For some reason, Ben Folds has decided to make giant rotating skulls and brains part of his latest tour - this is the scene on stage last night in DC. There was a "brainwashing" theme in the first few songs, and I think that guided the choice of images, but darn, it was kinda weird!
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How was the show? I've never seen Ben Folds perform (I missed out when he was in New Brunswick last), but I have been meaning to.
It was good. My boyfriend is a bigger fan than I am, but I was still very impressed with his piano skills. The unfortunate part was that he played his entire new album, and it wasn't all that inspiring compared with his previous work (at least in my opinion). It also was totally unfamiliar because it isn't even out yet. So the crowd didn't really get into it until the last thirty minutes or so.
I have actually never heard any of his music, but it was years before I realized that "Ben Folds Five" was a five-piece band with a dude named Ben Folds as the bandleader. I thought it was a reference to a dude named Ben who folds five things. I could never figure out what Ben was folding!
Thanks, Jessica. Yeah, it seems that this new album was largely inspired by his recent divorce, and while I generally like his stuff I don't know if I want to listen to bitter ranting about ex's and stuff for too long. Maybe in high school when I was an emo kid, but not now.
PhysioProf,
What's even more amusing was that Ben Folds Five was actually a three piece band. I guess it eventually made more sense for him to just be a solo artist.