Story and Photos by Andy Argyrakis
Ben Folds is like the energizer bunny when it comes to performing throughout the Chicagoland area. From the Vic Theatre to the House of Blues to Northwestern University, he just keeps on coming back for more and more and more! Under most circumstances, seeing the same tour come through the same city three times within the span of a year would seem like overkill, but not in the case of Ben Folds, who gets welcomed back each time with open arms. Like his previous area appearances in 2002, Folds has turned in a solo piano set. His appearance in the university's gymnasium was a mixed bag of tricks, from his varied comedic catalogue to his impromptu inclinations to his satirical twist on various covers. And unlike most performers who use the same old canned dialogue with the crowd, you never know what you're going to get from this tall and skinny, glasses wearing jokester."This is a very serious song," explained Folds prior to his hysterical rendition of Wham's "Careless Whisper." Despite his tongue and cheek crooning of front man George Michael, he still coaxed the audience of college kids to listen closely. " 'I'm never gonna dance again/ guilty feet have got no rhythm'ŠThat's some pretty deep shit," sniffled Folds in a playful jab at Wham's canned poignancy. Similar approaches were given to B.J. Thomas' "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" and Aerosmith's "Dream On," but besides that handful of cover curveballs, Ben had plenty of his own material to dish out. Some moments mirrored his brand new live disc quite closely, like solo renditions of his Ben Folds Five favorites "Philosophy," "Narcolepsy," and "Army," complete with the crowd's perfectly synchronized trumpet noises on the latter. However, instead of taking the safe and easy way out by merely replicating that recorded experience, Folds turned in plenty of non-album tracks like "Alice Childress," "Rockin' the Suburbs," and his quirky holiday tune "Bizarre Christmas Incident," which recently popped up on Nettwerk America's Maybe This Christmas compilation. Folds kept the laughs coming during the concert's overall finale "Song For the Dumped," during which he lowered the song's key by an octave for the first verse, sang the second verse in Japanese, and unloaded the third with the tune's usual degree of angst and splurge of obscenities. After he got all the disgruntled emotions of that break up anthem out of his system, Folds jumped on top of his piano, gave everyone a final wave goodbye, and even threw out a few broken piano strings to the screaming girls down front.
Prior his 90 minutes of fun, acoustic rocker Duncan Sheik took the stage backed by an electric guitarist to present a similar pedigree of narratives. It's just a shame that the kiddies in the crowd were too busy talking over most of his set (until "Barely Breathing" of course) allowing most of what he said to go over their heads. Had they listened up more closely, they would have found Sheik's latest offering Daylight loaded with colorful stories and lively imagery. The snidely presented "Good Morning" chronicles a tempting proposition from the devil while the folk flavored "For You" (reminiscent of Sheryl Crow's "Strong Enough") is a textbook example of how to win over a girl. Other new cuts, like "Start Again," "On a High," and "Half-Life" were also featured, ranging from coffeehouse flavored rock to acoustic pop, while the older cut "The End of Outside" took on an even more stripped down approach. Like Folds, Sheik also had a cover up his sleeve to grab everyone's attention in the form of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees." It was the second time during his set when all side conversations ceased and the audience focused on singing along gleefully. For the sold out gymnasium full of students, it sure beat studying or sitting through night class. The night of live music seemed like just the break they needed, and even for those off campus imports that didn't necessarily have to hit the books, the show sure did hit the spot.
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