Wednesday May 6th, 8 p.m. – A rock n roll classical concert (yes, I said rock n roll classical and not classic rock) took place in Baltimore Wednesday night. Ben Folds, this generations Mr. Piano Man took to the stage to play some all new material; a album he’s been working on with yMusic not due to be released until later this fall.
yMusic is a classical sextet based out of New York City. Members include: Rob Moose, violin, CJ Camerieri, trumpet and french horn, Gabriel Cabezas, cello, Alex Sopp, flute and vocals, Hideaki Aomori, clarinet and bass clarinet, and Nadia Sirota, viola. This collaboration was a part of Ben wanting to do a project with orchestral instruments but have the flexibility of working with a band. yMusic has a chamber music like ensemble but considers them a band more than anything else.
Touring an album prior to it being released is a bold maneuver by Ben. He has enough of a fan base that trusts the work he puts out that he can pull it off. But still an album release and tour typically go hand in hand. The new album from what I understand is finished, just not released. It’s like he’s promoting the album with a tour instead of promoting the tour with an album. This approach added a surprise element to the show where you didn’t know what to expect.
Unfortunately Rob Moose was unable to perform tonight due to illness. So we didn’t get a chance to hear the full compliment of what the album has to offer. They were able to make due, but the presence of Rob on violin would of undoubtedly made for a better show. Ben informed us of his absence and had the whole audience chant Moooooooose!
Ben has a loose collar approach to putting on a concert. Throughout the entire show he had a plastic cup full of bourbon sitting on his piano. That’s the advantage to playing piano; you can use it as a table for your drinks. Nadia Sirota eventually got up and brought out an entire liter of Elijah Craig and placed it on it. He immediately went on to play “Rock This Bitch,” coincidentally a song about Elijah Craig bourbon. The drinking didn’t affect his performance. It thinks it adds to the show when you know the artist is enjoying himself. It’s like we where just hanging out with Ben Folds in a piano bar. It gave the concert an intimate feel.
Tonight was the unveiling of sorts for the new yMusic album, in which the title of has yet to be determined. The opening song “So There” was a song off the new album. You could tell because the audience just started intently listening instead of making noise. Of the new material performed I really enjoyed “Capable of Anything,” and “Yes Man.” The song “Capable of Anything” is the instrumental used for a short “Meet The Band” promotional video. It’s been the only clue we had of what the show would sound like. It was great to hear the whole song with lyrics.
It’s hard to describe exactly what I was listening to just because it sounded so unique. New material is one thing but the whole concert for the most part was played with the yMusic ensemble so even classic Ben Folds tunes sounded new. One of the best Ben Folds classics performed and it really fit nicely with yMusic was “Steven’s Last Night In Town” off the Whatever And Ever Amen LP. It has a New Orleans jazz/vaudevillian sound. CJ Camerieri on trumpet and Hideaki Aomori on clarinet were outstanding! Another great song that fit the yMusic mold was “You Don’t Know Me” off of Way to Normal. The original “You Don’t Know Me” was electronically produced and had digital tracks that sounded like synthetic orchestral instruments. So it was great to hear it with live cello and viola and trumpet. Alex Sopp also stepped in on vocals and she sounded fantastic!
For an encore Ben came out solo for a few songs and took requests. They included “Fired,” Jackson Cannery,” and “Rockin’ the Suburbs.” It was very entertaining to hear them played on solo piano. Ben even went on to give some insight about the lyrics to the song “Rockin’ the Suburbs.” The band Korn in part believe it or not inspired them. Ben stated that for two and a half years he didn’t require any press at his shows until he read an article in Spin Magazine. It had Korn on the cover with the subtitle Korn takes on the wussies. He read the article and it had Korn in quotations calling Ben Folds Five ” a bunch of p*ssies.” Ben’s reaction to reading this fueled the lyrics “Y’all don’t know what it’s like being male, middle-class and white,” and the whole pissed off expression of the song. That was a messed up statement by Korn but I’m glad they made it because it inspired a really awesome song.
Another part of the encore included Ben conducting the audience like a chorale director. He came to the front of the stage and composed bass, mezzo-soprano and soprano singing parts. He did an entire song this way. We actually sounded good! I think Ben more than anything else just wants to be a music teacher.
Ben wrote a piano concerto he plans on releasing along with the yMusic album. It would be interesting to hear. That’s an ambitious endeavor. Piano Concertos can be some of the most technically demanding musical achievements presentable. Will it be with the likes of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3? There’s an excellent orchestra in town, the BSO, who it would be great to hear his new piano concerto performed with.
Ben’s lyrical style can be immature but it’s very entertaining and funny. Like “Effington” for example; another great song they performed. The lyrics makes me chuckle every time I hear it. It was still a great concert. It was performed well, not perfect but well. Ben’s is just up there having fun and he’s fun to be around.
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