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Biographie
Born on 12 September 1966 Ben became involved in music at the age of nine when he took an interest in learning how to play the piano; eventually, he spent his free time in high school playing in various bands as a bassist, pianist, or drummer. During the late 80s Ben teamed up with long time friend Millard Powers to form a band called Majosha; and during their short run, they played gigs around Duke University and put out a self-produced EP called “Party Night:Five Songs About Jesus” in 1988. The band, however, parted ways and Ben eventually signed a publishing deal with Nashville Music and worked as a session musician playing drums.
After spending some time living in Nashville and Miami, Ben moved back to North Carolina and formed Ben Folds Five with bassist Robert Sledge, and drummer Darren Jesse in 1994. The following year the trio released their self-titled debut album, followed by “Whatever And Ever Amen” in 1997. The self-described “punk rock for sissies” band did fairly well, but never reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart despite gaining a large following in the UK and Australia. The band continued to tour and put out albums, but in 2001 the band broke up and Ben pursued a solo career; starting with his first album, “Rockin The Suburbs” released in 2001.
After the release of his first album, he continued to put out more music, with a live album in 2002, followed a year later by two EPs called “Speed Graphic” and “Sunny 16.” He also took part in working on film soundtracks, both as producer as well as arranger and musician for said projects. By 2008 he had released six solo LPs and had gone on many tours around the world. His success in the music industry led to him becoming a judge on the US television singing competition “The Sing-Off,” and remained on for a following three more seasons. By 2011 Ben Folds Five reunited and they released “The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind.”
Avis
I saw Ben Folds and the San Diego Symphony perform together in February 2016, shortly after the album "So There" debuted.
My initial impression to the concert as a whole was, "What? That was it?" As everyone filed out of the venue, I heard this same sentiment echoed several times by other patrons.
The San Diego Symphony opened on their own and played two pieces: a tribute to A West Side Story, and a tribute to Gershwin. There was then a brief intermission.
A few minutes later Ben Folds joined the stage, played the three (admittedly beautiful) pieces of his piano concerto, and one other short song. He then stood up, bowed, and left the stage (as someone in the crowd called out, "...where's he going??"). The symphony closed the performance by themselves, playing what I believe was a short tribute piece to Bernstein.
I've been listening to Ben Folds for a long time, but this was the first time I had seen him in concert. While he is clearly trying to go in a new direction with his music (and that's great), I feel that the nature of the concert was not properly conveyed to the prospective audience. "So There" is a 50/50 split of classic Ben Folds pop/rock craziness, and an original 25 minute piano concerto. I (and apparently quite a few othets) had expected the concert to be similar to the record in that regard. I had expected that the San Diego Symphony would play the supporting roll that yMusic so incredibly played on "So There."
Instead, the performance could be summarized as the San Diego Symphony Orchestra performing a tribute to American composers, with special guest Ben Folds jumping in and playing for a brief 25 minutes.
After listening to "So There" and seeing videos of how passionately Ben performed with yMusic, I left this I saw Ben Folds and the San Diego Symphony perform together in 02/2016, shortly after the album "So There" debuted.
My initial impression to the concert as a whole was, "What? That was it?" As everyone filed out of the venue, I heard this same sentiment echoed several times by other patrons.
The San Diego Symphony opened on their own and played two pieces: a tribute to A West Side Story, and a tribute to Gershwin. There was then a brief intermission.
A few minutes later Ben Folds joined the stage, played the three (admittedly beautiful) pieces of his piano concerto, and one other short song. He then stood up, bowed, and left the stage (as someone in the crowd called out, "...where's he going??"). The symphony closed the performance by themselves, playing another short tribute piece to Bernstein (I believe).
I've been listening to Ben Folds for a long time, but this was the first time I had seen him in concert. While he is clearly trying to go in a new direction with his music (and that's great), I feel that the nature of the concert was not properly conveyed to the prospective audience. "So There" is a 50/50 split of classic Ben Folds pop/rock craziness and an original 25 minute piano concerto. In this show, all I saw was a dry recitation of the 25 minutes of concerto, played in just "So There" is a 50/50 split of classic Ben Folds pop/rock craziness and an original 25 minute piano concerto. I (and apparently quite a few othets) had expected the concert to be similar to the album n that regard. And I expected that the San Diego Symphony would play the supporting roll that yMusic so incredibly played on "So There."
Instead, the performance could be summarized as the San Diego Symphony Orchestra performing a tribute to American composers, with special guest Ben Folds jumping in for 25 minutes to play a little bit.
After listening to "So There" and seeing Ben perform so passionately with yMusic in videos, this concert left me very disappointed. I expected a lot more passion and engagement.
But most of all, I expected to see Ben Folds perform more than four songs.
gockets
Ben Folds is the Elton John of the 21st century. Known best for the singles "Battle of Who Could Care Less", "Brick", and "Army" with his bandmates in Ben Folds Five, and "Rockin' The Suburbs", "Landed", and his hilarious cover of NWA's "Bitches Ain't Shit" from his solo career. In concert, Ben always entertains. A gifted, natural performer, he often mixes his songs with jokes, improvisation, and audience participation on several songs.
My first show was about 10 years ago in Houston during his "One Man and his Piano" solo tour, which featured only Ben taking song requests and doing covers for the entire evening.
The next time I would see him would be the reunion of Ben Folds Five with Darron Jessee and Robert Sledge at Stubb's Outdoor in Austin, Texas. Even after almost 15 years of being broken up, the reassembled band didn't miss a beat and sounded better than ever.
You are guaranteed a good time at Ben's shows, solo or with BFF. If you get a chance to see him live, do it. You won't be disappointed.
CrudeBaron
I have seen Ben folds three times prior to seeing him with the symphony. Every time I seen him I have been blown away at his performance. This concert however took the live concert experience to a new level. The color that the symphony gave Ben Folds' music was amazing. At one point he played 'rock this bitch' completely unrehearsed with the symphony and it was a magical thing to watch. I would recommend this show it to anyone with a Ben Folds fan or just a casual music lover.
Katiberger
This was perhaps the best concert I've ever been to. It was sooooo good. The highlight was when he played the second two movements of his original concerto.
It's a little cheesy when he pretends that he's taking the orchestra by surprise by making up a song for them to play, but everyone is willing to suspend their disbelief because it's so fun.
Rbcrmr
Ben Folds always puts on a good show and worth checking out, especially if you’ve never seen him Live. I’ve seen him in concert about 10 times since 1995. Symphony concerts with Folds are always more special and they add a lot to his songs, I’ve seen him 3 or 4 times with the St Louis Symphony.
pwillrocks
Had a great time at the show. He told some great stories and played from much of his catalog. Most of the songs were older stuff but he also played some newer songs as well, the more popular tracks that most of the crowd seemed to be familiar with. He played for over two hours too, a solid set.
PhilBana
Ben Folds was freaking amazing!!! He didn't just get up there and play music, he interacted with the audience. And the music was phenomenal! (Only to be expected because, well, he's Ben freaking Folds!) The man has talent and he works magic. I wish I could see him again right now...
paganr777
Show was great! Mostly played stuff from the new album and a few songs from Way to Normal (and a few older songs). It was great hearing new orchestrations of old favorites and what I'm sure will be the next great single about the majesty and glory of Black Holes.
eric-viets
This wasn't we expected. It was the SD Symphony with Ben Folds playing piano on 3 songs and he never sang. Very disappointed. Want to see BF and hear home perform some of his songs!
ryderte
Amazing! Such an intimate venue and experience. He continues to astound me even after 16 years of devoted listening. I felt very privileged to have had the opportunity to be there.
MikeBSimpson
