Tampa Calling

I got to see Ben Folds perform at Langerado last year and it was one of the highlights of the now-defunct fest, Folds far more lively and engaging and far less maudlin than I expected. So you can imagine my pleasure at receiving this very exciting concert announcement from No Clubs:

BEN FOLDS
w/ Special Guests TBA
Appearing at The Ritz Ybor
Tampa, FL
Friday, April 03, 2009
Doors Open 8:30PM
Tickets: $29.50 ADV / $31.50 DOS
Tickets Available
http://ticketmaster.com
http://daddykool.com

Over the last 15 years, Ben Folds’ first-class melodic gifts, irony-laced lyrics, and punk-rock tendency to play piano as if it were a contact sport have earned the North Carolina native a legion of devoted fans of all ages. These people, quite simply, are going to go nuts for Way To Normal. The album, Folds’ third solo studio release, is dominated by the kind of irresistible hooks and piano-pounding pandemonium that listeners haven’t been treated to since Folds’ years with his previous band, the platinum-selling Ben Folds Five. Way to Normal is an exuberant, raucous, and sometimes profane mix of sure-fire crowd-pleasers (“Hiroshima,” “Bitch Went Nuts,” and the frenetically fuzzed-out “Dr. Yang”), cheerful snark-fests (“The Frown Song,” “Brainwascht”), and thoughtful, moving ballads (“Cologne,” “Kylie From Connecticut”) that Folds wrote at the end of 2007.

“This new album is really about me being free, which is why it feels cathartic and expressive,” Folds says. “It’s about me coming back to being myself.” (Hence the title.) The album’s buoyant mood could also be due to the fact that Folds recorded the majority of it at his own studio near his home in Nashville, with his friends, long-time bassist Jared Reynolds and drummer Sam Smith. “We were just having a good time,” Folds says. “This was the most fun I’ve ever had recording..”

Several things keep the mood light on Way To Normal: the sheer musical virtuosity, the joyful melodies, the laugh-out-loud humor, and Folds’ heart-breaking tenor voice. “We wanted to keep the smile in the record,” Folds says. That job fell to its producer, Herring (Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse, The Hives), who was also tasked with getting Folds to stop stalling and get to work.

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