The Prole; Real Halloween; Best. Concert. Ever.; Bowling for Shawn
In real time, it's the end of another weekend. The new Arcade Fire album leaked and I was ecstatic. I've listened to it probably close to 10 times already. I put this entry off for a while just because I wanted to do justice to the Ben Folds show...
Maybe I should start doing these introductions like a syndicated TV show. I could be like Leonard Nemoy on "In Search Of" or the Cryptkeeper on "Tales From The Crypt"...
10/30
Another Monday night at the Prole...
10/31
Cindy had decided that she would go as Yoko Ono for her Halloween costume, and I thought that it'd be nifty if I went as John Lennon. So I had about an hour to spare before Dan and Kristin's Halloween party and I decided to go looking, knowing that I had a couple of backup costumes that could work.
But fuck if I could find Lennon glasses. I found a great hat; I could get Cindy to straighten my hair, it would have totally worked. Except for the glasses. Giving that up and moving back to the Royal Tenenbaums idea, I picked up a few things I had previously borrowed, but in the end there wasn't enough time to perform the requisite hair alterations, and I ended up recycling my two-year-old "The Dude" costume, which was quick, easy, and comfortable (but what that involves wearing a bath robe isn't comfortable, I ask you?).
So Cindy showed up as a very respectable Yoko, and we went on to Dan and Kristin's party, where there was plenty of food, beer, and good company. Later in the evening we rounded up the remaining party-goers and headed up to Rudz to see...
Danny & the Nightmare, featuring Daniel Johnston. It was funny to have that opportunity so soon after watching the movie. Seeing him in person, I honestly was left no more certain of the man's mental state and artistic merit than after seeing the movie, but it was still quite an interesting experience. He didn't really play any of the songs I wanted to hear, though. He did, however, put on a good show (which is more than he sometimes does, according to Cindy), and seemed to enjoy himself.
We didn't stick around too long afterwards, it being a school night and all.
11/1
Those of you who know me probably know my passion for the music of Ben Folds. Those of you who know me well probably know that Ben Folds Five is, primarily, responsible for my love of modern indie rock, and second only to the Beatles in shaping my love of music in general. I love that man and his smart ass, sentimental, acutely perceptive music.
It was with detached curiousity that I observed, a while back, that he played some shows with orchestras, particularly in Australia. He even released a DVD of one, which I had pathetically managed to not pick up in the almost year that it had been out (though not for complete lack of tryihjng). In the back of my head, though, I knew that Ben Folds+Orchestra=Awesomeness. But knowing I had no chance of being in Australia to witness such a thing first hand, I maintained that detached curiousity.
But then in August, I happened to notice that Ben had booked a date in Houston. In Jones Hall. Where the Houston Symphony performs. And that the Houston Symphony was selling the tickets.
Holy shit. Ben Folds was coming to play with the Houston Symphony.
Before I even got my shit together, Cindy had already gotten us (well, me, technically, but of course I was going to take her) a pair of tickets for my birthday.
So after waiting for three months, the day had arrived. We got all gussied up and headed downtown, parked underground, and joined an odd crowd of hipsters, high schoolers, and confused-looking middle-aged patrons of the arts that were streaming into Jones Hall. We took our seats and waited for the awesomeness. I'll just go through the set list (recorded thanks to Ben_Folds_Fan on the benfolds.org forums; also for interesting reading, check out this old fogey's snobbish thoughts).
The crowd was generally pretty good; we were pretty much all grinning from ear to ear. One douchebag called out for "Rock This Bitch". Seriously, dude? You don't yell requests at an orchestra. And "Rock This Bitch" at a Ben Folds concert is pretty much like yelling "Freebird" at any other concert. You're not funny. You're not cool. Go do something useful with your time.
Another girl, after the show was over complained that Ben didn't play "Tiny Dancer". Here's some news: it's not his song. Plus, you just had a once in a lifetime experience. Try being a little grateful, you whiny bitch.
Oh, and when I pay (or theoretically pay) a whole lot of money for concert tickets, I don't want to see some jackass usher crawl across the entire damned front row to stop someone from taking pictures. I understand that flash photography was prohibited. I understand it's distracting. But it's not half as distracting as seeing some snob on a power trip trip over people's feet five feet away from the man I paid all that money to see. If I had those front row seats, I would have been fucking furious. I would have punched that man in the balls. Hitler? No. That man? Yes. He fucking had it coming.
Those instances aside, it was wonderful seeing a show where the music could be taken seriously, where people were quiet and respectful and appreciated the music.
And the sound. Oh sweet Jesus, the sound. It took about a minute for the sound guy to get the balance right between Ben's vocals (amplified), piano (amplified), and orchestra (au naturale). Once he got it, though, wow. I've listened to some many shows over crappy PAs, which is almost always bad. The best you can hope for is inoffensive. But to hear the orchestra backing Ben in an acoustically excellent space, unamplified. The bass was perfect. The bass is never perfect at a normal concert. It's boomy, it's one-note, it's muddy. It caught me off guard.
As I said when I was admonishing the ungrateful chick, this was an incredible opportunity. I can't remember any concert I've enjoyed more, and I don't think anything will ever top this. Wow.
11/2
Sabrina arranged a get-together in celebration of Shawn's birthday, and while Cindy and my working schedules precluded making it to the dinner at Chuy's, we caught up with the group at the bowling alley to bowl a few frames and drink a few beers. We closed the place down before calliing it a night.
Also, Cindy lent a friend of a friend of Sabrina's a stethoscope for some kind of residency interview. Aren't those things like #2 pencils? Don't they have a big box of them, freshly sharpened, sitting by the door?
Maybe I should start doing these introductions like a syndicated TV show. I could be like Leonard Nemoy on "In Search Of" or the Cryptkeeper on "Tales From The Crypt"...
10/30
Another Monday night at the Prole...
10/31
Cindy had decided that she would go as Yoko Ono for her Halloween costume, and I thought that it'd be nifty if I went as John Lennon. So I had about an hour to spare before Dan and Kristin's Halloween party and I decided to go looking, knowing that I had a couple of backup costumes that could work.
But fuck if I could find Lennon glasses. I found a great hat; I could get Cindy to straighten my hair, it would have totally worked. Except for the glasses. Giving that up and moving back to the Royal Tenenbaums idea, I picked up a few things I had previously borrowed, but in the end there wasn't enough time to perform the requisite hair alterations, and I ended up recycling my two-year-old "The Dude" costume, which was quick, easy, and comfortable (but what that involves wearing a bath robe isn't comfortable, I ask you?).
So Cindy showed up as a very respectable Yoko, and we went on to Dan and Kristin's party, where there was plenty of food, beer, and good company. Later in the evening we rounded up the remaining party-goers and headed up to Rudz to see...
Danny & the Nightmare, featuring Daniel Johnston. It was funny to have that opportunity so soon after watching the movie. Seeing him in person, I honestly was left no more certain of the man's mental state and artistic merit than after seeing the movie, but it was still quite an interesting experience. He didn't really play any of the songs I wanted to hear, though. He did, however, put on a good show (which is more than he sometimes does, according to Cindy), and seemed to enjoy himself.
We didn't stick around too long afterwards, it being a school night and all.
11/1
Those of you who know me probably know my passion for the music of Ben Folds. Those of you who know me well probably know that Ben Folds Five is, primarily, responsible for my love of modern indie rock, and second only to the Beatles in shaping my love of music in general. I love that man and his smart ass, sentimental, acutely perceptive music.
It was with detached curiousity that I observed, a while back, that he played some shows with orchestras, particularly in Australia. He even released a DVD of one, which I had pathetically managed to not pick up in the almost year that it had been out (though not for complete lack of tryihjng). In the back of my head, though, I knew that Ben Folds+Orchestra=Awesomeness. But knowing I had no chance of being in Australia to witness such a thing first hand, I maintained that detached curiousity.
But then in August, I happened to notice that Ben had booked a date in Houston. In Jones Hall. Where the Houston Symphony performs. And that the Houston Symphony was selling the tickets.
Holy shit. Ben Folds was coming to play with the Houston Symphony.
Before I even got my shit together, Cindy had already gotten us (well, me, technically, but of course I was going to take her) a pair of tickets for my birthday.
So after waiting for three months, the day had arrived. We got all gussied up and headed downtown, parked underground, and joined an odd crowd of hipsters, high schoolers, and confused-looking middle-aged patrons of the arts that were streaming into Jones Hall. We took our seats and waited for the awesomeness. I'll just go through the set list (recorded thanks to Ben_Folds_Fan on the benfolds.org forums; also for interesting reading, check out this old fogey's snobbish thoughts).
- "Zak & Sara": Ben enters to a dramatic orchestral swell, which fades into his rapid arpeggios that begin "Zak & Sara".
- "Smoke": Beautiful with lots of sweet strings.
- "All U Can Eat": Ben introduces this one by pulling a mock political speech out of his pockets and reads it. The presence of the orchestra isn't really notable here...
- "Jesusland": Just like the album, but it's already got a great arrangement, so why fuck with success? Lonely, forlorn, and beautiful.
- "Lullabye": Great arrangement. The original was jazzy and had strings anyway (I think); this one adds a nice soft saxophone solo.
- "Landed": The single mix of this one had strings, and I always thought it went well with this big, sappy, optimistic song. Nothing that new here, but great live.
- "Philosophy": Sounded great and included the traditional solo with "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Miserlou", followed by a plug for the symphony, claiming that he made easy music look hard while they made hard music look easy.
- "Stephen's Last Night in Town": The drums did a nice job of doing the swing beat; the clarinet pulled off the solo well.
- "Cigarette": Ben introduces this as being a single run-on sentence he took from a newspaper article, and, after his solo performance, sings the finale: "Period."
- "Fred Jones Pt. 2": Nice, but maybe by the numbers? Except that John McCrea's harmony part was covered solo by... an instrument. Of some sort. I forget, but it was nice.
- "Not the Same": Ben directed the audience in the harmonies, as usual. The conductor lent him a baton. The orchestra seemed amused. It was purty with the strings.
- "The Ascent of Stan": Never really liked this song. Again, the orchestra was nice, but didn't revolutionize the song the way it did for some songs.
- "Gracie": Tells the story about how he wrote one song about each of his kid, and how they wre born on different days and have different astrological signs.
- "Brick": He may have given the standard introduction to this one... can't remember. This arrangement, however, was excellent. Lots of chords that aren't what you expect. Really fun.
- "One Angry Dwarf": Reimagined as a disco album. Great arrangement.
- "Narcolepsy": This is a song that was meant to be heard with orchestar. Big, huge, sweeping, exciting strings. And he brought out an operatic baritone to sing the backing vocals. Kick ass.
- "The Luckiest": The encore. Nice live performance. Nothing groundbreaking, but a nice note to end on.
The crowd was generally pretty good; we were pretty much all grinning from ear to ear. One douchebag called out for "Rock This Bitch". Seriously, dude? You don't yell requests at an orchestra. And "Rock This Bitch" at a Ben Folds concert is pretty much like yelling "Freebird" at any other concert. You're not funny. You're not cool. Go do something useful with your time.
Another girl, after the show was over complained that Ben didn't play "Tiny Dancer". Here's some news: it's not his song. Plus, you just had a once in a lifetime experience. Try being a little grateful, you whiny bitch.
Oh, and when I pay (or theoretically pay) a whole lot of money for concert tickets, I don't want to see some jackass usher crawl across the entire damned front row to stop someone from taking pictures. I understand that flash photography was prohibited. I understand it's distracting. But it's not half as distracting as seeing some snob on a power trip trip over people's feet five feet away from the man I paid all that money to see. If I had those front row seats, I would have been fucking furious. I would have punched that man in the balls. Hitler? No. That man? Yes. He fucking had it coming.
Those instances aside, it was wonderful seeing a show where the music could be taken seriously, where people were quiet and respectful and appreciated the music.
And the sound. Oh sweet Jesus, the sound. It took about a minute for the sound guy to get the balance right between Ben's vocals (amplified), piano (amplified), and orchestra (au naturale). Once he got it, though, wow. I've listened to some many shows over crappy PAs, which is almost always bad. The best you can hope for is inoffensive. But to hear the orchestra backing Ben in an acoustically excellent space, unamplified. The bass was perfect. The bass is never perfect at a normal concert. It's boomy, it's one-note, it's muddy. It caught me off guard.
As I said when I was admonishing the ungrateful chick, this was an incredible opportunity. I can't remember any concert I've enjoyed more, and I don't think anything will ever top this. Wow.
11/2
Sabrina arranged a get-together in celebration of Shawn's birthday, and while Cindy and my working schedules precluded making it to the dinner at Chuy's, we caught up with the group at the bowling alley to bowl a few frames and drink a few beers. We closed the place down before calliing it a night.
Also, Cindy lent a friend of a friend of Sabrina's a stethoscope for some kind of residency interview. Aren't those things like #2 pencils? Don't they have a big box of them, freshly sharpened, sitting by the door?
posted by L. Maxwell Ward at 1:53 AM
