, but empathy since he recognizes it's just a bad time for a bunch of white folks to be singing that these days. We got Protection, which was a rare treat. We heard the full story behind Hiro's Song and how he came to start playing Tiny Dancer, which I knew nothing about previously.
Loved this setlist!
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/ben-folds/2017/vogue-theatre-vancouver-bc-canada-63e3b22b.html
