Concert Review: Ben Folds Five @ Portland’s Roseland 02.05.13
by ThisAdamKing on Feb.10, 2013, under Concert Reviews
Not being the hugest Ben Folds fan put me in quite the sub-class the other night at the Roseland, but I had a great fucking time. I wasn’t even really all that familiar with the tune “Army,” let alone the fact the entire crowd does a two-part sing-along to it. I mean, that’s how you know you got an intelligent crowd – when they’re able to sing harmonies with one another on cue. There’s a clip below from the Capitol Theater in port Chester where they nail it pretty well. Here’s an excerpt from my review and you can read the whole thing HERE at State of Mind Music.
“…Being only a casual fan of Ben Folds over the years put me in an incredibly small demographic of the folks attending the last show of Ben Folds Five’s U.S. tour here in Portland on a Tuesday night. Of the 1‚200 or so in attendance‚ it seemed that for at least 90% of them this was their favorite band. For an enthusiastic music geek like me‚ this was perfect. It had that same feeling of going to church on Christmas Eve — the energy of everyone in the room is so palpable that you can’t help but brandish a big smile and mouth along the words to the Lord’s Prayer like you’ve been saying it all your life‚ or in this case the words to “Brick.”
Right away‚ several things stood out. One was that there wasn’t a single contact lens in the house‚ let alone any recipients of lasic eye surgery. I guess when your musical hero is well known for his square-frames‚ then you take great pride as well in your own diminished ocular abilities. I know we’re talking about the hipster capital of the world here people‚ but I’m just saying — shit load of glasses in this crowd. The other predominant aspect of the night is that the entire audience thought of Ben Folds as one of their best friends. He does an incredible job of staying in the moment throughout the show; joking with the fans‚ his bandmates‚ and himself‚ and thus you can’t help but feel like you’re watching an old pal from elementary school take the stage…”
