Hi, my name is greyseale. I went to a Ben Folds show the other day. It was in Seattle.
First, it was, as my boss Heidi would say, "frickin' ass cold" out. Just frigid for Seattle in March, to be honest. All of us waiting out front were shivering and jumping up and down to maintain body heat. It wasn't quite as cold as Indianapolis (20 below 0F), but it sure felt that way <g> I got a wonderful front row center balcony seat with some really nice people from NY. They saw my recorder and we started talking about show recording and Ben's apparent attitude about it. (They informed me that I could download a Ben Folds NYC bootleg show on the Internet. This is the second time someone has said this to me, and I didn't know what to say to that without being "dig my site." I just thanked them for the info.)
1) Ben came out, and commented that they're "cheap bastards" and didn't spring for heat. He launched into "Eddie Walker," and as soon as he finished, two guys came running out with these space heaters. Ben started laughing, saying, "I was just kidding!" They set them down and ran offstage, after which Ben giggled, "It's kind of hot in here..." Of course, because it was funny, we all laughed heartily <g>
2) He did the first verse of "Purple Haze" again. This time I got it recorded right.
3) He sampled his teen creation, "Having Two Dicks Is Cool." You'll just have to hear it.
4) He said he thinks they'd almost "pawned" "Girl" off to DeLaSoul. He performed it in a very overwrought manner. When he sang the line, "...'cuz you're dreamin' 'bout somebody else," he indicated a tear rolling down his face. Hee! The audience did "I'll be there" for him, and remarkably well.
5) I don't think I've heard a better "Philosophy" solo, like ever. I know I said that about Chicago, but this blew that straight into the cosmos. He went from the normal deal to the mic on the strings, to "Pyser," and then did a ton of other stuff. Shit. Maybe I'm exaggerrating, I don't know, but I'm listening to it right now, and I haven't changed my mind yet <g>
6) Ben had us do "Not the Same" and spent a bit of time organizing the harmonies. He seemed to be playing much more precisely than usual, I noticed, but maybe it was where I was sitting. I'm not sure. He certainly was singing better than I've heard the entire tour, maybe since I've seen him live at all. I think he's been sick at most of the shows I've seen since the beginning of the RTS tour, so maybe he is finally healthy <g>
That is about it. I don't know if any of you read my little post about it over on .org, but the character of the Portland and Seattle shows were pretty different. Portland was great and unbelievably just FUN, and Ben was definitely in some kind of GREAT mood.
Seattle was much different. The audience was absolutely silent during the slower numbers and the singing wasn't racous or screamish, as was Portland. Don't get me wrong, Portland singers were terrific, but something was different about Seattle. Maybe a track could end up on the live album thing along with the others! He mentioned he was recording and that it could be "immortalized on a CD."
In addition, Ben was playing extremely meticulously, and his singing, like I said, was really TOP FORM. These are, of course, just my impressions. You can decide for yourself soon
Thanks for reading all of my droning. Y'all are the only ones who'll listen to my Ben-blather
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