Seeing Ben play. It'd had been awhile. Being in Nashville had been even longer. New songs from Ben, even longer than that.
But I got all three done at once these last few days. Nashville was like a tropical climate. Ha. And we got down to the venue's area around noon or so, went and ate across the street, and then were walking back to the car, and there were two people in line. So I sat and waited with them while Mel and her roommate Lindsey went and visited Nashville's Pantheon. And it was a good time all around. Met some nice people in line, as always. Folds Fans are generally very personable. Specially when you're in line from 1 PM until doors at 8.
Anyway. The Exit/In holds less than the reported 500. More like 300. It was crazy small. And awesome. As we were waiting in line we heard them sound checking. (And if you were wondering, yes, Sam's officially full on the drummer now.) We could tell from what we were hearing that Ben wasn't, well, happy. Angry. Specially seeing as what we could hear was "she f*cking brainwashed you, brainwashed you, brainwashed you, brainwashed you too". And something about "they gave me coffee and they didn't charge me" and "the bitch went nuts"
Yeah. Angry Ben? Maybe. No. Definitely. And I filmed clips of (at least) every song that was new, and two songs full. Though, there's of course no guarantee that these will end up on "Quest for Fire" (or so he says is one of the possible titles).
So here comes the set list.
1. Effington. (You may or may not remember this from the Normal, IL show on 4/2/07 it was the Rock this Bitch/Improv thing. It's longer more involved now. And Mel and I, having both been at that show, were able to sing along for some of the lyrics. Which apparently Mel drew a funny look from Jared cause we knew that "normal people do it too." I laughed through the entire thing. Because it was shocking to hear this song again.) youtube link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3hd0A5GDaAc2. Brainwashed. (I guess that someone wrote a song about Ben. And apparently it sucks. And is inaccurate. This is Ben's retort. If anyone knows what song he's talking about that would be awesome. I filmed the entire thing, though the audio gets distorted when the bass gets really heavy. and I've had this stuck in my head all day) youtube link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=F1TJlr-bAesgreat day to you all
3. Free Coffee. (this song shows Ben's genius. He put a pan in his piano in a certain area, and the hooked up a distortion pedal to his piano. This he said will probably be the first song on the album, but they've yet to get it correct all the way through, and my video's actually until he f*cks it up the first time. the song's about getting free stuff now that he's rich, and didn't get it when he needed it most.) youtube link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TR7j4v5lDfQ4. "The Bitch Went Nuts" (this one I'm not sure on the title, he said that he has been doing a lot of soul searching in the last year, and this is what has come from it. holy hell. Ben's mad. And it's about closing doors that are left half open. and how people told him she might go nuts. starts out talking about how she stabbed his basketball something to that nature. Pretty sure any rumors about Ben cheating will die with this song.) youtube link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Rmf_gP3vOc0 - Then Ben told us that they've tracked 13 songs already for what might be called "Quest for Fire"
5. "You Don't Know Me" (another one he didn't tell us a title for. but this song is another kinda angry relationship is dying song, but not as heavy instrumentally. there's some nice harmony in this song.) youtube link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pMejTEYinPg - Then Ben explained that the next song was written from paying attention to daytime television where the man screws the woman over and she's all pissed but still wants to get him back. and have him back. and ben thinks that's f*cked up.
6. Errant Dog (I can't tell you more than Ben did up there. But I filmed the entire thing.) youtube link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Oh4vMwDYxcc - Then he said he was gonna play old stuff. so he did.
7. Trusted
8. Bastard
9. Still Fighting It
10. Jesusland (during which he sang the same verse twice in a row, which I know happens from time to time. And so he added in some lines about not knowing the words to his own songs)
SOLO
11. Fred Jones Part II
12. Gracie (by request)
13. Evaporated (which he passed up the "see?" during)
Band Back
14. Underground
15. Army
16. Gone
17. Kate (which he had to stop the song to find out, from Jared, what the first line of the song was.)
18. Narcolepsy
19. Bitches
ENCORE:
20. One Angry Dwarf
Ben didn't seem happy at all. All night. I can't remember him smiling except to the crowd when they came back out for the encore. There was one point where he stopped rubbed his chin and then proceeded through whatever he was doing. Played all of Still Fighting It with his eyes closed. Not exactly a happy camper, I don't think.
In other notes, Eef was at the show. Saw him afterwards, asked us how we liked the new stuff and the line of the night was "Ben's angry. It's good. But he's angry." And Eef said that Ben's been through a lot in the last year. I really feel bad for him, he doesn't seem happy at all. There's a line in one of the new songs that says something about how sometimes life is longer than you want it to be, or something to that nature.
I don't know if I'd say that Ben was off. But it was like he was mentally some where else. The piano playing was very good, and Ben standard, the lyrics slipped away, and he hasn't been playing out since August, so really? They haven't practiced the old stuff much.
Information from after the show: Jared said that they've been recording since Halloween. Jared also produced Eef's new record which is due out in April, though it's already out in Spain. Sam said that they're aiming to have the album done by February, they're kicking their asses to get it done that fast, but it should be. And that there should be a giant warning sticker on the album. Well, we always knew Ben had a potty mouth.
The new stuff sounds good. And it's far different from Silverman, which will make some people happy. It's yet another face of Ben. I can't think of anything that really is like this. I mean, yeah, SFTD is angry, but it's still comical. Um, not sure if this is entirely comical. Or at all in some parts.
Oh, random thought. Ben did say that Dennis whatshisname was co-producing the album in town.
It was a good show, and worth the time and effort (and cash) that went into it. And I'm glad to hear that Ben's kicking ass on this new album.
Pictures:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v654/ChudleyCannons31/ben%20folds%20nashville%20december%2019%202007/
Ben Folds Message Board - thesuburbs.org.uk
