Hand Me My Nose Ring
So, I was thinking (surprising, no?) the other day, and realized I never talked about the Ben Folds concert we went to on Klumpen’s birthday.
Excellent show. I have never been disappointed in a Ben Folds performance. He did a few songs from the upcoming (later this year) album and a little bit of everything else. Our seats were in the Orchestra Pit, in the 2nd row, and directly in line with Ben himself. I should have made that sign that said it was Klumpen’s birthday….
Anyway, for other geeks like me, here’s the set list:
- Errant Dog
- Gone
- You To Thank
- Free Coffee
- All U Can Eat
- Rockin’ This B*tch In Sign
- Landed
- Hiroshima
- Annie Waits
- Bastard
- Not The Same
- Dr. Pyser
- Fred Jones, Pt. 2 (Ben solo)
- Gracie (Ben solo)
- Kylie From Connecticut
- Underground
- Army
- Kate
- Narcolepsy
- Zak And Sara
encore - Effington
- Rockin’ The Suburbs
- One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces
I’m always tickled when he plays “Gracie”. I think it’s one of my favorites, because it’s such a sweet song. It captures parenthood very well. Of course, he screwed it up, but that just made it more memorable. And screwing up somehow seems to fit in with parenthood anyway.
There are a couple of blogs out there about the show, including one from Wolf Trap itself. I love how the actual set list went so wildly off course from his planned one. Although I am glad he skipped “Brick” (oh I’m so fucking sick of that song), I would have liked to hear “Battle of Who Could Care Less”. Can’t complain at all, though, because he played “Narcolepsy”! Which is definitely on my top list of his songs. And “Kate”!
Ok, so I apparently am really happy about almost everything he played. Huh. The version of “One Angry Dwarf” was the absolute fastest I’ve ever heard it played. Trying to keep up with that one was damn near impossible.
I always enjoy when the sign language interpreters have fun with the show, and the two young women who were there most definitely seemed to enjoy themselves. Had I been paying more attention, I could have learned the subtle difference between the signs for “shit” and “poop”.
The opening act, Julia Nunes, was quirky, but immature. I liked her voice, and some of her original songs, but there’s a lot of polish (and that’s not really the word I want) needed for her stage presence.
Overall, a fantastic way to spend the Klumpen’s birthday.