You're My Hero I Confess

Well, since the Jazz are kicking butt and the rest or the first round is turning out to be sort of a sleeper, I diverge from sports for some thoughts on music. I went to the Ben Folds concert last night. I wasn't planning on going, but I gave a printer to a good friend at work and when he called to thank me for the printer he offered me a ticket to Ben in exchange for the printer. Giddyup!

The concert was awesome. I was worried at first because he came out and opened with something I had never heard before. On top of that, the sound was not good. The bass was way too loud and I couldn't hear the piano at all. Then he played Gone, which I love, but they were still having some serious sound issues. I was starting to worry that they might not fix the sound problem. Then he played Bast***. By this time, they were starting to fix the sound issues, but I don't love that song. My worries continued. Then he played a one from his new album called Hiroshima. It wasn't bad, but now I was worried that he might play a bunch of new ones. I don't mind a new song or two at a concert, but I don't like it when they showcase most of the album that hasn't been released yet. After that though, he played Still Fighitng It which was awesome, and it was awesome pretty much the rest of the way. It just kept getting better and better. He played Annie Waits, Rockin the Suburbs, Fred Jones, The Luckiest, Not the Same, Jesusland, and Landed from his solo stuff. He also rattled off a bunch of great Ben Folds Five classics: Battle of Who Could Care Less, Kate, Narcolepsy, Army, and Lullabye. He closed his first set with Underground, which was my favorite song of the night. It rocked. He closed the encore with One Angry Dwarf, which was also amazing. It ended up being a totally awesome show.

The only negative were the FOUR opening bands we had to suffer through. The first one was Chris Merritt. He we the best one and I am going to check him out on iTunes. The next one was some lame group that sucked and then the third one took the cake. It was just a dude and his guitar and he had the whiniest, ugliest voice I had ever heard. To make things worse, he played TOP 40's COVERS! I'm talking Avril Lavigne, Dashboard, etc. And he had the longest set of the first three acts. Then he said he was playing his last song and it was going to be a U2 song. I said, "If he plays With or Without You I am going to throw up in my mouth." Sure enough, he played it. It was an absolute atrocity. Some of the people I was with at the show said that the kid used to be in their ward and they said he was unbelievably full of himself and annoying. Anyway, the last act was Ben Lee from the Three Bens and he wasn't bad, but they were having some major audio/technical difficulties during his act and it kind of ruined it. I don't understand why they have to keep cramming in so many opening acts. I actually don't mind an opening band, but four is just ridiculous. And if you are gong to do four, give us some sort of schedule so we know when everyone is coming on.

In closing, I would say that Ben has re-solidified his place as one of the greats. I am excited for the new album. He said it was done and should be out soon.