Ben Folds Five

Ben Folds Five has been one of the bands that I've loved for a very long time and I've always wished I could see live but I knew that I never could due to the fact that they broke apart ten years ago. In January/February when I heard that they were recording a new album, I thought that I might finally get the chance. In June, when they announced they were going to be touring and they were, in fact, going to be in Dallas, I knew that I was going. I didn't care how much the tickets were, where the show was going to be, I knew that I was going to go.

And I'm really glad I did.

There was a part of me that was a bit worried that I was expecting too much out of this show. I mean, they haven't played together in ten years, what if that chemistry that you hear on their old records just isn't there? What if I saw them live and it just wasn't everything I had been thinking it would be and it should be and I just left disappointed and disillusioned? There was a small part of my brain that was telling me that this group I've wished I had had a chance to see for over ten years would not be able to measure up to everything I was expecting. It's a good thing I very rarely listen to that part of my brain. Because they still have it.

Not only does Ben Folds have an insane amount of talent (and maybe a touch of ADD) so he can hear a comment in the crowd and then create an improv song that's ten times better than most of the generic crap on the radio, but Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee are able to keep pace with him (because they, too, are insanely talented musicians). Even though you're in a venue with a thousand other people, you get the feeling that they are just having fun and they enjoy being back together. Or they can't stand each other so Ben really just made up a song when Robert had to run off stage to go to the bathroom out of spite... No, I'm going with they enjoy it and each other. Ben takes the time to talk to the crowd in a way that isn't forced and most definitely isn't a rehearsed speech he does at every concert. And hearing songs like "Brick" and "Draw a Crowd" and "Army" and "Alice Childress" and "Battle of Who Could Care Less" and "Kate" and "Jackson Cannery" and "Erase Me" was just amazing. The little kid inside me last night was absolutely thrilled. And so was the adult me.

I've seen Ben Folds on his solo tour, I've seen Ben Folds with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, but none of that compares to seeing Ben Folds Five back together again