"There's a lot of magic up in this bitch tonight..."

Friends,

If you ever have the chance to see Ben Folds in concert, please go. I've seen him twice now, on two completely different tours, and I guarantee you, you will always be entertained. Sometimes with his recurring "Ben Folds and a Piano" tour, of which I saw a show last night at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, mistakes and goof-ups stick out a bit more. Of course they do. It's just Ben and his instrument. But if you want to get into the mind of a songwriter, these are the kinds of shows for you.

Folds played for nearly two hours after an excellent opening set by Australian singer Kate Miller-Heidke (accompanied by her husband/writing partner Keir Nuttall on guitar). The highlight of this sequence was an uproariously funny number called "Are You F---ing Kidding Me?", which revolves around...well, read the lyrics and see the video here. The pair rejoined Folds later for "You Don't Know Me," with Miller-Heidke in the Regina Spektor role.

Anyway, now to the start of the Folds set. "Free Coffee" would have been a poor choice to open a full-band show, but it was a great way to get the crowd settled in, and lyrically, it's a perfect representation of Folds' journey through stardom in the last two decades. "Annie Waits" kicked things into high gear -- momentarily. Ben attempted, several times, to start "Sentimental Guy" after telling the audience how much he enjoys the video for Insane Clown Posse's "Miracles" (weird tangent, I know). Unable to regain his composure and get the video out of his head, he went straight through "Effington" before a final, half-hearted try at "Sentimental Guy." He did, though, end up playing the song in its entirety toward the end of the set. The final stretch also included "The Secret Life Of Morgan Davis," a B-side to "Rockin' The Suburbs" which I think I've heard only once or twice. Apparently, this was part of Folds' infamous 4.6-song commitment to his publisher (a story which I thought was going to lead into "One Down"), and it was a total surprise to me.

Personal highlights included "All U Can Eat," which I first heard on the supersunnyspeedgraphic compilation in 2006; "Gone" and "Still Fighting It" from Rockin' the Suburbs; mindblowing versions of "Narcolepsy" and "Philosophy"; and the killer one-two punch of "Kate" and "Landed" which landed right in the middle of the set. But for me, the two best renditions of the night came from opposite ends of the spectrum: "Levi Johnston's Blues," about Sarah Palin's would-be-son-in-law, was the newest song to be played. With lyrics written by novelist Nick Hornby and containing references to moose hunting and recreational hockey, the song was extremely well-received. And later, thanks to some impromptu audience requests, Folds obliged with a tender reading of "Emaline," one of his oldest songs. As this has been my favorite BF5 tune for quite some time, I was thrilled to hear it live.

Following a lengthy ovation at the end of "Army," Folds returned to the stage for two encores: "One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces" and "Not The Same" (which, like several other songs, garnered heartfelt audience participation). All in all, it was a stellar performance in a great venue, though I missed some of the elements present in a full-band show. The first time I saw Folds was last February, during the "Way To Normal" tour in which he played several cuts off the "fake" album -- and as for the old material, it doesn't get any better than "Alice Childress" with a French horn. But the themes for last night were constant entertainment, great stories, and an intimate atmosphere. Excellent show! The set list follows...

-- pl


Ben Folds Setlist, 4/9/10
Free Coffee
Annie Waits
Sentimental Guy (first attempt)
Effington
Sentimental Guy (second attempt)
Eddie Walker
All U Can Eat
Jesusland
Gone
Picture Window (not yet released)
Levi Johnston's Blues (not yet released)
You Don't Know Me (with Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall)
Kate
Landed
Narcolepsy
Still Fighting It
Sentimental Guy (final attempt)
Dr. Yang
Emaline (request)
The Secret Life Of Morgan Davis
Philosophy
Army
One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces (encore)
Not The Same (encore)


P.S. Parts 2 and 3 of the "three-parter," which started with the Lenny Kravitz review, are still forthcoming. Stay tuned.