Ben Folds at Thebarton Theatre

Date: Friday, April 8th 2005
Venue: Thebarton Theatre
Time: 7pm door opens, 8.30pm gig start
Price: $55.80 (booking free included)
Bands: Ben Folds w/ Liam Finn of Betchadupa

One of my favourite pop songwriters, Ben Folds, was back in Adelaide to do a show for the launch of his album, Songs for Silverman, released here on April 10th (the first place before anyone else), so of course I was excited. I was ecstatic when I heard Gelbison were going to be a support because they are one of my favourite Australian bands. However, Edo had the flu and blocked ears (the story at their official website) and I was so gutted but the night was really about Ben. Moving on...



Instead, Liam Finn of Betchadupa filled in as a solo support as his band was in town for a gig at the Enigma Bar the following night (the reason for not being included in my good gig list is obviously personal). This broke my heart with not only missing the opportunity to see a band I loved play at a gorgeous venue like Thebarton Theatre but to have a support I wasn't a fan of at all replacing the band. It's a pity...

However, Liam Finn did a great job as a last minute support for the show. He performed a couple of Betchadupa songs including one I really love called My Army of Birds and Gulls. And he had an interesting sampling pedal, which sounded like he had more than just an acoustic guitar on stage. I actually enjoyed it despite the quick change of support.



It was time for the headlined show. Mr. Ben Folds came on stage to his grand piano with his bass player and drummer and everyone was excited. Thebarton Theatre was packed then, with such a wide demographic; it goes to show how influential Ben's music is. He played tracks from The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner like Army and from Rockin' The Suburbs like crowd rock favourite Rockin' The Suburbs, Zak and Sara, Carrying Cathy and many more (but no The Luckiest, surprisingly enough). He also played some of Ben Folds Five's tracks from Whatever & Ever Amen like One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces and the beautiful hit, Brick, and also from Ben Folds Five like Underground and Philosophy. Plus, Adelaide from his Super D EP. Everyone went apeshit over the song that was written about this dear little town.

Of course, he played tracks from the new album, Songs For Silverman, like the hit single, Landed, odd track, Jesusland and the Elliott Smith tribute, Late, which just made me personally in tears (as not only an Elliott fan, but just the beauty of that song). On the light side, he played the b-side to the Landed single, the Dr. Dre cover Bitches Ain't Shit, which got the crowd going. Also, a highlight is when the whole band played a cool, jazzy bossanova instrumental number in the middle of the set. Just perfect.



The real highlight of the show is whenever Ben got the crowd going by acting as a "vocal conductor" and getting on his piano making them sing-a-long to his songs in 2-part of 3-part harmonies (depending which part of the venue you were or what vocal registar you could hit) and it was actually amazing how well the audience sang-a-long to the songs and how "orchestra felt" it seem (note: Ben recently did two shows in Perth with the West Australia Symphony Orchestera). So breathtakingly good, and everyone knew it. He ended the show by throwing a stool onto the piano keys.


Inspirational. Massive. Unforgettable. The best goddamn pop show I've ever been to in a very long time.