Concert Review: Ben Folds at The Ritz Ybor
April 6th, 2009 by Leilani Polk in ReviewsA wrap of the Friday, April 3 show by B.Treotch; photo by Phil Bardi.
Walking by the Ritz in Ybor city last Friday night, you may have thought some tech convention was going on. Tucked-in shirts, leather belts and fresh haircuts are not your normal rock concert attire, but then again, Ben Folds isn’t your normal rock star. The clever singer/songwriter has straddled the line between thick-glasses nerd and cool piano-popster for more than a decade now.
The 42-year-old, supported by a drummer, bassist and multi-instrumentalist played over two dozen songs that spanned his solo career and his three studio albums with the Ben Folds Five. Drawing heavily from last year’s under-the-radar Way To Normal, Folds opened with “Errant Dog.” The band then worked the crowd with tracks from Songs for Silverman — “Landed” and “Jesusland” — followed by the Whatever and Ever Amen’s anthemic “Battle of Who Could Care Less,” Normal’s “Effington” and Rockin’ the Suburbs’ “Losing Lisa.” Then they brought it down with “Lullabye” from The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner and a new one, “Kylie From Connecticut.”
The interplay with Ben and audience took off in the second half of the set. “Rocking the Suburbs” and “Kate” provided fodder for sing-a-longs. The crowd went bonkers over “Brick.” (If I never again get surrounded by men singing an earnest ballad, it’ll be too soon.)
Folds is a true showman. Banging away on his grand piano pushed to the front of the stage, he thrives on crowd interaction. The highlight of the evening came when Folds conducted the audience as a three-part-harmony choir during “Not the Same.”
Folds closed the set while shaking hands in the front rows and crooning the fake version of “The Frown Song.” The band returned for a two-song encore, finishing with a fan favorite, “Army.”
April 6th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
awesome pic Phil
April 6th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Yeah, it’s like Folds turned, found the camera, and mugged on purpose.
April 6th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
I saw a ~four year old boy w/ear plugs in the front row, he was smiling and well behaved. Ben eventually shook his hand, it was one of the best moments of the show. I also saw mild mannered white boys fight over possession of Ben’s used beer bottle after the show, quite hilarious.
April 7th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Haha, fighting over his beer bottle? That’s some priceless shit.
April 8th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Does anyone have the set list? I took some pretty good video. Search srgntfioyd on You Tube. I really want the set list, though…
April 8th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
We have the setlist. I missed a few songs though, so it’s mostly complete:
Errant Dog, Sentimental Guy, Brainwascht, ?, Hiroshama (B B B Benny Hit His Head), Bastard, Free Coffee, ?, Landed, Jesusland, Battle of Who Could Care Less, Effington, Losing Lisa, Lullabye, Kylie From Connecticut, Still Fighting It, You Don’t Know Me, Where’s Summer B.?, Rocking the Suburbs>Jam, Kate, improv song about roadie Michael Praidy (sp?), Brick, Not the Same, The Frown Song (fake version)
Encore: Fair, Army