Do It Anyway

I first started listening to Ben Folds Five back in 1997 when Whatever and Ever Amen came out and "Brick" was a huge hit. I played the crap out of that CD and soon got their previous stuff as well. I loved the way they harmonized and the way Ben played the piano. The songs were heartfelt and silly and beautiful. I was able to see them in concert at Clutch Cargos after the release of The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner (their least appreciated album and my favorite). It was a great show. Energetic and fun and filled with super fans. It was like a little cult following of people who love awesome music. In 2000, they broke up and I was super bummed. I resorted to playing their CD's over and over again, wishing for something new. Then Ben came out with his solo stuff. Rockin' the Suburbs is one of my all time most favorite records ever. For crying out loud, it's good. I have seen him in concert countless times since then and he puts on such a wonderful show. He has kept himself busy putting out his own CD's, collaborating and producing other artists, judging on TV shows and being a King of social media. Guys, Ben Folds is awesome and if you are a fan of his, he takes damn good care of you.

Look! That's my name up there!

Cut to 2011 when Ben Folds Five got together to record 3 songs for The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective. they were so pleased with the result and the reaction from the fans that they decided to record a new record over a six week period in January/February of 2012. The band released a version of the first single from the record, "Do It Anyway" online in an attempt to get support and crowd funding from fans through a website called Pledge Music. The response was overwhelming. With every pledge, each person who donated became "A Dam VP" of the album and was able to get the CD, their name listed in the CD insert, a signed record, T-shirts, signed lyric sheets and even a song with their name in it, written by the band (depending on how much the person donated). They met their funding goal by 200% IN THE FIRST WEEK. How's that for a dedicated fan base? The new album; The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind was released on September 18,2012 (I was able to listen to it an entire week early because, you know, #ImaDamVP) and became the band's first top ten charting album EVER. 

When it was announced that they would be touring and coming to Detroit, I was ecstatic/heartbroken. Ecstatic because it has been 13 years since I last saw them. Heartbroken because with only one person working in a household, it means your funds are low. It would have physically made my heart ache if I had missed this show. Here is where my lybf, Carrie comes in. Knowing that I wouldn't buy tickets for myself, she surprised me with 2 for Jeff and I for the October 2nd show at The Fillmore. I was so happy, I cried. (If you don't have Carrie as a friend, people, I feel sorry for you. She is one of the best, most loyal friends I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and I love her a lot). So, the day of the concert comes and Jeffrey is sick. My Soulmate, Dawn was supposed to be watching Charley while Jeff and I went to the concert, so we decided for Jeff to stay home and Dawn to come with me. Surprise Soulmate date night, yay!

After parking the car and getting lost in the parking garage while trying to find our way to the street (don't worry, we didn't get too lost. Just enough to where we were giggling about how stupid it was), we made it to the Fillmore. I don't think it was sold out but there were a lot more people than I thought there would be. Before we went to claim a spot, Dawn went to buy a water from the bar. After the bartender gave her her water and argued with her over whether or not a Staffordshire Terrier is indeed a Pitbull, he looked over at me and then says to her "is this your little sister?". My 12yr old looking curse strikes again, LOLZ! We had main floor tickets, but chose to stand on one of the higher levels, so as not to get consumed by the crowd in front of the stage. Turns out we had a great view but it was F'ing HOT. So hot in there. We were fanning ourselves with our hands and sweating glowing like crazy.

Kate Miller-Heidke opened. She's from Australia and is fun and has a pretty voice. She does a really neat version of Eminem's "Slim shady" and the crowd loved it. She previously opened for Steven Page back when Carrie and I saw him in 2010 (if you remember from my blog back then, she was the highlight of that show).

Ben Folds Five took the stage right at 8:30pm. They would play a song from the new album and then an old one, switching on and off like that for most of the night. They did one song ("Landed") from Ben's solo record, Songs For Silverman. It was awesome. I had a huge smile on my face the whole time. After listening to these songs for so long on CD and my ipod, thinking that they would never get back together again, let alone make new music and perform live, it was a little surreal and freaking awesome. I looooove Ben Folds but when you throw in Darren Jesse and Robert Sledge, magic happens. As many people shouted to them last night, they are "Rock God's". It was one of those shows where the entire audience knew all the words to all the songs. You could hear the crowd over Ben at times and he loved it. How cool is that?! They told some funny stories and genuinely seemed to enjoy being there. It is such a great feeling when you can tell the artist or band that you came to see is happy to be there performing for you. They had fun and we had fun. It was a great, great show.

They put on one hell of an encore, which some super awesome dude was cool enough to post on youtube (be warned, there are swears in these songs!). ugh, it gives me goosebumps:


So, thank you to Carrie for the tickets and knowing how much I love these guys, thank you to Dawn for being a wonderful date and for enjoying your first Ben Folds Five show and thank you to Ben Folds, Darren Jesse and Robert Sledge for appreciating your fans and knowing what good music is all about. I don't know if they'll stay together or if they'll make another album together but I'm going to enjoy this reunion while it lasts.

Now, i leave you with this because it makes my heart explode with happiness:
  

And if you are not currently a Ben Folds/Ben Folds Five fan, WHAT are you waiting for? get on Spotify and check them out! No other band takes care of their fans the way these guys do. So go listen to some good music and "Do It Anyway".