.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I wrote this last Friday (hence the phrase ”last night” in the first sentence) but I looked at it again yesterday and figured why not post this:
Last night I went to see Ben Folds perform with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra at Kleinhans Music Hall. Ben has been performing with more orchestras of late and I actually have a DVD where he performs with an Australian one “Live in Perth”. Many of his songs feature strings and various forms of percussion and wind so it’s not much of a stretch to see his songs performed this way although until you see it I do not think you can truly appreciate the idea.
I hadn’t been to the music hall since grade school so it was nice to pay it another visit. In many ways it looked the way I had remembered it. It kind of had a 1980’s vibe in the walking areas and when we went downstairs to the bar and lounge that wasn’t actually open it reminded me a great deal of that creepy hotel in The Shining. I was waiting for Delbert Grady to give me a free drink and start advising me to “correct” my wife and kids. Sorry, somewhat obscure reference there.
Our seats were upstairs but my friend wanted to get a drink before the show (that's why we went to the lounge that turned out to be closed) so we wandered about the place upstairs and below and while there was some discussion as to whether the show started at 7:30 or 8pm, a little bit after 7:30 the discussion was rendered moot.
I walked out onto the upper balcony area and there he was. Ben was at the front on a massive piano and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra was playing along to the first song of the evening; Zak and Sara. During that song I found myself much like I do when I wake up really early in the morning after not getting enough sleep. I rub my eyes and try to get focused. Sometimes it takes a few minutes to clear the cobwebs out and to get my vision straight. Then after a few minutes I am ready for the day. During Zak and Sara that's how I felt. I was a little overwhelmed by the novelty and sheer size of the performers involved. It took me until the start of the next song, "Smoke" to finally have absorbed the enormity of what was happening down on the stage. At that point there was no more adjusting… my eyes and ears were open and it was simply bliss.
As wonderful as the songs were what was nearly as awesome were the little stories Ben told in between the songs. I learned more about the origins of the songs he played that I had ever known through the internet, or the other 3 times I’ve seen him or the “Five”. It was if in this setting he wanted to talk more about the songwriting than usual which was enlightening and very cool. Every story between every song ended with a “whoa I didn’t know that, that’s cool” moment and at least one good laugh.
When Ben and the Orchestra played it was heavenly. It reminded me of some of the great sensations I have felt with my senses. It reminded me of the way great chocolate tastes, how a fresh pot of quality coffee smells when it first hits your nose, how soft and wonderful cashmere feels against my skin and how a naturally attractive woman captures my eyes the moment I notice her. However, this sensation was for my ears. My eyes wandered from strings to horns, from percussion to Ben at the piano but my ears took in everything. They were funny songs, ironic songs, great stories, sadly beautiful songs and also some of the most beautifully sad and yes there is a difference.
Speaking of differences, when you hear music in Kleinhans Music Hall, it is top shelf acoustics. The sound is wonderful in there and I could hear every instrument. I could zero in on any player and hear exactly what they were doing. The music made my ears feel free. It amplified the joyous melodies and heightened the sad ones. In fact, I mildly teared up a few times from the beauty but there was one song in particular that really had me on the verge. From Ben’s record Songs for Silverman there is this song called Gracie. Gracie is about his daughter Gracie and I believe she is his youngest of 2 children. On the album previous he wrote a song for his son and told a charming story about how Gracie had to wait a few years for her song and how he ran it by her when he finished writing it. When it was played both my eyes welled up and I have to admit I fought it back a little otherwise a few tears would have rolled down my cheek. It made me wonder what would happen if he played “The Luckiest” which is the track that has the most emotional impact on me. With the full effect of the strings on stage I might have needed a bucket. Unfortunately he didn’t play it on this night. For the record:
Songs I wished I could hear: The Luckiest, Army, Selfless Cold and Composed, Philosophy, Fred Jones Part 2, Brick, Don’t Change Your Plans, and Fair.
Songs I was especially thrilled to hear: Narcolepsy, Gracie, Landed, Jesusland, Not the Same, Cologne, Lullabye
Honestly I would have probably needed him to play about 40 songs for me to have heard everything I wanted to. That might’ve taken a while and that's a credit to him. After about 90 minutes he has only made it through about 15 songs and I was floating on a cloud when suddenly it was “thank you, good night!” He walked off the stage and the place went ballistic. He came back out for 1 encore and left again, this time with the whole Orchestra which seemed ominous. The place continued to go bananas but he didn’t return. I thought maybe he’d come back out on his own to play a few. About half the crowd was still in their seats and as loud as possible for almost 10 minutes but he didn’t return. Finally after those 10 minutes passed and the heartiest and most optimistic were starting to depart an usher approached my friend and I and told us it was time to go. We told her how we were holding out hope, how maybe Ben was trying to weed out the casual fans and then he’d return to the stage and belt out a few more but it was not to be. She explained that the Orchestra and basically everyone were salaried and they were only scheduled for a certain amount of time. If they went over it, overtime would have to be paid and as we know, overtime pay isn’t something too many people are giving out these days. The next day Ben confirmed it on his twitter by saying thanks to Buffalo and that he wished he could have come back out but there were circumstances preventing that.
In conclusion I must say that this is among the top 5 best shows I’ve ever seen along with Ben Folds at a bar/club (Clutch Cargo) that used to be a church outside of Detroit, The HORDE fest in 97 with Beck, Morphine, Primus, Ben Folds Five, Neil Young and others, Elvis Costello with Feist at the Knox last year and probably Radiohead in the Canadian moonlight outside Toronto around 2000. I hate to say this person is my favorite singer, band or whatever because if you tracked every year of my life from when I started to care about music until now there’s almost a new favorite band every year! But with 4 Ben Folds concerts under my belt and with my ownership of every major CD and DVD of his that’s been put out I guess you could say that Ben is my favorite musician. I look forward to the next show but getting back to my favorite singers or bands for each year of my life deal, this might be fun… or embarrassing. I think I may start that blog next.
by the way, the photo isn't mine. It was taken by Toronto photographer Sara Collaton, all credit goes to her.
