Ben Folds
19th February 2018
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Bridget Herlihy. Photography by Chris Morgan.
Hot on the heels of a six date Australian theatre tour singer/songwriter extraordinaire Ben Folds made a whirlwind stop in Auckland on Monday night for an intimate show at the Powerstation. And this was a show with a difference. Folds’ Paper Aeroplane show promised a fun show from the outset, as the second part of the set was dedicated to fan requests submitted by, you guessed it, paper aeroplanes.
A large crowd gathered with paper planes tightly grasped in their hot hands, eager for the man of the hour to emerge and take his seat at the resplendent grand piano positioned at the centre of the stage. But first, to maintain a semblance of decorum in a room of paper aeroplanes ready to take their maiden voyage, a voice announced that the crowd must refrain from throwing their paper aeroplanes until given the order to commence at the beginning of the second set.
After several minutes of ethereal choral music playing, Folds appeared onstage to rapturous applause, to which he simply replied, “cool”. Dressed in a striped t-shirt and jeans and a big grin, Folds appeared right at home, and without hesitation launched into Phone In A Pool, from 2015’s So There. The opening bars of Annie Waits were met with more squeals of delight, prompting the first sing-along of the night. In fact, a majority of the show had the audience singing along with Folds, as he complimented them on their vocal and harmonising ability. Introducing a four-part counterpoint song, Folds enthusiastically encouraged crowd participation after brief tuition about the requirements of each of the four parts of the magnificent Bastard. And it appeared that Folds was more than happy with the result.
Folds delved deep into his back catalogue, playing tracks spanning his career. His irreverent approach to song writing and unconventional lyricism is a refreshing contrast to cookie-cutter music making, with inspiration for his songs taken from everyday occurrences, including a separated couple spending “their first night apart in their broke ass apartments”, to the trials and tribulations of touring, to “shit my father said to me at Denny’s one time”. One moment Folds is playing hard and fast as if there is no tomorrow, and in the blink of an eye he plays a pseudo-ballad with classical undertones, before picking up the tempo again.
Ending the first set with Stevens Last Night In Town, Folds delivered one of the most memorable moments of the evening as a woman randomly walked from the side of stage holding a snare drum. However, it quickly transpired that this was no random event after all, as Folds stood up from his piano, and with a pair of drumsticks in hand began to play the drum as the woman quickly trotted backwards across the stage before setting the drum down. Another stage hand emerged with a stool, and then another with another piece of a drum kit, and on it went until a full kit had been assembled on stage, all the while with Folds playing a high energy drum solo that broadened with each new piece of equipment that appeared.
After a brief intermission, whereby some of the audience took the opportunity to practice their throwing skills, the voice over the loudspeaker returned to announce that it was three minutes until the paper aeroplanes could be unleashed. After reappearing onstage and giving the countdown to launch, the room came alive.. It was quite a sight to behold as hundreds of paper aeroplanes launched towards the stage, the floor, the balcony and everywhere in between. Picking up a single paper aeroplane from the stage, Folds opened it, took his seat at the piano, and without any Introduction began to play Don’t Change Your Plans, followed by the tongue-in-cheek Effington after reading the request written on another plane. This approach to building a ten song set made up entirely of fans requests was a stroke of brilliance, opening up a proverbial treasure trove of tunes that may not often see the light of day in the context of live performances.
Ben Folds is a charming character; his humbleness and humility is endearing. NZ clearly adores Mr Folds, and with very good reason. He is not only an insanely talented and accomplished singer, songwriter and musician, but his witty showmanship is exquisite and this was without a doubt a very special evening of music to remember.
Were you there at the Powerstation for this beautiful concert? Or have you seen Ben Folds perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Phone in a Pool
- Annie Waits
- Bastard
- All You Can Eat
- So There
- Still Fighting It
- Not A Fan
- Landed
- You Don’t Know Me
- Steven’s Last Night In Town
- Drum solo
- Don’t Change Your Plans
- Effington
- Army
- Errant Dog
- Gracie
- Rent A Cop
- The Luckiest
- Adelaide
- Zak and Sara
- Blank Page (improv)
- Philosophy
- Rockin’ The Suburbs [encore]
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