Last night I caught Ben Folds at the first of his three shows at the Sydney Opera House. It’s a strange thing to see this indie rock god perform at this opulent venue, but those contradictions are what make it so appealing.
The night kicked off with Oh Mercy, which was what I pleading for before too long. It’s not that they were bad per se, but they did bore me. My husband described them as diet polystyrene, and he wasn’t far off. The girls sitting near us said they couldn’t disagree more, but for me there was no passion and no hook. I couldn’t find anything to latch onto; both performance and tunes were bland from where we sat.
Oh Mercy could learn a lot from Ben Folds. He’s one man who will never be described as boring. He might spend most of the night sitting behind a piano, but he’s more compelling doing that than so many other artists are dancing around.
It’s funny: I’ve seen Ben Folds twice now and still only own one CD. But he’s one of those artists that you don’t need to know the songs intimately to enjoy. He’s a storyteller, and so you get sucked into that. Judging by the folks singing along around me, he seemed to play plenty of the crowd pleasers, but he also treated us to the equally well-received new material.
For me, those new songs were a highlight. I’d heard of his collaboration with novelist Nick Hornby, and was thrilled to experience some of it before the release. “Levi Johnston Blues,” based on the tale of the unfortunate chap who knocked up Bristol Palin, is destined to become an audience favourite in years to come.
Ben seemed to have a lot of fun, encouraging the audience to sing along in songs like “Zak and Sara” and “Not the Same.” With the audience seated all around the stage, Ben clearly got a kick out of the stereo effect. There was a lot of love in the room, with both Ben and the fans seeming thrilled to share this space. That’s why, even though I keep forgetting to buy the CDs, I never hesitate to snap up concert tickets.
Image source: ZUMA Press