Let's call today: 'Sunday, 1 October 2006'
pirategirl 
wrote in the notebook:
Ben Folds and the ASO
Holy fedora! As usual, he was an absolute golden god!
Eliza and I left my place at about 7:30pm and got into the city about 8:05pm and by the time we parked and got to the Festival Theatre it was 8:20pm... pretty much 'early' by gig standards. But as I've now twice found out, the Festival Theatre doesn't hold normal concerts, where you wander in sometime around when doors open, catch some of the support band, grab a drink in the break, come back and rock on to the main act.
No, we had to be shepherded in after the third or so song during the applause, but we made it in time for Adelaide and discovered that our seats were very awesome - fifth row close to the centre.... so close we could see his dimples and that he had a hole in his pants -- not that we were checking out his rear at all... it was just pointing at us I swear.
Anyway!
The 2 hours went far too fast while he pounded out several songs mostly from albums Whatever & Ever Amen, Rockin The Suburbs, and Songs For Silverman. Some he played solo, some while the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra lifted the harmonies and made them sail round our heads and hearts and we all fell for him... not that his music needs carrying... nor do we need assistance to fall in love with him.
"I think that we should settle down and live happily forever after. What do you think of that?"
*response of cheers and hoots from the Ben Folds fans... including (and perhaps led by) Eliza and myself*
On the note of audience participation, it was easy to tell the ASO crowd apart from the Ben Folds crowd. Ben usually pulls a rather boisterous bogan audience, especially in his much-loved town of Adelaide, as last years gig illustrated nicely. In our sectioin, every half dozen people or so there would be a group of people bopping in their seats and mouthing/singing along or attempting to boost the applause (guilty right here).
Most of the more animated fans were up in the expensive seats, but I found them too far from Ben for my liking, I'd rather save money AND be nice and close.
By the end of the show I think we may have made a few converts amongst the more composed and quiet ASO crowd - though I'm sure none of them appreciated my ridicule of them and my oft repeated 'damn orchestra crowd, clap dammit, don't be so scared!', but ah screw them I was enjoying myself.
Ben did his usual trick of allowing us to back him up, assigning us harmonies and then conducting us. He also chose not to play Not The Same on the play, opting instead to let the orchestra play while he stood and danced (he declared that he was gonna 'bust a move' for us and it was most enjoyable to behold) and sung and conducted us. Again the division of the crowd was evident as most of the ASO people had no idea what the hell was going on while he made us aaah a funky beat. The fans like myself were right into it and had to carry the others as his signal for us to be louder was approached with tentative hums and nervous giggles from the ASO folk. I can't blame them too much tho - an evening of the works of Mozart doesn't require much effort on their part and they were more used to just sitting and listening.
Narcolepsy was accompanied by both the orchestra and a talented Tenor whose name I've forgotten unfortunately, which, with the cymbals and strings, gave a rather dramatic effect with crescendo after crescendo til you felt like you were going to faint or wet yourself.
Playing no new songs - except from a rather crude one that he used as a filler while the orchestra got organised which was a rather catchy-in-a-broadway-style albeit explicit song about a man leaving in the middle of the night to sell and take drugs and sleep with hookers etc which I'm giving the title of 'This Boring Life' taken from a line - Ben belted out mostly Rockin The Suburbs' titles, providing the story behind the creation of most of them.
After the gig we poured into the foyer and herded over at the Merch Counter and Eliza and I got some kick ass shirts. I wanted another one as well which was a bit more girly (oh shut up) but they only came in sizes 10 and 12... how stupid.
Then we ran back to car just in time before the parking lot closed and spent the rest of the drive home in complete and utter awe. *sigh*
He is, was, and forever will be still my god.
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