chuckography

"Five" equals "Three"....

Went to see  Ben Folds Five at the Performing Arts Center last night. 

Great time watching these guys reunited after a 13-year gap of being apart.

 They also released a new album yesterday so we heard a mix of the old, the new and in between.


This was my fourth time seeing him on piano.

Over the years, I caught him in Atlanta and here at The Joe during WaveFest but he was solo.

He appeared a few years ago at the PAC with a back up band but here he was now with his two original partners who had started it all in the Rock & Roll '90s.

Welcome back.

Back when I first started going to concerts, it was advised you sit on the left side if a piano was featured. 

Well this what I was told for classical music. Going to the symphony.

That way, you see the hands of the player and the keys.

Good advice because I had not watched his hands before as he played and banged and slammed the keys!

I also know that he often ends a show with a toss of the piano stool at the sturdy Baldwin.

He did indeed. He tossed it so hard it bounced.

The drummer and bass player were not that violent.

But all's well that ends well.

The music was terrific, the banter was warm and friendly and one audience member was invited up on stage to sing "Philosophy,"

Let's just say it was obvious the fellow was not a plant, placed in the audience as a gimmick. He alone set Karaoke back about 50 years.

The Baldwin piano took a pounding but, as you can see in the link above, that's just the way Ben plays it.

Ben Folds was VERY fan friendly. 

He stayed onstage and shook hands and signed albums that were handed up to him.

If you don't know him and his sound, go online and listen.

I'm really glad my 2nd row seat was on the  left.

Watching his left foot keeping time with the beat was spell binding ...and exhausting!

(Click on the photos for more detail.)

As often happens, I was probably the oldest person there last night.

That simply adjusts the numbers when they think about their average fan.


(Please click http://photo.meetup.com/687.)

Labels: Baldwin pianos, Bassist Robert Sledge, Ben Folds Five, Do It Anyway, Drummer Darren Jessee, Fraggle Rock, Karaoke set back, my black t-shirt, Philosophy, The Joe, The Sound of the Life of the Mind., WaveFest

posted by chuckography @ 7:00 PM