The recording of the song “Army” was done in NYC and I was at that show (fucking awesome, I might add). If you own the cd, then you know how he gets the audience to be the horn sections.
I was listening to the cd again today, and I wondered if Ben had done that with any other audiences on that tour. I wouldn’t expect it to be unique to my audience, but I’m curious.
So…if you saw the Ben & piano tour last year, did he have the audience divide and sing horns when you saw his show?
Yes, he did the same thing at the show here. He mentioned that they were recording right at the beginning and he even played one song over again after he messed up in the middle. He said he liked the acoustics in our theater and wanted to get a good cut. I figured he told all the audiences that, but he did end up putting one of the songs on the album.
The real shame is that there wasn’t a Divine Comedy live album to go along with Ben’s. Neil Hannon was outstanding.
Yeah, he even kept on doing it after the album was out, he did it at the Geneseo and Utica shows as well.
Any of you guys have “Speed Graphic” yet?
I’ve seen him twice (once in Evanston, once in New York) and he did that both times. Seemed to work well. In the NY show - I saw him open for Tori Amos this weekend - he also had the audience do a three-part choir thing. He really got into it, stood up on his piano at the end. Fun guy to see live.
He divided up the audience for “Army” when I saw him last October at the Palace in Gainesville, Florida. It was one of the most powerful moments ever for me as far as being an audience member, and very likely the best live concert I’ve ever been to.
I’m considering seeing Ben and Tori Amos together when they come to West Palm Beach in a few weeks, but it seems so expensive…
Partly because it’s so great and partly because I was there, I get chills and smile stupidly every time I listen to “Army” on the live album.
I had wanted to see him with Tori this past weekend but the ticket price was too much for me and I don’t love Tori enough to have paid it.
He really is my favorite person to see live, and I’m always up front in the audience. But his ticket price has gone way up in the last couple of years and I’m finding it frustrating.
I just saw him last week with Aimee Mann in Central Park, and he did that during “Army” then, too. And for his encore, he comes back on and says he’s going to play a song that was written by a man that he “doesn’t know why the fu*k he gets compared to”, but he does.
And then he puts on these enormous glasses and plays “Tiny Dancer”. Good Lord, the likeness was uncanny! It was obvious he was being sarcastic when he said he didn’t know why people said that, because he started making Elton faces (the monkey thing) and really did look like the young, 70’s Elton.
Depends where you go. It cost me more to see Ben Folds Five plus Guster in April 2000 (about $27) than Ben himself in Utica this past spring ($20).
It’s good to see another Aussie doing well overseas.
don’t ask: Ben’s a North Carolina ex-pat. His wife Frally is from Australia.
Wait… there’s a ‘Live’ CD??? Why haven’t I heard of this?
He did the audience horns when I saw him too. It was amazing 
Divine Comedy, on the other hand, were a big disappointment. They really don’t pull it off live. The best bit was when Ben came on and played drums for them. He blew them off the stage again.
I think Ben’s a pretty good mimic as well. He covered one of Divine Comedy’s songs in his set and sounded remarkably like Neil Hannon. Elton John would be just as easy. Let’s just hope his ‘young Elton’ impression doesn’t turn into an old Elton.
My “Speed Graphic” CD is in the mail. I hope.
He’s talented, he lives in Adelaide, so we claim him. He is now one of us.
Yup, he did it in Richmond too.
Sounds like fun! I’ll be in the audience in the NC show where he is opening for Tori. I can’t wait to see if he does it there on Saturday.