Exclusive Ticket Giveaway: BEN FOLDS
July 6, 2011
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Ben Folds and St. Louis go way back. Thirteen Sixteen years, in fact. As front man of Ben Folds Five, with his solo career, and let’s face it, even with his astute and dignified judging of two rounds of NBC’s a cappella contest The Sing Off, Ben Folds has wowed audiences with his intelligence, talent, smart ass sense of humor, a few tossed piano stools, frantic keyboard stomping, and his signature piano punk for pussies. Here is a brief timeline, mostly crowd-sourced on Facebook, of an entire teenager’s life full of Ben Folds shows in St. Louis.
Riverport Amphitheater — August 19th, 1995 Ben Folds Five, POINTFEST IV (w such gems as Matthew Sweet, Jewel, etc)
Thank you, JAMIE ELLIS, who pointed out that I’d missed one, and incidentally, the only Ben Folds show she’d ever seen. I was a junior in high school and not allowed to drive that far away from my house at the time.
Riverport Ampitheater — July 24, 1997 H.O.R.D.E. fest Tour, (w Toad the Wet Sprocket, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Primus, etc.)
GEOFF LEVEINE “HORDE was my 1st time seeing Ben live. Played the side stage. Spotted Ben watching Toad The Wet Sprocket on the main stage.”
Thanks again to GEOFF! In the process of researching this show I came across the archives of our (Ben Folds Five spazzes) list serv, “The Magical Armchair.” The list was great for show reviews, guitar tabs, sheet music, sweet ASCII art, and just the knowledge that there was always someone dorkier than you.
The American Theater — February 14, 1998 Ben Folds Five w/Jude
This was the first concert I’d ever attended, if you don’t count storyteller Bobby Norfolk of Gator Tales fame, and I never do. The American was a beautiful venue and it barely contained the throng of nerds who didn’t sit once through the whole show.
Mississippi Nights — February 17th, 2000 “The Bens” tour, Ben Folds, Ben Harper, Ben Lee
The Pageant — September 29th, 2001 [Thanks to Geoff in the comments!]
Mississippi Nights — June 20, 2002
MIKE RENGEL “The ‘Ben Folds and his Piano’ tour, the tour he was doing to get recordings for Ben Folds Live. Great gig!”
ERIN JAMESON “Oversold and ridiculous, like all Mississippi Nights shows were. I had to sit down in the middle of the crowd so I didn’t pass out. Still, it was a pretty fun night.”
The Pageant — Nov 10, 2002 with Duncan Sheik
DAVE MCCUTCHEON: “Ben was still establishing his credentials as a crowd-pleasing maestro — I recall a splendid early version of ‘Not the Same’ where some folks were still confused over the inclination of the singalong chorus; it’s sort of like thinking back to when little kids were falling over their own two feet before growing up to be gymnasts.”
BEN FOLDS BARB on the Internet (so you know it’s real): “Opened with ‘Careless Whisper’ how cool is that?!”
Set list also included Ultimate Sacrifice (!), Last Polka, and Song for the Dumped in Major, Minor, and JAPANESE.
Simon Rec Center, Saint Louis University — October 8th, 2004 w/Ben Lee
DIANA BENANTI “The show started late because Ben wanted to watch the Bush-Kerry debate.”
The Fox Theater — June 23, 2004 with Rufus Wainwright and Guster
A triple bill in the beautiful Fabulous Fox. Ben was in the middle on this one, and pulled Rufus out to do George Michael’s “Careless Whisper” with him, voted best cover by the RFT. He conducted the game audience through BFF material, working from the stage, including a gorgeous a cappella version of “Army.”
Scottrade Center — July 2005, opened for Weezer
The Pageant — December 17th, 2005. River of Toys Show with Collective Soul, Vertical Horizon, & Natasha Beddingfield
Did *anybody* go to this show?? I remember it sold out really fast.
Brookings Quadrangle, Washington University — Spring 2006, Walk In, Lay Down
Riverport Amphitheater — June 20th, 2007 Opened for John Mayer
The Pageant – October 16, 2008
Huge production to promote Way to Normal. He played tracks from the album along with the fake versions of the songs he’d leaked online before its release. Band members wore huge foam smiley face costumes. The lighting and projections were crazy.
Image courtesy Laine Marschik
The Pageant – September 28, 2009
DAVID MCCUTCHEON: “[Ben Folds] shrunk The Pageant to the size of The Duck Room with makeshift intimacy in his conducting of the crowd.”
It was the first time I remember Ben being genuinely impressed with St. Louis’ choir skills. For me, it is the concert every Ben Folds show has to live up to.
Chaifetz Arena – April 16, 2010
DOOMED. The tickets for this show were pretty spendy by my standards, but I happily dropped serious bank to see him. It wasn’t until we arrived at the massive venue on SLU’s campus that we found out all the students got in for free. The sound was puny; loud, drunken assholes with Chat Roulette signs everywhere, and we were all very sad. But we got to see Ben play the drums (while the kit was being assembled, no less) and the pictures were still pretty fantastic.
Image courtesy Laine Marschik
The Pageant – January 30, 2011
DAVID MCCUTCHEON: “The ‘sleazy’ performance, with Folds and Co. covering Ke$ha. Fun fact: I requested my favorite of Folds’ solo renditions, Emaline, at 4am the night before via Twitter. Folds was gracious enough to play it during his solo tenure. [watch Emaline on You Tube]
The Ke$ha cover was because the band agreed to play whatever song was on the top of the iTunes chart the day of each show. It contained considerably more musicianship than Ke$ha’s version, but yeah, it was still kinda skeevy. Ben also recorded bits for a youtube video mashup, which quickly became tiresome…
But then he released THIS:
[BEN FOLDS’ SEVEN CITY A CAPPELLA CHOIR VERSION OF WORKING DAY]
Which begins with St. Louis and straight up ends in a THANK YOU VERY MUCH ST. LOUIS!!!!!!!!
AND NOW…
Comments (45)
Wakarusa 2008 – My first and only Ben Folds show. Being a music festival setting, I wasn’t sure how he would go over. Some things got messed up with the schedule and Ben was moved to a later time slot going against Sound Tribe Sector 9. As 80% of the festival was over at STS9, I wandered to the tent to catch a few Ben Folds songs before meeting my crew. Next thing I knew, it was the end of Ben Folds set. Also, the bass was so loud from STS9 that Ben Folds joked a few times about the sound bleed and asked what song would work well with that “bass shit coming from over there” He also wrote a freestyle song about Lawrence, Kansas with lyrics about “baseball caps, humidity making his piano come untuned, and cornfields” The set ended with an epic version of my favorite Folds tune, “Narcolepsy”
Feb 14 of 1998 is the first Valentine’s I spent as a married girlie. I like to say that I married the King of the Nerds as my husband and I were preparing to move completely away from St. Louis and settle in Indiana so he could study for his Phd in math. In MATH, people, the nerdiest of all nerdy thing to be working on in 1998. Ben Folds meant so much to me then, and they still do, all these years later, where I am still married to The Nerd King, but we are both much cooler (we can pretend) than we were as 22 year-old newlyweds. Taking my Nerd Royalty to see a band we both adore, would be assuredly less than nerdy.
I went to that show at Slu’s rec center – my first Folds show ever. Employed by the university, I specifically asked to work that event to see the show (“Working” meant guarding the VIP area), and I was so glad I did! I remember thinking “SLU was cool enough to book HIM? as I watched the fabulousness unfold.
it was a hell of a lot better than the Chaifetz show. *shudder*
June 1998 – Giants Stadium. Ben Folds Five and Beck opened for Dave Matthews Band. As one would expect, Ben Folds and Beck played to essentially an empty Giants Stadium, what with all the hippies and frat boys forgetting about their traditionally opposite roles in society whilst getting high in the parking lot until the last minute. My memory is that Ben and Company were loud and irreverent, blasting new assholes to a nonexistent crowd like the band was playing for friends in a sweaty garage. I loved it – because in many respects – Ben was pretty much playing just for me.
I have never seen Ben Folds live. Any chance there was to go to a concert in St. Louis I have missed because of work, family gatherings or being out of town. I remember sitting at work listening to him perform live while I was at work on air back when 101.1 The River was still around.
I am incredibly in love with the St. Louis symphony, with a trip to The Rat Pack concert being my last visit. Please help me get to my first Ben Folds concert, especially in a venue that is second to none and the best place to see a concert in all of St. Louis.
Thanks!
Starlite Theatre in KC…forgot the year…awesome show!
I know he’s done it at other shows before, but I still felt a sense of special insight into his personality and past when he reminisced about his teenage days playing polka, wearing lederhosen, etc. He’s really quite captivating even when he’s not playing music!
I’ll never forget, though, that I first discovered him on a cross-country road trip with my entire immediate family. My sister had gotten the self-titled Ben Folds Five album and we pretty much listened to it for 12 hours. Straight. All of us singing every word by the end.
I’ve now seen Ben live 7 times, more than any other artist I’ve seen in concert. (Foo Fighters and Wilco are just a spot back though.)
My greatest “Ben” moment came in 2004 when Ben came to town with Guster and Rufus Wainwright. The concert went well enough, it was my first time seeing Ben without a band backing him up, and I was amazed at how great it still sounded with just him behind the piano.
Well, his portion ended and all of the sudden I start jokingly chanting “We want more!”, and soon my friend next to me starts in, then a few more people start chanting, and soon enough the whole Fox Theatre is chanting “We want more!”. Now, I know it is a given that a major artist is going to do an encore, but usually it is just to the screams and applause of an audience, and not to an organized chant.
Despite the simplicity of it all I felt like a Machiavellian genius, once again proves it doesn’t take much to impress me.
I took my husband to the 2005 show with Weezer. It was an act he likes (Ben Folds) and an act I like (Weezer). I’d love to take him to see Ben Folds again with the symphony!
My favorite Ben Folds experience was working backstage setting up and taking down one of his shows. He’s fabulous! The best part of the whole day was the face of a teenage fan when he saw BEN FOLDS taking a walk around his little ole Kentucky town. I chuckled a lot.
I first saw Ben Folds Five at Mississippi Nights in the 90s when my husband and I were dating. We were in our 20s and all sweaty and the show was AMAZING.
We saw him again in 2001 less than four weeks before we got married. (Philosophy was included on the CD we handed out to all of our wedding guests!)
We were at that Fox Theater show in 2004 less than a year after I gave birth to our daughter (I got all sniffly when he sang Gracie!).
We were at the 2009 Pageant show—the first concert my daughters (then ages 4 and 6) really wanted to attend! (They love Gracie. However, since the new album held Bitch Went Nuts, we opted to leave them with a sitter for the evening!)
My husband and I will be celebrating our tenth anniversary on October 20th. When I found out that Ben Folds was performing with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in November, I felt swoony. There is no better way to celebrate a decade. Perfection.
I know I can’t win, but I would like to say that I purchased tickets for the 2008 show at the Pageant and my boss scheduled me to go on a business trip on top of the concert date and I was fully prepared to quit my job over it. I made myself sick, but it turned out I just can’t read a calendar.
I bleached the shit out of my Ben Folds Five ringer t-shirt (graphic featured a drawing of a keyboard with the middle C being held down by a middle finger) and I had to quit wearing it. Nothing on Earth makes me love people more than a Ben Folds show (excepting the Chaifetz show, natch).
On February 13, 2010 The Luckiest was my husband and my first dance at our wedding.
The 1999 at the American Theater. We sat behind a young girl…maybe 8 or 9 who knew all the words to Song for the Dumped and all the rest of the BF5 songs.
My husband loves Ben Folds! He first introduced me to his music by playing the Luckiest to me! What a great song… Then after that i have loved every other song Ben Folds have sung!
We saw him at the Fox– what a fabulous venue and fabulous place to hear a great artist!
You left off a show – 9/29/2001 at The Pageant. This was on his first tour of Rockin’ The Suburbs, and this is the date of my greatest Ben Folds memory – or at least it’s the date that starts the first part of my story.
Ben had just finished playing the show, and a group of about 40 of us gathered behind the Pageant and waited near his bus for a chance to meet our idol. Eventually Ben came out, and took the time to meet with each of us, signing autographs and taking pictures – but also taking the time to chat for what honestly seemed like at least a half hour. After a while the crowd started to thin out and it was down to about 15 of us. I had been standing around watching everyone else mingle with Ben, but I didn’t really know what to say to him. Out of nowhere, this crazy idea popped in my head to get a picture with him, – but not just a regular picture of me standing next to him, but something a little more crazy. My friend had his digital camera, and had been taking pictures of the concert earlier, and was snapping a few pics of Ben standing with the fans after the show. So I asked him if he would take a pic of me and Ben. I remember him saying ‘sure’ but he wasn’t sure how much space he had left on his SD card. Anyway, I walk up to Ben, introduce myself, and say “Hey, would you mind taking a picture with me? – and we need to make it look like you are punching me in the face” I didn’t know what to expect him to say – but he smiled and said “Sure, how do you want me to do this?” I looked over at my friend, and then I could see him scrambling to erase pictures from his camera – as if he knew he had totally run out of space. But Ben was cool, and took his time with me, as he put his hand up to my jaw and his arm stretched out. Anyway – long story shorter – my friend got the pic and it turned out really great.
Fast forward to Mississippi Nights 6/20/2002 – This was my next Ben Folds concert after the previous mentioned one – I walk over to the merch booth and I see Ben is selling a poster which was double sided. The front side was just a giant picture of him at his Piano playing in front of the crowd, and on the back side were about 5 or 6 fan submitted photos. I see a girl buying one of them and as she flips it over, what do I see? – Me! Getting punched in the face by Ben! My friend had secretly submitted it to the Ben Folds website, and I guess they liked the picture enough to include it. I was stoked!
Fast forward again to 4/10/2003 at the Adler Theatre in Davenport, IA. I had just finished watching Ben play a fantastic show – Tegan and Sara had opened – it was a fun night of music – anyway I bring a copy of that poster that has me on the back of it getting punched. I meet Ben again, and ask him to sign it – and as he is about to sign – he looks at it, looks at me – and then starts to write something above his signature – I look at it and it says “You hit me first! – Ben” It was so awesome that he did that! And then he was cool enough to record my voicemail greeting on my cell phone, so whenever my friends called, it was Ben saying “Hey this is Ben Folds, Geoff can’t come to the phone right now but if you leave a message he will call you back, thanks” I left that message on for like 2 years – and actually he recorded a different message first, but he deleted it because it went something like “Geoff can’t come to the phone because he’s on the poo-poo pot…” or something and he was worried my family or boss or something would hear it and not find it funny. Anyway, it was just a couple of great nights, and I wanted to share them with you – and hopefully score some tix to the symphony show!
Ben Folds was the only coherent one on the Sing Off!!
April 2003, Severance Hall in Cleveland. I came for the opener, Tegan and Sara, was completely impressed that Ben Folds played such an incredibly long set and the theatre was really pretty. Didn’t full appreciate him until a few years later though.
I made the decision to watch the Kerry v. Bush debate instead of seeing him at SLU. Maybe I really shouldn’t win these tickets…or should I?
Unfortunately I’ve never been to a Ben Folds concert, even though he’s been up to my alma mater, Truman State University, twice. Once the year before I got there and another time while I was there my junior year, but I couldn’t go because I had already made plans to go to a KC Chiefs game with my dad. So I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to finally see him in concert, because it would bring back many fond memories of my high school days, which is when I first discovered and fell in love with Mr. Folds. I will never forget hearing “The Luckiest” for the first time while on a road trip with three of my best high school friends down to Houston, Mo., for a weekend stay at our friend’s cabin. It was beautiful and such a perfect moment that I’ll never forget! And “Gracie” always makes me think of my dad. :)
I’ve sadly never been to a BF concert before, but I did use Evaporated in a school project in 8th grade and got in trouble because it said “Hell”
After the show at the FOX when there was a triple bill, we snuck out before Guster played (sorry Guster). We went out the side door and around back. And sure enough, Ben Folds was standing right there. We went over and said hello in nervous excitement. He asked us what we thought of the show and in reference to one of his songs I said, “I want my money back, you bitch.” He recoiled, his face fell and he sadly said he was sorry. He DID NOT get the reference. I felt awful and countered, “No! That was a joke… cause, cause of your song…Um… I really loved the show…” Anyway, he signed our ticket stubs but still obviously felt awkward. It was so weird. But the show was still fantastic and it was wonderful to meet him and now I have a great story. Also, that was the same night my fiancé and I got together over 7 years ago. We’re getting married this August and will always remember that wonderful night. Thanks, Ben!
I took my brother to the February American Theater show in 1998. I was 18, soon to graduate from high school, Ryan was 14 and a freshman. Ben Folds was his favorite band, and by favorite, I mean he found every CD/bootleg that he could in those pre-internety days and sang along in the office that he had converted into his bedroom. Our parents were recently divorced, and I would be leaving for college in August, and I was sort of terrified to leave my brothers back in St. Louis to deal with everything alone. Ryan was still struggling with his weight and school, but we bonded over music, going to a total of six or seven shows together before I left for college in Iowa.
We got there early, but still had to wait in a long, chilled, coiling line that wrapped around several city blocks. Ryan was pretty nervous, giddy almost. Several DJs from 105.7 Point were talking to the crowd, trying to amp them up, keep the peace. As we got closer, I saw that they were giving away green BF t-shirts. Ryan and I didn’t have any money for a concert t-shirt, but I really wanted him to have one. So I told him to stay in line, and went up and asked what I could do to get a t-shirt for my brother. The guy looked at me (I had really short hair and probably vintage grandma chic clothing) and said, “Can you get this crowd pumped up?” I said, heck yeah.
So I ran up and down the line, yelling, throwing high fives, doing cartwheels, leading the line in a quick “Kate” sing-a-long and generally made a big ass of myself. But Ryan got a t-shirt, and the show was amazing (we got pretty close on the floor, Ry was still pretty short), and all I remember was all the people pressed up against each other, sweaty, loud, singing. But the really awesome part of that show was getting the chance to prove to my brother that I would always look out for him, even if it meant acting like an idiot.
“I know we’ve been together many times before/
I’ll see you on the other side.”
Summer of 2007 and we were on our way to Alpine Valley in Wisconsin to see Dave Matthews Band. My friend Henry asked me if I had ever heard Ben Folds cover of “Bitches Aint Shit.” With a confused look I replied “um, what?” Well Hank proceeded to put it on using this new thing called a Zune (yes, he was one of the 3 people that own a Zune) and sure as hell, it was Ben Folds covering the classic Dr Dre song. After 5 minutes of laughter, we listened to it again, and again. Theres just something special about hearing Ben’s soothing voice sing a song with lyrics like “I’m back to the motherfucking’ county jail, 6 months on my chest, now it’s time to bail, I get released on a hot sunny day, My nigga D.O.C. and my homey Dr Dre”
I know it isn’t all that original, but getting to hear Ben play “The Luckiest” live at the 2011 show at The Pageant was pure bliss for me. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to his work, especially that song. To finally get to hear it live was a check off of the bucket list.
I have missed him in the many times he has come to Saint Louis. Finances and working have come in the way many times (or even lack of transportation). I feel like seeing him perform with the symphony are once in a lifetime chance, and this will definitely be one of the best times to see him for the first time.
After discovering BFF in 1997, I was stoked to see the American Theater show! Going in I had no idea what to expect, but was totally blown away!
I’ve never seen Ben Folds in concert, but I dig his music. It would be badass to see him in this setting as my first Ben Folds concert experience. :)
I just purchased my tickets (third row, yay!), but I’d love a pair for my bestie — a Ben virgin who just recently got into him and is obsessed. My favorite memory is hearing my favorite song ever, Selfless, Cold and Composed, literally the day after my birthday on September 28, 2009. I’ve obviously shared my thoughts on every show by contributing to the article, but that’s got to be my tops — even over the long-shot Emaline request being granted.
I saw him the last time he as at the Pageant here in STL. Before the show, however, my aunt and I were eating at Pi, the pizza joint across the street, when who walks in? Ben himself. He and his pals/bandmates sat at the big long table there in the back (right next to ours, holy smokes) and, with the table being so long and him sitting in the middle of the back row of it and all of his friends surrounding him, I could’ve sworn I was looking at the original version of The Last Supper.
It was magical.
Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to see Ben Folds live yet…BUMMER. My very first poignant memory of his music brings me back almost 10 years ago, when I met a very shy, but talented songwriter named Jes Kramer, who at the time was obsessed with his song “Evaporated”. It might be safe to say that Ben Folds brought us closer together. Just maybe.
I saw Ben for the first time a couple years ago. I am a music teacher. I had made a new (also reeeeally cool like me) teacher friend down the hall that year. I invited her to road trip to Columbia MO with me to see Ben play downtown there. We bonded and have had tons of great times since then, but that was the first! He is such a phenomenal musician and I get such a kick about his ability to elevate the concert to an interactive and educational, musically intricate and delightful evening for everybody there. Pick me! ;)
At the John Mayer concert, as with all VZW amphitheater concerts, there was a sign language interpreter. My churchlady mother was the only other sign language interpreter that I know of and I couldn’t imagine her signing the curse words with all of the emphasis that this person did. When he broke out the Minor Key version of Song for the Dumped and got to the “You Fucking Whore” interlude, the scene was etched into my mind forever.
Went to see Ben & his piano at Mississippi Nights with my friend Jay, also a huge Ben fan. While we waited in line to get in, the two of us – but seemingly no one else! – noticed a dude strolling casually down the other side of the street, sporting a funny hat.
“Is that…?” “I think that’s…” we said to each other. He looked across the street and saw us watching him, so he came over and said hi and chatted a bit. Then he went over to look at the river and casually went inside.
By the time we got in, the place was packed but Jay took my hand and pulled me through the crowd behind a tray-carrying waitress, all the way up to the stage. We ended up about ten feet from Ben, just behind him to where we could see the piano keys as well. Best standing/seats in the house!
The show was amazing, but the best part was when Ben divided the crowd into horns and saxophones for Army. When he song was through, he said the singing was amazing, asked how many people in the crowd were music majors, and laughed when about a third of the crowd raised their hands!
It was the best concert I’ve ever been to, and definitely one of the best nights of my life!
I’ve been a Ben Folds fan since Whatever and Ever Amen first came out, oh so many years ago, and it wasn’t until I stumbled upon Naked Baby Photos (which my parent’s thought was inappropriate, so I bought it secretly behind their back) that I realized that everything Ben Folds touches is gold.
Back in college, I didn’t have a car, and I remember being ridiculously upset over my roommate going down to Springfield to see the Ben Folds and a Piano tour in 2003. I decided to post a semi-emo blog about how much I love Ben, but I never got to see him when a random girl from school who I never talked to stumbled across my blog. She and a group of friends were driving 2 hours to see Ben Folds, and even though she didn’t know me, she invited me to come along. I didn’t have many friends around, and I moved hours from home for school, so this was the first time I ever really connected with someone through a common interest
The show was amazing, beyond words to me, really, but I remember it so vividly as being a huge turning point in my life. I’ve only seen him once since then, always being stopped by no transportation, no money, or once the show was just sold out. I vowed recently to never miss out on him coming through St. Louis again.
My first Ben Folds show was in 2002 at a gym (seriously) in Ankeney, IA. It was the day Darryl Kile died. I stopped at a gas station near the venue before the show and was sad to find the line was already forming for general admission three hours before the show. As I was getting a soda, Ben was gassing up his passenger van.
Being that I am a total freak when it comes to meeting famous people, marginally famous or otherwise, I just waved like an idiot and was totally kicking myself for not having a camera with me. He just waved back. Then I literally bumped into his wife walking out of the station as I was walking in. It hurt. Then I felt even more stupid.
The show serious kicked ass, though. Tiny Dancer was the highlight of the night.
I saw the Ben Folds Five perform in Lawrence, KS at the Granada in.. umm..?.. 2001-2002? Too long ago to remember. ha.. I always remember how powerful the songs and the band was. I would love to see him with the orchestra, it sounds amazing!
Love me some Ben Folds! I’ve seen him multiple times at multiple venues and every show is amazing in it’s own right. I can’t wait for this show.
My favorite memory was at the Oct 2008 show. Sitting next to a couple who sang along with the entire song Hiroshima in Japanese. I was truly pressed.
First time seeing Ben Folds Five was in 1997 at the Galaxy. I went to check out the opener Komeda and left a huge Ben Folds fan. I’ve seen BF about a dozen times since that first Galaxy show, some shows were hits (Mississippi Nights) and others were misses (Chaifetz)
My most memorable experience seeing BF though was last summer in Kansas City when he headlined over Silversun Pickups, Devo and Against Me. I figured that the energy and enthusiasm level would completely evaporate after three pretty rockin and raucous sets from the support acts but BF came out and had the 7,000+ people completely engaged for the entire show.
Having seen him solo, with band, with Ben Folds Five and accapella groups I felt like I had caught every possible BF show possible. Would love a (free) chance to see him perform with a Symphony!
January 30 2011 was my first Ben Folds experience that blew my mind away… Not only it was the most amazing stage appearance ever, but the most engaging crowd interaction ever. I LOVED how he made the crowd sing along to record a track which he later posted on youtube. His sense of humor is phenomenal. the quote “Violence is not an answer and neither is being a jackass” in response to a mean frunk jerk in the audience made everyone laugh. My personal favorite was his solo instrumental performance of the Luckiest and the opening song devoted to Brystol Palin.
It is interesting to note that that concert drew the most diverse crowd ever-from people in their 60s right by us to people like me, in mid-20s. Amazing!
All in all, it was a concert to remember. Watching multiple videos on Youtube of BF performing with the Australia Symphony Orchestra was breathtaking, and I can’t wait to seeing him with the greatest STLO in November! At the concert I attended BF didnt sing the Brick, which left a lot to be desired, so I am hoping he will perform it with the full orchestra. Must see show!
Congrats to Valerie on winning the pair of tickets. For everyone else – there are still some great seats available for sale on http://www.stlsymphony.org/ I scored Row P floor tickets on the aisle not too long ago.
Wait! What? I won? I never win anything. I am very excited! Thank you so much. How do I claim them? I look forward to seeing everyone at the show and seeing Ben for the umpteenth time. I just love him!
Not sure on how to claim them, but here is what was posted on Twitter –
‘iwtas – Valerie tried to make @BenFolds laugh after a show, saying “I want my money back, you bitch.” It was awkward. She wins our @slso BF tickets!
Ah. I am not on twitter. I assume they will email me at some point. Thanks for letting me know!
The show was awesome last night!!!! Thanks I Went to a Show!