I love S, but if Ben Folds asked me to do it right now, I totally would. Man, he's the coolest. We saw him in concert tonight. We weren't sure to expect, since the last two times we saw Ben he played solo. S was first to notice the bass and drumset onstage (I confess I wasn't looking, since the first thing I saw upon entering the venue was a person that we both used to work with and haven't see in AGES. We had a nice conversation. He and I once went to a Guster/John Mayer concert together, something that was odd; he only went because S put his foot down and refused to go. Anyway, good to see him, even if we're not close.). So anyway, Ben played with two other guys; the drummer guy was definitely Aussie, something that we discovered during the charming rendition of "Bitches Ain't Shit" that they played. Honestly, the minute you hear "Bitches Ain't Shit" you're singing it for days afterward. (And can I just say how sad it is that I know a lot of the words to the song? Only because of Ben.) In fact, right now, the soundtrack in my head is: "Bitches can't hang with the streets...." sung in the melodious way that Ben Folds sings it.
The concert, on the whole, was fantastic. He didn't really rock my world by playing anything unusual, but that's okay. I never expect him to. You know the crowd just wants to hear "Army," "Philosophy," and "One Angry Dwarf". You know he's gonna play those songs, too, and that's okay. Still, there was a couple standing next to me who were alternately talking and standing still and looking pissed for the whole concert. He sang along to two of the songs from "Rockin' the Suburbs," and she told him to shut up once during "Still Fighting It." Charming, the two of them. He looked appalled when the crowd yelled "FUCK" during "Rockin' the Suburbs" and neither one of them joined in during the horn section of "Army." They didn't clap when he came onstage (which is okay with me, really, because what has the band done to deserve the clapping? Maybe they'll suck.), and they never clapped during the entire show--not even after some virtuoso piano work by Ben. And they left before the first encore. I mean, not even during a break, but during the last song. What jackasses. If they didn't like Ben Folds, they shouldn't have come, because believe you me, I know people who could have put those tickets to better use.
But the crowd seemed less full of trendsters than a normal Riv show. People, by and far, looked normal. Oh sure, there were some boys with luxurious hair, and some girls who maybe had on heels that were a tad too high, but it was mostly free from the kind of indie snobs who go to Keane and Zutons and Killers shows, oh my. On the way home, we listened to Death Cab, and I mentioned how nice it would be to see them again. S agreed, and said, "Yeah, but can you imagine the trendsters at that show?" It's a horrific thought, but a true statement. I think we'd have to somehow transform ourselves into trendsters for a night, so we didn't look like someone's loser cousin from BuFu. It's a terrifying thought. Come to think of it, too many of the bands I like are plagued by this type of fan; an Arcade Fire concert would be hell, as would an Interpol concert. And Weezer, well shit. They're the original trendster band. Do you think there'd be aging trendsters at a Weezer concert? Never mind, we're not going to see those bands anytime soon. And thank god Ben Folds attracts nice normal Chicagoans.
So it was a pleasant experience, marred only by a weird fat Shannon Hoon/Sam Kinison clone accordian player opening band, and that stupid couple next to me. AND! I ran into the son of one of my parent's close friends. I hadn't seen him in ages either; probably not since he graduated college the year before I did (he went to my school's across-the-street neighbor school). He's married now, and was with his wife. So yeah, that was kind of weird too. The world is small, people. That's a lesson you learn at a Ben Folds concert. Oh, and that Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg songs can really sound beautiful.
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