Ben Folds at Warfield - November 15th, 2002

Ben Folds is a kind of my idol. If I were to make music, I want to do what he's been doing. Unfortunately (or fortunately to the world, I guess), I don't attempt to write music. :p

After I bought his live CD a month ago, I learn that he would be touring and will be in San Francisco on November 15th. I was so excited.

I was initially very disappointed when Ben Folds Five broke up. I thought we would never hear the great music and straight-forward, yet funny lyrics. But, boy, was I wrong! Although Ben's two post-BFF albums had band-arrangement, but the true magic of his music, Ben's piano playing with his theatrical sense, was all there. And his current tour is done with just a Baldwin grand and nothing else (well, there is one drum-set prop, but...). He just is amazing (I want to play piano like Ben!).

Maybe the West Coast does not have as avid Ben Folds fans as on the Mid-West or the East Coast. I subscribe to Frank Maynard's Magical Armchair mailing list, and I hardly see anyone mentioning the West Coast concerts. Maybe that's why I felt it wasn't as crowded as I worried at Warfield (was it sold out? I don't know).

Surprisingly (should I be?) the show started on time. The opening was done by Duncan Sheik. His on-stage set-up was simple, which he seems to be following the Ben's setup. He only had Gerry Leonard backing up with what seems to be a guitar synth. Actually there seem to have been quite a few Duncan Sheik fans. I didn't know him, and his music wasn't really my taste, but it wasn't too bad. He played about 8 songs for about 45 minutes (which I thought was pretty long for an opening band).

And then there was Ben. I think everyone should see him in action at least once. His piano playing was amazing. Sure, his rare "Jazzy" phrases are not that smooth, but he can surely pound out that Baldwin! His over-expressed facial gestures add to his theatrical sense. He is indeed performing and entertaining the crowd.

He ended up playing about 20 or so songs for 2 hours. I think his repertoire is quite similar between different cities, except for the order of the some songs and a couple of the numbers. I know I like to sing along Ben's CDs, but the one of the most remarkable things about his concert was that most of the crowd knows most (if not all) of his lyrics. Almost all of us sang along, some adding harmony and chorus as well.

And then there is this famous, Ben's conducting of three-part chorus of the crowd. I felt it didn't sound as good as it could have (not much of the loudness from the lowest part), but still it was fun. It seems to confirm my suspicion that most of the Ben's fans are very musically inclined.

The thing was, I actually took out Ben's old CDs and have been listening to and singing along them in my car for the past two weeks. I wanted to be prepared! :) Anyway, it was a great experience.