Greetings all, familiar old faces and newbii (meaning those who joined in the last three years or so)...
I saw Ben tonight, and was blown away. I was more blown away when I realized that it was the tenth time I've seen him (with or without the five). I suppose that since I've been a bit out of the Ben loop lately I may have forgotten the totality of the magic that is Live Ben. But to be blown away, the tenth time I've seen someone, is something that I doubt will ever happen with another artist.
Here's an attempt at the set list:
[solo]
Boxing
Eddie Walker
The Ascent of Stan
[with band]
All You Can Eat
Bastard
Gone
Jesusland
You to Thank
Careless Whisper [with Rufus Wainwright]
Landed
Bitches Ain't Shit
Narcolepsy
Philosophy (with Miserlou and bass and drums)
Zak and Sara
Not the Same
[Encore]
One Angry Dwarf
----
Summary: I'll shyly admit to feeling lukewarm about Songs for Silverman. While it clearly ratchets Ben's songwriting and production skill up to another level, I did find myself missing the boyish, tongue-in-cheek energy and irony that Ben's always had. The album struck me as mature, but subdued. So while I was psyched to see Ben, I wasn't expecting the same level of performance I've seen in the past.
I'll never make that mistake again. I was wrong on three accounts: 1) While Silverman may be subdued, Ben is not. Careless Whisper and Bitches ain't Shit permanently branded that message into my brain. 2) I had forgotten Ben's ability to make my less favored album songs sound incredible live. I first learned this on June 3, 1999, when Narcolepsy gave me a wake-up call (cue bad-joke drums). Fitting that he busted that one out tonight, after Bastard and You to Thank made me rethink my ambivalence toward Silverman. 3) As phenomenal a performer as Ben's always been, more or less every time I've seen him, he's added new twists and improved his skill. Not the Same's three-part sing-along harmony squared itself and became a nine-part composition. And while I can see that he mixes up his set list from show to show, the flow and transitions between songs were razor sharp. Boxing was probably the last song I would have ever expected him to open with (oh yeah, and he made it rock). From there it was a crescendo throughout.
That reminds me, I was also unsure how the Reserved Seating at Copley Symphony Hall would play out. Ok, sitting down for most of the set was a new thing, but I was still doing the happy dance in my chair the whole time (Being in the center of row E didn't hurt). And when Philosophy started, one brave woman ran down the aisle and started dancing in front of the stage. Halfway through the song, another succumbed to the same inclination. Then a slow trickle ensued, which turned into a small flood--maybe 150ish people, myself included, ecstatically dancing in the glow of Ben's aura. Remarkably, security had the sense to see that this was not some violent mob that had to be stopped. It was, in fact, a cadre of very happy, very respectful fans who wouldn't have trampled a fly.
It was also a fantastic climax to a fantastic performance.
At this point I'm fairly confident that somewhere around my 76th birthday I'll be dragging my grandchildren out to see Ben play. If anything, I'm more likely to fail on my end of the bargain than he is (I should get to work). Can't wait to see what he comes up with in 2048.
~TIB, "Back in my day, that's what they used to call me..."