On Tuesday night in Tempe, the “Bitch Went Nutz,” but at least she managed to give Ben Folds back that black t-shirt he’s been pining for since “Song for the Dumped.”
When word leaked that Folds would be hitting the stage at 7:45 — seventy-five minutes after the show began with an ASU Homecoming announcement and brief set by local Phoenix band, Reuben’s Accomplice — the low-key atmosphere of ASU’s beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Gammage Auditorium turned to fidgeting excitement as anticipation began to seep through the crowd.
Teasing us with contradictory audible foreplay, the first sign that the mood was about to change was with the eerily recorded sound of a strange, near yogi-like chant of a low-pitched guttural “om.”
Rather than calming us down into meditative submission, though, Folds rushed out with his band and launched into “Way to Normal,” eliciting screams so loud it was evident that he (and not the audience) would set the tone — and define what "normal" would mean — for roughly the next two hours. Lucky for us as well as Folds, who seemed genuinely thrilled to have the continual “gig playing for smart-ass college kids," "normal" has always meant something very, very different than the Webster's definition.
Despite opening with “Way to Normal,” he remarked that the song, which shares the name of his latest and most successful solo album (his third since the demise of the Ben Folds Five), actually doesn't appear on the album. Further explaining that he’s created fake songs for all of the tracks on the album — which he leaked online — Folds ended up playing both fake and real versions of many of Normal's cuts, introducing or distinguishing between the two along the way.
In one of the more memorable “fakes” performed in his first set of “new shit,” he led into the alternate version of “Bitch Went Nuts.” A quintessential Ben Folds story-song with evocative imagery and odd analogies seasoned with topical references, the fake “Bitch Went Nutz” tells the sad tale of a young Republican lawyer whose upstanding, fellow church-going Republican colleagues give his date cocaine at a Christmas party, only for her to show her true colors as a “leftist liberal,” spouting off enough Democratic rhetoric to cost him his career. Taking on the character of the song, Folds acted out the part of the lawyer, delving into an hysterical burst of humor (that’s been cropping up repeatedly on YouTube and in bootleg concert footage).
Self-deprecating as always, his style and amusing production is at its most charming, however, when he sticks with the humor of his words and explanations rather than improvising jokes, such as when an audience member shouts out to him. After one joke, in particular, crashed and burned, he quipped, “Damn, I’m not funny. I’m not quitting my day job. Try the veal." At another point, he got so animated while speaking, he tripped up and laughingly said that he's “lost the use of the English language.”
Article comments
1 - Lisa Solod Warren
Your review DEFINITELY made me wish I had been there.........
2 - El Bicho
See, I knew you would do just fine. You did a great job of capturing the show. Although it's unfortunate to learn you are one of those people. Glad you weren't in front of me. Get a photo pass or stop ruining the show for everyone else. One demerit.
3 - Jen
Thanks for the compliments! That's okay, Bicho, I'll take the demerit because man, do I love geeky piano players and my phone is smaller than an iPod. Plus, he totally dug it, smiling and posing for some of us-- he seriously lives to entertain. It was a great, great show! :)
4 - Jordan "Boss" Richardson
Nicely done!
5 - Pico
Sounds like a fun time was had by all, but I'm a little surprised he didn't play "Hiroshima (B-B-B Benny Hit His Head)"?
6 - Jen
Good call, Pico-- I was hoping for that one myself!
7 - Mat Brewster
Nicely done.
8 - Pico
I was remiss in failing to mention myself that this is a nicely done article. Thanks for a good read :-)
9 - Tom Johnson
Damn, that sounds like a great show. Great write-up, Jen, it was almost like being there. So good it actually makes me want to break down and pick up the album, despite not being totally thrilled with about half of what I've heard off of it so far (and really disliking Silverman as a whole.)
10 - tink
Hard to believe this is your first live concert review. Has everything in it that makes it a good read for me...links to info, pix, insight into his tunes and the overall performance.
GREAT stuff!!!
11 - Mark Saleski
yeah, i have to say that this was a great concert review, first time or not.
heck, it almost makes me want to buy a Ben Folds cd, despite disliking (almost) everything he's ever done.
12 - Jen
Wow, thank you so much to all who've read the piece and/or taken time to comment either here, on my site, or via e-mail. It means a lot. Having studied, lived, breathed, and written about movies for fifteen years, it's been a wild adventure moving into music this year but I'm loving it.
Also, for those of you guys on the fence about Folds-- he's one of those musicians best appreciated live but luckily, in addition to the YouTube bootleg concert footage you can see here, there's also a cool Live album, DVDs, and for this tour, he's recording a number of singles live from various cities you can find right here via iTunes.
I actually ended up buying the new album right off iTunes since it came with some hilarious music videos in the Deluxe version (little did I know some of them were also on his MySpace page)!
Again, I really appreciate all the feedback and am looking forward to tackling another concert soon should another cool one hit the Phoenix/Tempe/Scottsdale area. :)