So we went to the Ben Folds concert Saturday night at Orchestra Hall and he was even better than the very first time I heard him, which has got to have been a decade ago. After two hours, he sent the Orchestra home and divided up the audience to serve as horns and harmony and it was magical. Early on, I judged it as more of an Orchestra Hall crowd, but suddenly, every person in that sea was grinning up to the lights of the stage and singing their hearts out for him. I’ve never seen a crowd cheer and chant so adamantly, at such length for a third encore. And of course, he acquiesced and seemed so happy to do so - which is exactly why he’s so good live. Because he still seems to love it so much, because he tells you stories about being deliriously sick in Berlin and making songs up on stage and insulting the radio stations that sponsored him and getting his song pulled. By the end of the night, you’re his best friend. By the end, it was the kind of concert that makes you all run out in to the cold city night still singing “ba da da, buh duh dum duh” together, united and grinning.
Photo courtesy of the man himself
1 month ago