The Daily Campus

Issue date: 9/29/08 Section: Focus

The actual new material -- the stuff that's really going to be released on "Way to Normal" -- was better, though not fantastic. The journalistic "Effington" was a standout, getting some laughs from the audience and ending with a trademark Folds piano-smashing solo accompanied by frantic toms.

On the other hand, the bombastic atmosphere of the concert was unkind to "You Don't Know Me," Folds' collaboration with Regina Spektor, which lost most of the fragile, quirky charm of the album version. Spektor's absence didn't help, either.

"I did like 'You Don't Know Me'," said Genevieve Flock, a 1st-semester environmental science major. "It was good, but not as good without Regina. The new stuff didn't impress me that much."



The instrumentation of the concert was a far cry from the "Ben Folds and a piano" days: two auxiliary percussionists played tambourines, glockenspiels, synthesizers and more, while Folds sparked up "Free Coffee" by throwing Altoid cans in his piano and adding a distortion pedal.

And during "The Frown Song," the auxiliary percussionists grabbed keytars and donned giant frowny-face masks, in another move that, while a fun attention-grabber, felt a like a flimsy distraction from the music.

Folds seemed to be drawing a sharp line between his old and new material, with about three-quarters of the set being nonstop old stuff. And while the audience did enjoy the new songs, when the band came back onstage and rolled into "Zak and Sara," one could feel the wave of joy rolling through the auditorium. He played "Philosophy" with the delightful "Misrlou" tacked on, he gave a shout-out to Missy Higgins in "Rockin' the Suburbs," and he directed in audience in three-part harmony in "Not the Same." All classics, but there were so many more just asking to be played -- would it really have been so much to replace the "fake" songs with some older real ones?

And that chunk of the show was one hell of a good time -- everyone was on their feet, belting all the lyrics at the top of their lungs, and the dumb projectors were turned off. But it was painfully short, and in a confusing decision, Folds closed the show with the fake version of "Frown Song," deflating a lot of the good vibes the audience had been riding after the joyous "Not the Same."

Opening act Missy Higgins was enjoyable, if a tiny bit formulaic in her attitude towards slightly rockin' girl-folk.

"She sounds like Michelle Branch," said Jess O'Neill, a 7th-semester English major. "If Michellle Branch rocked out, ever."

Standouts "Peachy" and "Ten Days" worked a healthy dose of energy into the crowd and got some raucous cheers, and upon reflection, her honest, upbeat attitude onstage was absolutely pleasant compared to Folds' heady irony.

In the end, the worst part of the show were the fake tracks. And while it's obviously a joke -- Folds has always been firmly tongue-in-cheek -- the humor felt a little bitter, almost a little mean. We came to see Ben play -- we didn't come to hear his aded complaints about the music industry or dry wit about rock concerts. And when he plays, he plays so damn well.

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