Post by bexface on Apr 8, 2004 9:25:18 GMT -5
This was a much better concert than the one a few days ago. I suppose if one rocks out on stage for five nights in a row, one would get into a groove. Ben did just that. He spoke more about his new album and EP due and will keep the serious stuff that will "remain for the ages" on the album and put the goofy one on the EP. (BTW: I forgot to mention it in the last review: He is playing a full Steinway grand this time, not the more-portable baby Baldwin he had with Tori last year. I also forgot to mention that he will be touring with two others this summer, one of them being Rufus Wainwright.)
When he first came out, he started taking out pieces of paper and dollar bills from his pockets and placing them inside the piano. The last thing he pulled out was a cucumber. After the "Cooler than You," his stage hand came out (Leo?) and gathered up the junk. (This was the same stage dude from last summer's tour.)
He told us that since he had played in Ann Arbor a few nights ago, he couldn't use the same jokes ("G.I. Joe") and would have to be more creative. More creative he was! He did three improvs, including a fabulous "Rock This Bitch". (I had the number wrong in the last review; he's up to 75 versions.) Of course, the suggestions came left and right from the audience ("Japanese Folk, techno") but the most persistent won out: Porno Style! Did some boom-chicka-boom rhthyms with his mouth on the mike, then took the mike and ran into along the strings inside the piano. (Now I know how he makes those sounds from his live album.) "I'm not gonna be too graphic. ... I'm gonna rock you from the front, gonna rock you from the back." Reference to Ron Jeremy and birth control coils. It went on for quite a while, a real treat.
The earlier improv had him parodying the crazy nuts yelling out (one was in front of me and got Ben to respond twice), telling them they were immortalized on tape, that their gravestone would say "He yelled out A*&#@$&^!!" The other improv toward the end, based on the old tear-jerker "Solitaire" (anyone remember this song?), he repeated what another vocal audience member had shouted: "I'm gonna rock out with my c*ck out." Hilarious!
I was real happy to hear "Emaline," as I had been wholehearedly wishing for that tune. It was beautiful. He also repeated the new tune from the other show ("Rent-A-Cop"?) but did not bother with piano, played the whole thing on bass (still a bitching bass). He worked us up to play the drum sections (three different parts) before he started thumping the lines out.
When he first came out, he started taking out pieces of paper and dollar bills from his pockets and placing them inside the piano. The last thing he pulled out was a cucumber. After the "Cooler than You," his stage hand came out (Leo?) and gathered up the junk. (This was the same stage dude from last summer's tour.)
He told us that since he had played in Ann Arbor a few nights ago, he couldn't use the same jokes ("G.I. Joe") and would have to be more creative. More creative he was! He did three improvs, including a fabulous "Rock This Bitch". (I had the number wrong in the last review; he's up to 75 versions.) Of course, the suggestions came left and right from the audience ("Japanese Folk, techno") but the most persistent won out: Porno Style! Did some boom-chicka-boom rhthyms with his mouth on the mike, then took the mike and ran into along the strings inside the piano. (Now I know how he makes those sounds from his live album.) "I'm not gonna be too graphic. ... I'm gonna rock you from the front, gonna rock you from the back." Reference to Ron Jeremy and birth control coils. It went on for quite a while, a real treat.
The earlier improv had him parodying the crazy nuts yelling out (one was in front of me and got Ben to respond twice), telling them they were immortalized on tape, that their gravestone would say "He yelled out A*&#@$&^!!" The other improv toward the end, based on the old tear-jerker "Solitaire" (anyone remember this song?), he repeated what another vocal audience member had shouted: "I'm gonna rock out with my c*ck out." Hilarious!
I was real happy to hear "Emaline," as I had been wholehearedly wishing for that tune. It was beautiful. He also repeated the new tune from the other show ("Rent-A-Cop"?) but did not bother with piano, played the whole thing on bass (still a bitching bass). He worked us up to play the drum sections (three different parts) before he started thumping the lines out.
OMG!