Way To Normal

Last night Micah and I went to the Pageant Theater downtown to see Ben Folds. He's been one of my favorite musicians for years now and we were so excited to see him again. The opening show was Missy Higgins who did a great job. She's a folksy new artist and you'll probably hear "Where I Stood" on the radio soon.

I first saw Ben Folds (then Ben Folds Five) in D.C. almost 10 years ago. He is such an amazing, talented (strange, disturbed) pianist who puts on a fabulous show. Wikipedia says "his oddball lyrics often contain nuances of depression, melancholy, self-conflict, and humorous sarcasm." That's about right.

He was promoting his new album - Way to Normal - but what was funny was that before the release of the album, an anonymous user posted what they claimed was a "leak" of Ben's latest album on a fan site. The file contained nine tracks along with a PDF of supposed cover art, and was a mix of what appeared to be legitimate songs from Way to Normal, dry humor and melodramatic pop interwoven with bright, energetic melodies. Ben admitted on Triple J radio that in one overnight session in Dublin he and the band had recorded 'fake' versions of songs from the new album and had his sources leak it to the public as a light-hearted joke on his fans. So the band actually played the 'fake' versions along with what's really on the album last night. The 'fake' songs were just as cool as the real ones!

Watching Ben Folds play the piano the way he does is incredible. At one point he took 2 empty boxes of Altoids and put them inside the piano on the strings along with a brick to secure them in place, added a distortion mic and made the piano sound entirely different. It was amazing. I love watching his fingers and never can believe he can play so fast and accurately, but he does! The guy's got a potty mouth, but I put up with it because hearing what he can do with a piano makes up for it to me.

If you've never heard of him and want to experience some Ben Folds, start with The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. Or just email me and I'll put some of his greatest hits together for you. Everyone should have a little Ben Folds in their lives.