Post by bexface on Apr 4, 2004 18:50:48 GMT -5
Ben Folds - the Hill; Ann Arbor, MI - 4/3/04
It was a decent concert. Ben just started his solo tour in Cleveland the night before to shake off the cobwebs since touring last with Tori. He informed us of this after messing up two lines in "Zak & Sara." The night before, he had been a "complete mess. F***ing up left and right." He had been on vacation for two months prior after having spent most of his time putting out material for his new album, due out this summer. Problem is he came back with more new material so he's not sure what he'll do. He might put the silly songs on an EP and the serious stuff on the album. Or mix up silly and serious and release both.
Ben really has no fear of going in random directions. His ability to directly reflect on what he is playing (or has played) back to the audience shows the musical mind constantly working at his trade. We were treated to three new ones from his upcoming album (or EP), one having never been performed before in public (the third "unknown" song in the setlist). He told us he when new songs come out this way from him, he has to try them live and then sometimes not do well and they are never heard from again. "Any of you taping can just hit the delete button."
Near the end, he performed something else new "Breakup in the Food Court." Based on his worst vision of people breaking up in the mall, he gave us two big "fragments" of the song, still not having worked out the overall mechanics.
Also noteworthy that he put out some bitching bass lines on his own at two points in the show. Once during the second new song, just recorded last week ("It's too late"?), and then to finish up "Give Me My Money Back" during the encore.
It was a decent concert. Ben just started his solo tour in Cleveland the night before to shake off the cobwebs since touring last with Tori. He informed us of this after messing up two lines in "Zak & Sara." The night before, he had been a "complete mess. F***ing up left and right." He had been on vacation for two months prior after having spent most of his time putting out material for his new album, due out this summer. Problem is he came back with more new material so he's not sure what he'll do. He might put the silly songs on an EP and the serious stuff on the album. Or mix up silly and serious and release both.
Ben really has no fear of going in random directions. His ability to directly reflect on what he is playing (or has played) back to the audience shows the musical mind constantly working at his trade. We were treated to three new ones from his upcoming album (or EP), one having never been performed before in public (the third "unknown" song in the setlist). He told us he when new songs come out this way from him, he has to try them live and then sometimes not do well and they are never heard from again. "Any of you taping can just hit the delete button."
Near the end, he performed something else new "Breakup in the Food Court." Based on his worst vision of people breaking up in the mall, he gave us two big "fragments" of the song, still not having worked out the overall mechanics.
Also noteworthy that he put out some bitching bass lines on his own at two points in the show. Once during the second new song, just recorded last week ("It's too late"?), and then to finish up "Give Me My Money Back" during the encore.
