Corn Mo's been drinkin' a lot today

[vovat]

Last night was the Ben Folds concert at the Electric Factory, which I actually managed to reach without getting lost. Hooray! bethje and I got there about an hour early, and waited in a line that ran all the way around the building. Eventually, they let us in, and the security guard confiscated my pen. This had happened at the same venue a few years ago. Maybe I should have left it in the car, but I figured the odds of getting a guard who would actually take away a pen on two separate occasions was rather unlikely. I forgot to take it back at the end of the show, which is no big deal, since I have other pens. Still, I have to wonder what they're thinking. Did they suspect I would jump up on stage and WRITE on the performers? I guess a pen could technically be used to poke someone in the eye, but wouldn't that be a lot more trouble than it's worth? There was a sign outside the venue saying something about "zero tolerance," which usually indicates zero brains on the part of the people enforcing the policy.


The opener, Corn Mo, actually started pretty much on time. It was cool to see him again. He played some of his live staples, including "Lollipop," "Angel," "Maybe Tonight," and "Busey Boy." He did not, however, play "We Are The Champions," which I'd pretty much expected to hear. For one song, he switched over from accordion to keyboard, and told some story about time travel and astral projection before starting the actual song. His ending number was a rock song based on "Hava Nagila," on which, since he lacked a band, he sang along with the CD.

After Corn Mo had finished, there was a LONG wait before Ben came out. When he finally did, it was with a drummer and a bass player. I had never before been to a Ben show where anyone other than Ben himself played on the majority of the songs. (Obviously, this means I didn't see any shows during the Ben Folds Five era.) They played a lot of the usual fare for Ben shows, including "Rockin' The Suburbs," "Brick," and "One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces" (his closing number, which ended with Ben throwing a music stand at the piano keyboard). "Army" and "Not The Same" still contained the usual audience participation parts, but Ben really drew out the ending for the latter. He also replaced the last "Been thinkin' a lot today" from "Army" with the phrase I used for my title. There were also a fair number of songs from Songs for Silverman and the recent EPs, as well as some older songs I hadn't heard live before, like "Alice Childress" (preceded by a speech about how he hadn't played it in a while, and was likely to fuck it up), "Where's Summer B?", and "Carrying Cathy." So, it was a good overall performance, but the fact that the crowd was even more tightly packed in than usual wasn't fun at all. Neither was watching the two people in front of us make out for pretty much the entire show, or having my feet hurt from standing for so long. I always tell myself I should stop going to standing room only shows, but then another one I really want to see comes along. I'd be useless in a boycott.


I don't really have anything else to say, but I'll mention one more thing before ending the entry. This morning, I saw a sticker in a truck window with a "Proud American" caption, and a cartoon head with a halo in front of an American flag. I can only hope it wasn't meant to be taken seriously, but I'm pretty sure I'm hoping against hope here.

Comments

[colleenanne.livejournal.com]

I'm so jealous. It sounds like a good show. I heart Ben Folds.

In reference to the pen: There was a chick in my high school that had got kicked out of her last high school for stabbing a girl in the back with a pencil. So it could be a weapon. And a pen doesn't lose it's sharpness! hehe.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I think a pencil point can be sharpened to the point where it's sharper than a pen. Nevertheless, you have to wonder where they draw the line. Maybe there really WAS a pen-stabbing at some point, but is that really more likely than someone just punching somebody else with a fist? You can't confiscate that!

[arfies.livejournal.com]

heh heh... "draw the line." Maybe that's what they needed your pen for.

[loz]

Well I'm glad Ben was good, but I'm sorry the venue wasn't as good as it could have been!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Thanks, on both counts.

[bethje.livejournal.com]

You forgot to mention the part about how you saw a guy wearing the same exact shirt as you!

Haw haw!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. That was kind of embarrassing.

It was the black TMBG snowman shirt, in case anyone is curious.