Ben Folds

Bigger than Elvis: Ben Folds
Thursday, Apr 10, 2008 - 12:04 AM If you were to judge the popularity of a musical artist by the number of fan sites now in existence, Ben Folds is apparently more popular than Elvis. The North Carolina-born, piano-playing Folds sees his fans congregating on more than a dozen unofficial sites, trading live recordings, parsing lyrics and completing piano transcriptions. In a time when most fan-driven online content begins with beef-headed YouTube comments and ends with ghastly MySpace page wallpaper, Folds is to be commended for nurturing a true online community of fans. Ben Folds plays The National on Friday, along with Eef Barzelay. The doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35.-- Ryan Muldoon
Ben Folds Rocks Swinney
Ben Folds is a world-renowned singer, songwriter, pianist and rock star, but he seemed more like a friend giving a concert Saturday night - a very talented friend with a lot of money. Click here to read more!
Ben Folds Live
Web Exclusive By Evan Bowles What does Ben Folds have in common with you? Everything. Since his major label debut in 1995 with the Ben Folds Five, he's lived three lifetimes of cathartic, tragic and hilarious moments, and has worked with fervor to share them through song. Since the band's unexpected breakup in 2000, his solo career has proved fruitful in charging forth with his original formula: live life, don't take it seriously. In short, he's a normal dude. Well, a normal dude with an incredible aptitude for musical and lyrical composition. Oh yeah, and he's a total smartass. Folds brought the noise with his Baldwin baby grand to the stage of The National Friday night to a near sell-out crowd. He was joined on stage by Jared Reynolds on bass, and Sam Smith on the kit (that's right, no guitar -- a lineup that's Folds has used since, well, the beginning). Although much of the stage light is shined upon Folds' charismatic prowess, Reynolds and Smith contribute equal parts to the harmony and theatrics. The set consisted of a garden variety of selections from both Ben Folds Five and solo recordings, as well as a few new songs from an album to be released in September. The show's tone was set during the second song, when one of the band's crew members came out onstage, sat in a chair with his back to the audience and played a tambourine. Later, he began a dance routine that looked like it may have choreographed by Napoleon Dynamite. The newbies in the crowd knew they were in for a treat. Another highlight included "Philosophy," from the first Ben Folds Five album, which moved into an extended "Miserlou" beating on the piano, much like his rendition on 2002's "Ben Folds Live" album. The refreshing thing about his jamming is that it does not come off as self-absorbed. All the while, it stays entertaining and throws in a hint of comedic gold. During "Not the Same," a hilarious narrative about a friend who took LSD at a party and stayed in a tree all night, Folds cut the crowd into three harmonious octaves, conducting them like a high school mascot. This same crowd participation continued during "Army," when the crowd cut into two dueling horn sections without prior instruction. Noticeably absent from the set was "Rock This Bitch," a song that Folds always inexplicably makes up on the spot after typical hounding from a handful of fans in the crowd. Although the song was requested on multiple occasions, he chose to move on with the set. However, the true highlight of the night came with a loungey version of Dr. Dre's "Bitches Ain't Shit." This piece was a prime example of Folds' tongue-in-cheek perception of musical performance and a reflection of the fans' openness to a carefree blurring between talent and creative license. Folds has a way of culling everyone into his mission for the evening: to simply love music. After a performance that concluded in just over two hours, the crowd was smiling ear to ear. This was my maiden voyage to The National. Its aesthetics, sound, layout, and many bars, restrooms and optional seating make it a top-notch facility. The renovation efforts truly paid off and were worth the wait. My only suggestion is that the City of Richmond subsidize the cost of drinks with my recently paid personal property tax dollars. Five-dollar PBRs are only going to encourage an increase in drinking bottled water at the shows, and no one wants that.
From 'Rockin' the Suburbs' to bringing down Blackman
Jeanine Budd Issue date: 3/17/08 Section: The Inside If people say that Ben Folds "brought down the house" last night, they're not lying. During the alternative rock artist's 18-song set, an audience member close to the front could see small pieces of the ceiling falling to the stage, something seemingly unnoticed by Folds. "I think we were just dusting off the rafters," said Shawn Wolfgang, the alumni chair for Kappa Sigma, who put on last night's show. "Not too many exciting things have happened in Blackman lately." The show stayed true to the words of the ad released by Kappa Sigma and began promptly at 8 p.m. with a performance from Eef Barzelay in front of a half-filled Blackman Auditorium. Barzelay, a comedic solo act from Nashville who describes himself as "soul" on his website, replaced Your Prom Date, an indie rock group from Chicago who was originally scheduled as the opening act. Barzelay's sporadic body movements, alongside lyrics like: "You look so pretty when you have been drinking / you laugh at all my jokes," and "that was my ass you saw bouncing next to Ludacris," drew laughter from the audience, even if at times the response seemed to be confusion. Just as promised, Folds was on stage by 9 p.m. He began the night with the song "Effington," and followed with "Gone," during which the sitting (and now full) crowd was prompted to stand, and everyone rose to their feet, clapping and singing along. "My favorite song that he played was 'Army,' because it's the song that started me off on him, but the whole show was a lot of good music," said Mike Brown, a sophomore civil engineering major. "I had a lot of fun." Folds didn't have to make much effort to inspire crowd participation during last night's set. In between songs, crowd members would shout out songs to sing and echo back the lyrics if he chose to take a breather for a couple of lines occasionally. At the end of the night, Folds turned to the audience and directed them in a chorus of "ba da ba ba" during the song "Army," before ending with "Rockin' the Suburbs." At many shows, Folds has to teach the audience parts before the song, but this college crowd didn't need such introductions. "I really love it when he had everyone sing along in unison," said Nathan Pierce, a sophomore political science major at Emmanuel College. "By now though, all of his fans know exactly what to do." Of course, it was clear at the close of the concert that the show wasn't over. With the crowd much louder than when Folds took the stage, many of them standing, screaming and pounding on seats, he re-entered for an encore, which included the Ben Folds Five song, "Underground." "I've seen him before at a bigger venue," said Bianca Pier, a sophomore biology major from Siena College who attended last night's show. "I really liked the small venue. And it was also really funny that you could see dust falling from the ceiling. We'll just say that's from the talent." After last night, Folds will be back in the studio for three weeks, wrapping up the recording of a new album, Wolfgang said. Mike McDuffe, a freshman industrial design major at Wentworth Institute of Technology, had a message for anyone who didn't attend the concert. "For these people who missed last night's show, I'm just going to tell them: regret," he said.
Ben Folds College Tour!
Ben signs up for another year of college! Click here to read more about his upcoming college tour.
Ben Folds At Bonnaroo!
Superfly Productions and A.C. Entertainment are proud to announce the initial lineup for the 2008 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The seventh annual four-day camping and music festival will be held on June 12-15 on the same beautiful 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville. A full list of confirmed acts follows, and more will be announced in the coming weeks. The final Bonnaroo 2008 lineup will total over 100 bands and over 20 comedians performing on 13 stages over four days. Tickets go on sale exclusively through www.bonnaroo.com on Saturday, February 16 at 12:00 PM EDT. 2008 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Confirmed Artists: Pearl Jam Metallica Jack Johnson Kanye West Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Featuring T Bone Burnett Phil Lesh and Friends My Morning Jacket The Allman Brothers Band The Raconteurs Willie Nelson Death Cab for Cutie B.B. King Sigur Ros Levon Helm and the Ramble on the Road Ben Folds O.A.R. The Bluegrass Allstars Feat. Luke Bulla, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Bryan Sutton M.I.A. Umphrey's McGee Iron & Wine Yonder Mountain String Band The Swell Season Talib Kweli Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi's Soul Stew Revival Gogol Bordello Broken Social Scene Robert Randolph's Revival Rilo Kiley Mastodon Lupe Fiasco Against Me! Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings Pat Green Ozomatli Tegan & Sara Solomon Burke Drive-By Truckers !!! The Avett Brothers Israel Vibration Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck Phil Lesh / Larry Campbell / Jackie Greene Aimee Mann Ladytron The Fiery Furnaces Orchestra Baobab Ghostland Observatory Jose Gonzalez Dark Star Orchestra Minus the Bear Donavon Frankenreiter Lez Zeppelin State Radio Battles Jakob Dylan Two Gallants The Sword Vampire Weekend Little Feat Nicole Atkins The Felice Brothers Mason Jennings MGMT The Lee Boys Black Kids Serena Ryder Steel Train Grupo Fantasma Back Door Slam Bonnaroo Comedy: Bonnaroo Late Night Chat About with David Cross Janeane Garofalo Zach Galifianakis Jim Norton Brian Posehn Mike Birbiglia John Mulaney Michelle Buteau More artists to be announced!
New Tour Dates!
Ben has two new tour dates at Purdue University and University of Iowa! Pre-sale tickets go on sale on 1/17 at 1:00PM! Check the tour page for more info!
Ben Folds Experience
Click here for more info.
*Ben Folds Live At My Space* DVD**
available now! Click here for list of retailers who are carrying this DVD. You can also order the DVD online via Ben's www.attackedbyplastic.com site! Filmed live at Ben’s studio in Nashville, TN on October 24, 2006 for myspace.com’s first ever live-by-request webcast (“hey play this”). Watch a clip from this DVD - Ben performing his cover of Postal Service's "Such Great Heights": RealVideo \| QuickTime \| Windows Media: lo - med - hi The tracklisting includes: opening theme there's always someone cooler than you learn to live with what you are kate bastard jesusland all u can eat i cross the line (performed by titler) such great heights army rockin' the suburbs bitches ain't shit
Ben Folds Rhapsody Originals - Exclusive!
Get exclusive live Ben Folds at Rhapsody!
"Learn To Live With What You Are" Video Premiere!
Arrrgh! Ben's new video just premiered. You can watch it now via the Ben Folds video player!
Ben's "supersunnyspeedgraphic, the lp" - In Stores Now!
Ben Folds' supersunnyspeedgraphic, the lp, a comprehensive collection of original songs culled from his successful series of EP releases, b-sides, covers and film soundtrack appearances, is in stores now! Boasting remastering and tweaking that was completed at Ben's own studio in Nashville, TN, the 12 tracks on supersunnyspeedgraphic, the lp include covers of "In Between Days" (The Cure), "Get Your Hands Off Of My Woman" (The Darkness) featuring Corn Mo's guest vox, & Ben's own version of the Dr. Dre hit "Bitches Ain't Shit," plus a song from The Bens, and another from Over the Hedge. • Click here to order the new CD from attackedbyplastic.com and get a FREE bonus DVD! • The bonus DVD includes the Ben Folds music videos for "Landed (Ben Folds' Version)," "Jesusland" and "Bastard." You can also download/stream the album from: iTunes \| Napster \| Real \| Rhapsody \| Walmart \| Connect If you download the album from iTunes, you'll get 3 free videos: "Landed," "Bastard," & "Landed (Monkey Version)!"
*Sing it Btch! Make Your Own Video!**
Make your own video for Ben's "B*tches Ain't Shit" and Ben will feature the best videos on his website & MySpace page! Details here!
Ben Folds in Second Life: Wrap Up
Ben Folds was in Second Life last night (October 19) chatting with fans & previewing new clips from supersunnyspeedgraphic, the lp. Visit one of the links below to check out what people are saying about the event! Plus there are lots of additional screen grabs on these sites too. eightbar: Ben Folds in Second Life the Event rooreynolds.com: Ben Folds: gig of the year theSuburbs.org.uk: Second Life Chat
Ben Folds on "Over The Hedge" Soundtrack!
Ben has 5 songs on the "Over The Hedge" movie soundtrack, which is in stores now! The songs are: "Family Of Me," "Heist," "Lost In The Supermarket," "Still," & "Rockin' The Suburbs (featuring William Shatner)." You can order the Soundtrack here and get a free mini movie poster! For more details on the soundtrack, visit the soundtrack site. You can also download the album from: iTunes \| Connect
Ben Folds & WASO - Live in Perth DVD in stores now!
The DVD features Ben performing with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in front of sell-out crowds at Kings Park in Perth, Australia. Ben, his piano and the 83 piece symphony recorded the album during a two-night-stand in March of 2005. Click here to order it now The track listing for the DVD is as follows: 1. Zak and Sara 2. Smoke 3. Fred Jones part 2 4. Steven's Last Night In Town 5. Boxing 6. Annie Waits 7. Brick 8. Evaporated 9. Not the Same 10. The Ascent of Stan 11. Lullabye 12. Narcolepsy 13. Rock This Bitch 14. The Luckiest
Ben's iTunes Originals
Ben's iTunes Originals is available for download now at the iTunes Music Store! Check out 9 songs Ben recorded live exclusively for iTunes, plus in-depth interview and more online here!
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