Ben Folds has had himself quite a prolific career. The world first became familiar with his quirky brand of alternative piano-rock through his band with Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee, Ben Folds Five. After their three albums and a rarities compilation, Folds went on to add three more LPs and and an equal number of EPs to his catalog under his own name. Tack on his numerous collaborations with the likes of William Shatner, Regina Spektor, author Nick Hornby, Amanda Palmer, and more, plus his work on films, and it’s clear Folds’ cup over flows with material.

Now, after more than a decade apart, Ben Folds Five have reunited. The band’s first onstage performance together since a one-off event in 2008 goes down this weekend at Mountain Jam, with more festivals and tour dates to follow. What’s perhaps most exciting for fans, however, is the promise of a new album from the trio due out this year. Three new tracks from the band appeared on Folds’ The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective last year, but this currently untitled, crowdfunded record will be their first full one since 1999.

Whether by himself, with his friends, or with his newly reunited band, Folds’ repertoire keeps growing. Whatever the work, though, a hallmark of them all has been Folds’ lyrics. Witty, philosophical, melancholic, touching, or just straight oddball, Folds’ words have always made his songs instantly identifiable practically just by reading the lyrics sheet. But the real question is: Can you tell if it’s a Ben Folds Five song or Folds solo? Or was it a collaboration with some other artists? We’ve created a little lyrical retrospective to test your knowledge. We tell you the lyric, you tell us if it’s BFF, Folds and his bffs, or Folds himself. Click on, brave listener, and find out if you’re enough of a Folds fan:

Take the quiz.

Once you’ve tested yourself, click on to the next page for a full explanation of each question. Don’t go peeking, now, ya little cheater.

1. “Every couple nights or so / You know you pop into my dreams / I just can’t get rid of you / Like you got rid of me” Ben Folds Five – “Fair” – Whatever and Ever Amen

Though not one of the five singles off their sophomore album (how “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces” failed to chart, I’ll never understand), “Fair” is one of the strongest tracks on the the record. It’s got all of Folds’ wit and craftiness, romantic and depressing at the same time.

2. “The sun’s coming up / she’s pulled all the blankets over / curled in a ball / like she’s hiding from me and / that’s when I know / she’s gonna be pissed when she wakes up / for terrible things I did to her in her dreams” Ben Folds – “Trusted” – Songs for Silverman

Folds captures that moment when you realize the person you loved isn’t who you thought they were. This lyric connects with anyone who has ever had someone wake up  mad at them for no damned reason but spite.

3. “I went because you said you’d be there / A box of candy, smoke in your hair / I didn’t know, I didn’t care / Now I know” The Bens (Folds, Kweller, Lee) – “Bruised” – The Bens (EP)

What else do you call a band with three guys named Ben? Folds, Ben Kweller, and Ben Lee toured Australia together in 2003, and a four-track EP was the result. They also covered “Wicked Little Town” for the Hedwig and the Angry Inch tribute album Wig in a Box.

4. “I see that there is evil / And I know that there is good / And the in-betweens I never understood” Ben Folds Five – “Philosophy” – Ben Folds Five

In the Naked Baby Photos liner notes, Folds claims, “This song is about my penis. . . if that’s what you think it’s about.” Whether his philosophy is phallic in nature or not, this is one of Folds’ knottiest songs to date.

5. “‘No one understands me,’ you said / and I nodded once again / as if to agree that all men are indeed the same / somehow, you said, I was different” Fear of Pop (Ben Folds, John Mark Painter, Fleming McWilliams, lyrics sung by William Shatner) – “In Love” – Volume 1

Folds has called William Shatner his “show-biz dad”, having worked with him on numerous occasions. Here, Shatner plays the part of The Unrequited Lover to “sing” the lyrics with his trademark dramatic, halting delivery.

6. “I wanna borrow an allen wrench! / I wanna borrow some duct tape! / I wanna borrow a mic cable! / Bass in your face!” Ben Folds Five – “For Those of Ya’ll Who Wear Fannie Packs” – Naked Baby Photos

A b-side on the “Battle of Who Could Care Less” single, this largely improvised, um, song is probably the most ridiculous thing the band ever recorded. “Shit yeah it’s cool.”

7. “I like to shoot the shit and do some chilling, I guess / you fuck with me, and I kick your ass” Ben Folds/Nick Hornby – “Levi Johnston’s Blues” – Lonely Avenue

Yes, Folds has a song about Levi Johnston and his bastard child with Bristol Palin. To be fair, neither Folds nor Hornsby wrote these lyrics; they were pulled directly from Johnston’s Myspace page. Can’t make that stuff up.

8. “Lucretia walks into a room / because she does it’s not the same room / the one she wanted to be in / she says, ‘Everywhere I go, damn! There I am.’” Ben Folds – “Fired” – Rockin’ The Suburbs

Allow me to break protocol and address you myself: this is one of my all-time favorite Folds lyrics. Anyone who has ever felt insecure around their peers knows what Lucretia is experiencing here.

9. “Roots, the funny limbs that grow underground / That keep you from falling down / Don’t you think that you need them now?” Ben Folds Five – “Your Redneck Past” – The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner

Though the album failed to match the success of Whatever and Ever Amen, Reinhold Messner holds some of the juiciest BFF material. Here, Folds sarcastically addresses the idea of hiding from your past, which really defines you whether you like it or not.

10. “God made us number one because he loves us the best / Well he should go bless someone else for a while / Give us a rest” Ben Folds – “All U Can Eat” – Sunny 16 (EP)

Folds has often dropped religious references into his songs, often attaching them to American politics and society (see: “Jesusland”). He does so again here on the Sunny 16 EP.

11. “Sometimes it’s not subjective wrong and right / deep down you know it’s downright wrong / but you’re invincible tonight” Ben Folds Five – “Do It Anyway” – (forthcoming)

You had to be really on the ball to get this one. An unmastered version of this new cut was released just a few weeks ago.

12. “You could have just propped me up on the table like a mannequin / Or a cardboard standup and paint me / Any face that you wanted me to be seen with” Ben Folds feat. Regina Spektor – “You Don’t Know Me” – Way to Normal

Okay, so this one was a bit of a trick question. Yes, it’s on a Ben Folds solo record, but it features his good friend Regina Spektor on backing vocals. Thus, it’s a bff recording.

13. “I stay focused on details / it keeps me from feeling the big things / But watch the microscope long enough / Things that seem still are still changing” Ben Folds – “Still” - Over The Hedge OST / Supersunnyspeedgraphic, the LP

Folds provided a few reworkings of old songs, covers, and a handful of originals for the under-appreciated Over The Hedge. “Still” was one of the new tracks. Sidenote: Shatner, who voiced the possum Ozzie in the film, provided a spoken word section to a new version of “Rockin’ the Suburbs” for this OST.

14. “There’s an ugly buzz that hovers just above the quiet / Found a way to make it silent” Ben Folds Five – “Air” – Godzilla OST/Whatever and Ever Amen, Remastered Edition

This track didn’t make the original Whatever and Ever Amen cut, but it found its way onto the soundtrack for the Matthew Broderick-starring Godzilla. What’s more ridiculous: that BFF was on the Godzilla OST, or that Broderick was in a Godzilla movie? You’re right; it’s probably that Godzilla asexually produced offspring in Madison Square Garden.

15. “Some things are more or less like that / Sad, funny, dumb, and brave like that / I don’t know why he had to die / I wonder who was saved” 8in8 (Folds, Amanda Palmer, Neil Gaiman, Damian Kulash [OK Go]) – “Twelve Line Song” (aka “The Squirrel Song”) – Nighty Night

At Boston’s Rethink Music conference in April 2011, Folds and some of his pals locked themselves in a room to create eight songs in eight hours. The whole thing was broadcast live, and all proceeds from the album’s download go to benefit Berklee City Music Network.

16. “The kids formed a circle just like Enter the Dragon / I was defending myself from snowballs coming at me / I said I’ll come back then and get you one on one” Ben Folds Five – “Tell Me What I Did” – The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective

This was one of the three new BFF tracks that appeared on Folds’ 2011 retrospective. With the new album in the works, this thankfully won’t be the last new material we get from the trio. The future looks bright, indeed.

As previously reported, the reunited Ben Folds Five are at work on a new album, their first in over a decade. Early Saturday morning, Folds posted a new, unmastered track on his Facebook. “Do It Anyway” features the kind of driving instrumentation that soundtracks old-timey barroom brawls and a bass line that could make a guitarist jealous. Listen to it below.

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/45425670" iframe="true" /]

Folds’ Facebook post also discussed how BFF is taking a grassroots approach to promoting the record. Currently unsigned, the band is asking fans to take on roles as Vice President of Promotion by using social media to spread any news he tweets or facebooks (social media as verbs). All ‘VPs’ will be credited in the LP’s vinyl art.

After getting back together last year to record a trio of tracks for Ben Folds’ new retrospective album, the members of Ben Fold Five are now working on their first full-length LP since 1999′s The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner.

As SPIN.com points out, Folds revealed the news on Twitter last night, tweeting a photo of himself with bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee. He wrote as a caption, “It’s happening fo sho – Day 1 in studio with Robert and Darren through March #NewBenFoldsFiveRecord.” When asked by a fan when the new music would see release, Folds responded “Spring.”

Below, you can listen to Ben Fold Five’s “House”, one of the aforementioned songs appearing on Folds’ The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective.

This collection isn’t a best of, necessarily, but more of a front-to-back anthology of Folds’ resume. The songs are a representative swath of the acclaimed songwriter’s diverse releases, with the first disc culling together tracks from his studio work with Ben Folds Five, solo efforts, and various soundtracks. This includes hits such as “Brick”, “Annie Waits”, and “Rockin’ the Suburbs”. The songs are straight from the albums for the most part—save for a few, like an extended version of “Still Fighting It” and a cut of “Smoke” featuring the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.

The second disc is all live tracks, and this is the disc that shows Folds at his best, the songs coming alive and morphing into something new and fresh. Folds’ piano and improvisational skills are showcased well here. Rocking tracks like “Army” and “Zak and Sara” explode live, and the recordings do them complete justice. Also included is a hilarious but still amazing duet with Rufus Wainwright on George Michaels’ “Careless Whisper”.

Overall, the release is a must-have for Ben Folds fans, but really only for the live portion and, to an extent, the third disc, which is all demos and previously unreleased songs, including a fantastic 1992 take of “The Best Imitation of Myself”, where Folds’ voice sounds incredibly young behind his thick North Carolina accent. There’s also the enjoyment of two newly recorded Ben Folds Five songs that may be on their forthcoming reunion album, possibly due out next year. Now, there’s a release worth grabbing.

Essential Tracks: “Army”, “Zak and Sara”, and “Careless Whisper”

Photo by Heather Kaplan

“Tell me what I did,” Ben Folds implores, his heart pulsating blood atop his piano. It’s a familiar feeling, only Folds tells it from the perspective of a little kid – at least that’s what it sounds like on “Tell Me What I Did”, just one more punchy new track off the piano man’s three-disc career retrospective, The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective, due out October 11th via Legacy Recordings. We’ve heard two of the three new tunes off the effort – you remember “House”, right? – and so far our renewed love for the former trio has not expired. Not one bit.

Head over to Stereogum for their exclusive stream.

]]> Photo by Heather Kaplan "Tell me what I did," Ben Folds implores, his heart pulsating blood atop his piano. It's a familiar feeling, only Folds tells it from the perspective of a little kid - at least that's what it sounds like on "Tell Me What I Did", just one more punchy new track off the piano man's three-disc career retrospective, The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective, due out October 11th via Legacy Recordings. We've heard two of the three new tunes off the effort - you remember "House", right? - and so far our renewed love for the former trio has not expired. Not one bit. Head over to Stereogum for their exclusive stream. ]]> http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/08/check-out-ben-folds-five-tell-me-what-i-did/feed/ 0 http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/08/check-out-ben-folds-five-house/ http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/08/check-out-ben-folds-five-house/#comments http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com//wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Ben-Folds-2010-color.jpeg Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:43:02 +0000 Chris Coplan http://consequenceofsound.net/?p=143710

Ben Folds‘s three-disc career retrospective The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective arrives October 11th via Legacy Recordings. Contained amongst its vast treasures is a little number called “House”, one of the three new Ben Folds Five songs in over a decade. Right now, you can stream the track at The Weekly Feed; though much time has passed since their heyday, the trio still knows how to make quirky, piano-powered pop tunes.

While collaborating with Bob Saget is clearly the pinnacle for any musician’s resume, Ben Folds has had a long, fruitful career up to that glorious moment. Whether it was with Ben Folds Five or on his own, Folds has a rich back catalog, one which he’ll make great use of when he releases his career retrospective The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective this October.

The three-CD release will see a different focus for each disc. The first, The Best Imitation of Myself, features everything from the Ben Folds Five hit “Brick” to Folds’ collaboration with author Nick Hornby in the track “From Above” (this CD will also be available as a single disc.) The next disc comprises itself of Folds’ picks for best live cuts from 1997 to 2011 and includes collabos with Rufus Wainwright and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. The last disc is made up entirely of rarities, including several demos and the Amanda Palmer-Neil Gaiman-Damian Kulash-featuring “Because the Origami”. Each track has been remastered and the release contains liner notes and track-by-track observations by Folds himself.

While the 61 tracks that make up the collection are the cream of the crop, Folds found an additional 55 “ultra rarities” to release. Everyone who pre-orders the collection will receive a code to download a five-song EP containing some of these songs, with the remaining 50 available for purchase on Folds’ official website.

Check out the entire tracklist below. The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective hits stores October 11th via Legacy Recordings.

The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective Tracklist:
CD 1: The Best Imitation of Myself
01. Brick (Radio Mix) (with Ben Folds Five)
02. Annie Waits
03. Philosophy (with Ben Folds Five)
04. Underground (with Ben Folds Five)
05. Landed (Strings Version)
06. One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces (with Ben Folds Five)
07. Don’t Change Your Plans (with Ben Folds Five)
08. The Luckiest
09. Smoke (with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra)
10. Rockin’ the Suburbs
11. Kate (with Ben Folds Five)
12. Gracie
13. Still Fighting It (Extended Version)
14. You Don’t Know Me (with Regina Spektor)
15. There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You
16. Still
17. From Above (with Nick Hornby)
18. House (with Ben Folds Five)

CD 2: Live (1997 – 2011)
01. Julianne (with Ben Folds Five)
02. Video (with Ben Folds Five)
03. Song for the Dumped (with Ben Folds Five)
04. Missing the War (with Ben Folds Five)
05. Mess (with Ben Folds Five)
06. Magic (with Ben Folds Five)
07. Selfless, Cold and Composed
08. Zak and Sara
09. Girl
10. Just Pretend (with the Bens)
11. Fred Jones Part 2 (with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra)
12. Careless Whisper (featuring Rufus Wainwright)
13. All U Can Eat
14. Long Tall Texan
15. Army (with Ben Folds Five)
16. Battle of Who Could Care Less (with Ben Folds Five)
17. Kylie from Connecticut
18. Effington
19. Picture Window
20. Sentimental Guy
21. Not the Same

CD 3: Rarities (1991 – 2011)
01. Unrelated (Demo)
02. Best Imitation of Myself (Demo)
03. Rocky (Demo)
04. Boxing (Demo)
05. Julianne (with Ben Folds Five)
06. Evaporated (with Ben Folds Five)
07. Alice Childress
08. Barrytown (with Ben Folds Five)
09. Amelia Bright (with Ben Folds Five)
10. Tell Me What I Did (with Ben Folds Five)
11. Rock Star (Demo)
12. Losing Lisa (Demo)
13. Break Up at Food Court (Demo)
14. Wandering (Demo)
15. Hiro’s Song (Demo)
16. The Secret Life of Morgan Davis (Alternate Mix)
17. Such Great Heights (Alternate Mix)
18. B*tches Ain’t Sh*t
19. Time (Alternate Version)
20. Sleazy
21. Because the Origami (with Amanda Palmer, Neil Gaiman, Damian Kulash)
22. Stumblin’ Home Winter Blues (with Ben Folds Five)

In the most gangsta thing he’s done since Half Baked (or possibly the last season of Full House), Bob Saget surprised Ben Folds at a July 21st concert at LA’s The Wiltern by joining the piano man on his cover of Snoop Dogg’s “Bitches Ain’t Shit”. How’s that sound, Kimmy Gibbler?

They promised us a view. Specifically, the Dave Matthews Band Caravan’s own website promised us that from Lakeside, “the panoramic vista of downtown Chicago across the water will provide a stunning backdrop for the festivities.” Instead, we got a panoramic view of security fencing and a grubby, toe-stubbing festival ground littered with broken bricks, shards of metal and glass, and a covering of wood chips that were apparently meant to improve conditions but instead lent the entire place a hamster-cage like feeling. It seems that this site of a former steel plant needs some further TLC before it becomes a staging ground for anything else. Add to this its far South Side location and overcrowded, under air-conditioned shuttle buses for the three-mile trek to and from the Red Line subway, and the result was a recipe for disaster.

And yet the Caravan was actually a lot of fun. Its savior? The music, naturally.

Even the side-stage acts were buzz-worthy: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Ray LaMontagne, Ben Folds, O.A.R., the Flaming Lips—the list goes on and on. And with the promise of a full Dave Matthews Band setlist every night—itself usually a $60+ ticket—the festival was a regular bargain for DMB-heads, who came out in full-force. It seemed to be no one’s first show; it was their eighth or their third or their 30th. A small boy, when queried, offered that it was his fourth show and he was hoping to hear “Time Bomb”. Though mostly drunken, deeply sunburned, and backwards-baseball-cap wearing, casual fans these were certainly not.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

So though they were initially overheard to complain noisily about conditions, people learned from their day one mistakes and soldiered on. They replaced sandals with sturdy sneakers, wore extra sunscreen, and drank a little less on days two and three, the better to enjoy the music without passing out from heat stroke. This bill was too good to miss.

Offered here is Consequence of Sound’s snapshot of that bill. A few acts were necessarily missed (Michael Franti, why, WHY did you have to be scheduled at the exact same time as the Flaming Lips?), but overall it was a weekend jammed full of folk rock, bluesy guitars, pot smoke, and sunshine. Would we go again? To Lakeside, heck no. But to the Caravan? Sign us up.

-Megan Ritt
Deputy Editor

Friday, July 8th

Dirty Dozen Brass Band- Slip Stage- 4:00 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

As one of the inaugural events of the weekend, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band had the unique honor of playing to a mostly-sober crowd. The seven-piece brought their straight-outta-Nawlins sound and their cool-dude attitudes, shouting, “You all ready for this here?!” before launching straight into some ferocious funk. A ripping bari sax solo was particularly impressive, booming around the basement of the low instrument’s register before soaring higher than this listener was previously aware possible. Somewhere someone lit up a joint, and the weekend was officially on.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros- South Works Stage- 4:30 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

Edward Sharpe (aka Alex Ebert) took the stage to swooning wails from ladies in the audience. Dressed in a wife beater and a snazzy hat, Ebert smiled at the attention and waved, granting the audience’s screamed-aloud wish for “Jangling” as the opener. The band’s throaty, joyful folk rock filled the air, with folks streaming over from other stages to listen. Despite all the attention, the band was pretty low-key; Ebert announced that this was their last stop on a two-year album tour, and now “We’re gonna make some new stuff!” (First, it seems, they may need a nap). Always talented, though, even in repose, they blasted through cacophonous piano falls, tambourine beats, screaming vocals, like some wild band of art kids locked in the school gym with only instruments for entertainment. “40 Day Dream” drew a massive roar from the crowd, as did a “remix” of “Home”—“It’s not a remix, we just fucked it up.”

Ray LaMontagne- South Works Stage- 6:00 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

Did the crowd know what to expect from Ray LaMontagne? It’s hard to say. But when his wispy, scratchy voice came bellowing out over his acoustic guitar, the stoners and the meatheads stopped to take notice. Dressed in lumberjack plaid and starting on stage with just himself and a bass player, Montagne sang with the kind of quiet passion that stops traffic. He was joined onstage by a full band after his first number, but the focus remained on him: the dark, nuanced rasp of his voice; long, technical guitar jams in between verses; his face contorting with his efforts. Particularly arresting were “Repo Man”, with its crunchy guitar-and-cymbals beat, and “Devil’s in the Jukebox”, alive with country twang. Many tough-looking dudes were heard to declare LaMontagne’s set as “the best of the day” post-concert.

O.A.R.- Lakeside Stage- 7:00 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

By now, the well-sunburned crowd was thoroughly drunk, the falling-down-and-also-vomiting kind of drunk. This turned out to be the perfect setting for an O.A.R. set. They launched directly into “Crazy Game of Poker” and had the whole crowd singing along and raising their beers to the stage. A trumpet player and a trombone guy did some skillful solos, and the beachy, calypso stylings of the guitar and drums were the perfect soundtrack to summer. Did the crowd notice the band’s musical prowess? Survey says likely not. But who doesn’t like singing along to “Night Shift”?

Dave Matthews Band- South Works Stage- 8:05 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

It was more like 8:20 p.m. before Dave Matthews Band (DMB) got started, one of the only delays of the long day, but the wait turned out to be worthwhile. Dave Matthews himself walked alone with his guitar onto the stage before the screaming masses, the band filling in quietly behind him, and nailed a surprisingly epic opener with “Squirm”.  Most bands have to build up to that kind of power; DMB brought it onstage with them, rolled it on as easily as their sound equipment. Their sound and their lightshow filled the stage from floor to vaulted fabric roof, shooting beams and beats out into the mercifully darkened fest grounds. Anybody who wants to say that DMB was over 10 years ago needs to see them fill a whole damn park with sound before they continue that argument.

DMB staged their typical seven-piece line-up and played songs everyone was familiar with. For many fans, this was the third, the fifth, the dozenth show, and yet the whole thing felt fresh and vital. “Big-Eyed Fish” tore down the house, with plenty of fans screaming out the lyrics. Matthews, ever the consummate performer, acknowledged this with a barely-lifted eye, a mischievous grin towards the crowd, even as his face twisted and mouth stretched with the effort of hitting the notes. If ever a man gave 110% at a show, it was Matthews.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

The setlist this first night included “Don’t Drink the Water” and a steamy version of “Rapunzel” that started Matthews on his deep-performance rocking dance. Bassist Stefan Lessard smiled, looking no longer like a kid but a seasoned member of the band. Jeff Coffin, filling LeRoi Moore’s large shoes on sax duties, hit a wailing soprano sax solo that established him as a worthy second act. “What Would You Say”, “Tripping Billies”, and a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times” rounded out a set so passionate that one was inclined to warn Matthews to save some for tomorrow (and the next day).

Saturday, July 9th

Liz Phair- South Works Stage- 4:45 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

Representing the ladies on Day 2 of the fest was Liz Phair. She took the stage in a short black dress, leaving her blonde hair to stand out as it flowed in the lake breeze. This turned out to be the best thing about a set that suffered from bad sound mixing and low energy. Phair’s vocals could barely be heard over the drum set, and she couldn’t work up the enthusiasm to even “yeah” convincingly during her own song. After a few minutes, most of the audience turned their attention to procuring dinner.

G. Love and Special Sauce- Lakeside Stage- 5:30 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

G. Love, aka Garrett Dutton, came on stage wearing a harmonica in a holder around his neck and carrying an acoustic guitar. “This is a song about coffee—you all like coffee? Me too—whaaat!” he cried, reeling into “Milk and Sugar”. G. Love’s music is a mix of hip hop and blues-flavored, knee-slapping good times, which sat just fine with the audience. In a backwards ball cap and sunglasses, Dutton could’ve been mistaken for a festival-goer himself, except that he deftly played his harmonica and guitar at the same time while a guy on the upright bass got funky behind him. G. Love’s set also included a rollicking cover of Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”, which inspired a haphazard, drunken sing-along from the crowd. He might look like a bro, but Dutton plays the hell out of his guitar.

Ben Folds- South Works Stage- 6:00 p.m.

Ben Folds started his set with the super-topical “Levi Johnston’s Blues”, which rang home all the more for its opening lyric: “Woke up this morning/ what do I see/ 3000 cameras pointing at me.” Folds crouched over the piano, beating maniacally at the keys (and a fabulous camera angle showed the key depressions on the projector screen, which was awesome). Levi Johnston’s big moment may have passed, but Folds didn’t care what we thought about that—or anything else, it seems. In a black t-shirt and hipster glasses, he was a larger than life nerd posterboy, proud to be up there doing his thing, and the crowd loved it.

Promising a cover song—“whatever is the #1 cover song on iTunes”—the band did Ke$ha’s “Sleazy” to a first disbelieving and then grooving crowd. The keyboard player intoned “get sleazy” in a voice so low and so regular that it sounded like a pre-recorded sample, with Folds singing the verses higher above the beat. Even the sign language interpreter got down to that. Folds played a long and varied set, including “Annie Waits”, “Still Fighting It”, and “Saskia Hamilton”, the latter of which was drop-dead gorgeous live, complete with manic pianos and a crowd sing-along.

Kid Cudi- Lakeside Stage- 7:00 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

One of the most anticipated sets of the weekend—and one of the only non-jam, non-folksy acts on the bill—Kid Cudi had amassed a crush of people before he even took the stage. By the time he emerged, dressed in a bedazzled jean jacket, to a pounding, epic bass reverb, things had reached a fever pitch. “Are you ready for the revolution?” he shouted, launching into “REVOFEV”. His work seemed on the surface to be incongruous with the style of the weekend, but Cudi raps at the speed of jam, meaning all the crowd had to do was sway along to the beats and holler when he said something provocative. “Soundtrack 2 My Life” was met with a roar, the sick bass throbbing in everyone’s ears and Cudi’s voice coming warm and easy like a summer beer. He waved his hands and egged them on: “This is epic—this is a sea of people! And you’re here to see me!” Playing a cross-section of his catalogue, Cudi kept things rolling with a simple imperative: “We’re here to party—keep that in mind.”

Dave Matthews Band- South Works Stage- 8:05 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

On the second night of their three-show residency, Dave Matthews Band took things back a bit. Whereas the first set hit a lot of newer material, the second was a feel-good, fan favorite set that struck just the right note amongst the legions of sun-roasted and drunken audience members. Saturday’s crowd swelled to apparently peak capacity, and DMB kept things appropriately cool and friendly. They started their set with classic “#41”, which featured long solo sections by Boyd Tinsley and Tim Reynolds that eventually grounded down into near-silence. “This is a whole lot of lovemaking!” Matthews mumbled cheerfully. Lest they lose momentum, they picked up the pace next with hard-driving guitars and pounding bass on “Seven”, and then blew the doors off with a cover of Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House”, featuring a deeply funky guitar line and Rashawn Ross helping with vocal duties.

Things got sentimental with “Why I Am”, a tribute to late sax man LeRoi Moore, which featured Jeff Coffin switching from soprano to tenor sax mid-song, as Moore was famous for doing often. Reynolds’ guitar solo on the same song was so spirited and powerful that women screamed. A delicate rendition of “Proudest Monkey” was followed by perennial favorite “Satellite”, colored by the contrast of tinkling, swirling chimes and a deep, booming bass beat.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

There were many other songs and many other moments, but the best of the night was “Crush”. Tinsley and Matthews danced together, soloing face to face as they are wont to do in the heat of the moment, encapsulated in their own little world together in front of thousands of people. The crowd sang together, not screaming as they had on many other tracks, but singing sweetly along, all the lyrics clean and clear in unison, arms stretched overhead, reaching and smiling, Matthews surfacing enough to give his winking half-smile, the lights reflecting up into the stars overhead.

Sunday, June 10th

The Wailers- South Works Stage- 2:00 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

The hottest day of the festival had to kick off with something breezy, so it was fitting that most early attendees started their day with the Wailers. The band slipped into their bass-heavy jams just as the wind picked up, creating an instant beach sensation. The crowd grooved in place to a set that picked up significant momentum when the sound was finally adjusted properly (well into their second song). Jamming through well-worn hits such as “Is This Love” and “Three Little Birds”, the Wailers started Sunday off right.

Emmylou Harris- Slip Stage- 3:00 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

Fans who braved the heat to see classic country-folk singer Emmylou Harris were treated to an Easter egg appearance by Dave Matthews himself, who introduced Harris as “one of my personal heroes” and hugged her before watching the rest of her set from backstage with members of his family. After such an introduction, a lesser songwriter might’ve been intimidated, but Harris possesses a self-assuredness that captivated the sweat-soaked audience. Her throaty alto swooped steadily through “Six White Cadillacs”, “Orphan Girl”, and “Hello Stranger” while she strummed away on her guitar, her backing band capably changing instruments to fit her arrangements. The audience came away just as charmed with Harris as Matthews was.

Mariachi El Bronx- Lakeside Stage- 4:15 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

Taking the stage between set pieces for the upcoming Flaming Lips show, Mariachi El Bronx nonetheless managed to keep the crowd’s attention. The seven-piece came out resplendent in matching black mariachi costumes (“You think you motherfuckers are hot?” bellowed the punk-rocker look-alike lead singer). But the heat of the day finally broke as the band started burning through their zippy setlist, including “Revolution Girls” and “Cell Mates”. Their south-of-the-border flavored songs featured plenty of trumpet inter-played with violin and laid over rock guitars to create instant party ambiance.

David Gray- South Works Stage- 4:45 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

David Gray drew quite a crowd. Any debate over whether it was just the ladies who wanted to see him was quickly squelched by the sheer size of the throng surrounding the South Works stage. Gray was dressed in a classy collared shirt and jacket with dark glasses, and if he was hot, he didn’t show it. He played a full hour set that was grounded with his hit songs; there was “Fugitive” and “Sail Away” and, of course, “Babylon”. On the latter, Gray got particularly passionate, holding the long notes and throwing his head back to fully release his captivating, instantly recognizable voice. The crowd sang along serenely, and Gray let his guard down for a charming moment to conduct the audience sing-along.

The Flaming Lips- Lakeside Stage- 5:45 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

How does one explain what happened on the Lakeside stage once the Flaming Lips were in charge? Should we start with the pre-performance instructions from Wayne Coyne, requesting that everyone smush together in preparation for the ball? Or his declaration that, in addition to the anticipated performance of Pink Floyd’s legendary Dark Side of the Moon, the Lips would also include some Wizard of Oz music because “we know everybody here smokes a lot of fucking pot—we want you to! It’s a great way to spend two weeks of your life.”

Perhaps we should start with the strobe lights flashing at the same frequency on the guitar in the opening salvos of Dark Side, as Coyne rolled out over the audience in his famous ball, as ersatz Dorothies let dozens of giant balloons loose in the air, as rainbow-colored confetti and streamers shot from cannons on either side of the stage and fell around our incredulous heads, blanketing the ground in a sea of paper glory. Or Coyne shouting the words to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” into a megaphone that simultaneously blasted pink smoke above him like the physical representation of his sound. Or maybe the eerie accuracy of Coyne, the wizard himself, sneaking in choruses of “because of the wonderful things he does!” in between twisting, grooving sections of Floyd’s music, blending and grinding the two together until it all became a glorious mélange of color and sound.

And if I told you that a rainbow appeared behind the Ferris wheel just as Coyne and co. wrapped things up, would you even believe me? It was just that kind of set.

Dave Matthews Band- South Works Stage- 7:05 p.m.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

Dave Matthews Band got a late start on this late night of their three-day stand; the crowd had enough time to organize a few rounds of the wave in the meantime. Much like Friday, Matthews kicked things off solo, with band members entering one at a time until the full group took the crowd through a long rendition of “One Sweet World”. Matthews, clearly loving the experience, added little beatbox-style interludes here and there, much to the crowd’s great delight.

Fat sax beats lead into a dirge-like rendition of “Bartender”, which curled darkly in the fading daylight. Matthews’ voice turned to a snarl on the last verse, which evolved into a vocal jam as the song went forward. Beautiful open high notes, sounds without meaning, escaped his mouth as Matthews closed his eyes and turned his face towards heaven, crying out.

Photo by Meghan Brosnan

DMB played more of their classic tracks on the third night, including the sexy “Say Goodbye”, a jam-heavy version of “Best of What’s Around”, “Warehouse”, “Seek Up”, “When the World Ends”, “Gravedigger”, and much, much more. Nearly every band member took at least one extended solo section as the night wore darker. They even included a dance-inducing cover of Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” that rocked surprisingly hard.

Finally, though, as the old saying goes, “all good things must come to an end,” and so it was that the Caravan finally ran out of time. With plenty tired, some hungover, and most unhappily contemplating a return to work and real life come the next morning, the crowd loaded onto the shuttle buses for one final trek back to their homes (or hotels), leaving the ringing of guitars and the sweet, newly packaged memories of a weekend well spent echoing in their ears and thoughts, respectively.

Photography by Meghan Brosnan.

The Culture of DMB Caravan

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OK, you get the idea. It’s bound to get even more exciting in the weeks to come. Stay tuned.

– Want to pick the latest video for Scattered Trees? Click here to find out more.

– Album streams galore! NPR started offered an early taste of Panda Bear‘s Tomboy, and you can hear TV on the Radio‘s Nine Types of Light right now on Rhapsody.

– Bonnaroo announced a round of additions to its already massive lineup.

– Details on The Creators Project‘s plans for Coachella 2011 surfaced.

– The Grammys did a little bit of category overhaul.

– As always, plenty of Record Store Day-related news to report. Not only will Jack White and Jerry Lee Lewis get together, but My Morning Jacket have some exclusive releases planned as well. Also, if you happen to by in NYC, you should most definitely come to our official afterparty. More info on that is available here.

–Radiohead’s King of Limbs came in at #6 on the Billboard Top 200.

– A certain Cee-Lo Green song finally reached number one.

– Cults announced their debut album.

– Incubus revealed they’ve got a new album coming out this summer.

– Bloc Party ended their hiatus.

– There’s a brand new Death Cab for Cutie single to hear and a “live video” to watch.

– Kate Bush unveiled a new track called “Deeper Understanding.”

– Get a feel for Beastie Boys‘ Hot Sauce Committee, Part 2. Listen to its lead single. Watch the trailer for Fight for Your Right Revisited while you’re at it.

– Kings of Leon will screen their yet-to-be finished documentary at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

– The Flaming Lips…um, there’s really no good way to describe they’re up to these days. Just read this.

– David Bowie got his very own app.

– Sufjan Stevens is actually going to play an outdoor festival this summer, with a little help from an “intergalactic” troupe of muppets.

– Amanda Palmer and Ben Folds will come together to create in album later this month…in eight hours.

– Oh, and Gucci Mane was arrested again. Shocking, right?

– Wasting Light is finally here. See what E.N. May had to say about Foo Fighters‘ latest effort here.

– Karina Halle shared her thoughts on The Kills‘ new record, Blood Pressures.

– Adele just released the follow-up to 19, the appropriately titled 21, which Nick Freed was nice enough to review for us.

– Jeremy D. Larson was lucky enough to catch The Mountain Goats and Megafaun in Chicago this week.

– Winston Robbins found some “true hip hop” at this years’ Paid Dues Independent Hip Hop Festival.

– Chris Coplan interviewed Hangout Music Festival mastermind AJ Niland.

– Kurt Cobain took his own life seventeen years ago. Reminiscence with Megan Ritt’s report on a new production celebrating the troubled frontman’s life and David Buchanan’s take on the “You Know You’re Right” video.

On April 25th, Amanda Palmer of Bostonian cabaret band The Dresden Dolls, Ben Folds, Ok Go‘s Damian Kulash, and author Neil Gaiman (The Sandman series, Good Omens) will be locked in a studio between the hours of 4 p.m. and midnight. They’ll be tasked with creating an eight-song effort that will debut just 10 hours later at a special presentation. Nine hours after that, they’ll take the stage to perform the material for Rethink Music conference registrants. The concert will also feature Basia Bulat and Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears.

As wild as that sounds, keep in mind that conference is focusing on the digital era, and that means Twitter. “The four of us are creative internet addicts with our own huge Twitter circles,” says Palmer. “This project is exciting as it will give us the opportunity to collide our circles.”

The idea is more than a giant collaboration; it’s a way of exemplifying the growing lack of necessity for record companies in terms of distribution and buzz. Explains Kulash, “If the recording industry is supposed to be a means of connecting musicians to music listeners, well, then, here it is – spontaneous and circular.” Bypassing the middle man, this project not only allows audiences almost instant access to the music, it gives them a presence in the actual creation.

In order to attend the presentation and/or concert, you must be registered for the April 25th-27th Rethink Music conference. With plenty of panels and presentations in addition to this experiment, the $795 ($245 for “qualified students and working musicians”) registration fee seems . . . reasonable? For those who can’t afford attendance, have no fear; the whole collaboration will be streamed live from the studio at rethink-music.com. The album will be released on Bandcamp.com, with the proceeds from the first week of downloads going to Berklee City Music, providing free music education to underprivileged teens. Head over to the conference’s website for all the details.

Dave Matthews Band has announced the second of their four summer music festivals and it looks pretty similar to the first. Set to take place July 8-10 at Chicago’s Lakeside, the festival will feature three sets by DMB, as well as David Gray, Ray LaMontagne, O.A.R., Kid Cudi, The Flaming Lips performing Dark Side of the Moon, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Amos Lee, Emmylou Harris, and Ben Folds.

Other confirmed acts include G. Love & Special Sauce, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Gomez, Drive-By Truckers, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Daniel Lanois’ Black Dub, The Jayhawks, SOJA, Soulive, The Wailers, Blind Pilot, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, TR3, Vieux Farka Toure, Alberta Cross, Mariachi El Bronx, Bobby Long, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Jeff Coffin’s Mu’tet, Gary Clark Jr., and special performances by Dave Matthews Band members Carter Beauford and Stefan Lessard plus a Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds acoustic set.

Tickets, which will be available as three-day passes only ($195), go on sale to general public on Friday, April 15th at 10:00AM CST via DMBCaravan.com. Also, an online ticket request period for the festival begins today and concludes Friday, April 15th, at 8:00 AM CST  at warehouse.davematthewsband.com.

In addition to Atlantic City and Chicago, the band plans to hold two other music festivals this summer. Stay tuned for more details.

From Bob Dylan rapping with Kurtis Blow, to Ozzy Osbourn and Miss Piggy covering Steppenwolf, and last year’s WTF winner Grizzly Bear and Michael McDonald, seemingly incongruous musicians have always shacked up with one another for some reason or another. Sometimes it’s been for a quick cash grab, or a peace offering, or in memorium, and often it can be cringe-worthy. With the bad ones, either you can smell the falsehood, or you just left wondering “why?” or worse, “who cares?”

But something seems to be in the air in 2010, and diametrical opposites are joining forces to create works that are interesting, challenging, engaging, original, and overall successes. It’s like wrapping chocolate in bacon: you wouldn’t think they’d go together, but — tried and tested — they do. Sure, there have been some clunkers this year (imagine drinking orange juice after you brush your teeth), but here we take a look at some of the chocolate bacon delights that have come out in 2010.

Jeff Tweedy + Mavis Staples

Two weeks ago on 30 Rock, Queen Latifa’s character quipped that NBC was “more white than a Wilco concert.” I watch a lot of NBC and have been to three Wilco concerts and you can’t really argue with her. The Godmother of Soul and Stax Records legend Mavis Staples has a musical disposition that might be classified as “way more black” than Wilco, But both embody slices of good ol’ American pie, and Jeff Tweedy‘s production on Staples’ latest You Are Not Alone is a great example of two artists who share a similar vision from different backgrounds.

Wilco is roots rock, but Staples brings offers us some different roots that we indie kids may too often ignore. CoS’s Evan Minsker accurately summed up the album by saying “It’s warm. It’s hopeful. It’s American.” Finally, a good kind of perfect harmony.

Broken Bells

I wonder what Zach Braff and Natalie Portman’s characters from Garden State are doing right now. My guess is riding around in that broke-ass motorcycle and listening to Broken Bells. In fact, if you could dilute that soundtrack down to its essence, it would be an electronic Shins, which is exactly what James Mercer and Danger Mouse produced with their collaboration. Danger Mouse (born Brian Burton) mostly works within the hip hop genre, producing most notably the underground hit The Grey Album, Demon Days, or as a member of Gnarls Barkley. But his work with The Shins’ front man James Mercer represents a shift in his focus and together they produced an absolutely serviceable album with just the right amount of groove mixed in with Mercer’s melancholic indie sound.

I don’t believe it was the revelatory album that they (we (I?)) were hoping for, but it’s a nice bon mot that sees two heavyweights from indie and hip hop come together and simply work well. Favoring ease over complexity, Broken Bells feels like an album of solid remixes, though hopefully the collaboration inspires more hip hop producers to work with indie darlings. DJ Shadow/Ezra Koenig anyone?

Kanye West + Justin Vernon

So Kanye West is no stranger to odd collaborations. From Jamie Foxx to Justin Beiber to samples from the most cobwebbed corners of music, the man works like a genius movie director by culling the most out of the tools he has.

But when news came that Yeezy flew Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon to Hawaii to lay down some vocals, that about sealed the deal as the oddest cross-pollinating collaboration for Ye. The Wisconsin-bred folk singer laid down some distorted vocals that bookended the Kanye/Jay-Z/Niki Minaj banger “Monster” and he will also appear on Ye’s forthcoming My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in some form or another. Now if Vernon can get Kanye to produce the next Bon Iver album, that’s when things are really going to fly off the handle.

“Monster” (feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, & Bon Iver)

Neil Young + Daniel Lanois

As we get older, we have to see the doctor more often. Gums recede, all that benzedrine abuse finally catches up with you, and turns out those freckles aren’t just “kisses from God.” The one doctor aging folk artists seem to turn to is Daniel Lanois – Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Emmy, Lou Harris, and now Neil Young stepped into Lanois’ office. Where once there were 8 tracks, now there are 128 and super digitalized.

It’s not like this is Young’s first step into electric land, but Lanois’ aura of reverb and gloss don’t seem congruent to Young’s barren blues. But one listen to Le Noise and you hear a match in these two. It’s like Crazy Horse meets U2 — there’s distortion and noise, there’s Young’s stark voice with reverb, and it works so well. Some may say that Lanois is just smoke and mirrors hiding Young’s age, but one listen and you’ll see that Young’s songwriting is still spot on. “Hitchhiker” is one hell of a song.

Gorillaz’s Plastic Beach

Collaborations can create some rough stuff, we know, but sometimes it’s the single key to success. If your song is labeled as a crossover hit, then you can just ride that song all the way to Top 40 Radio/The Grammys/college dorms/casual conversations with your mother. Remember when you first heard “Clint Eastwood” almost 10 years ago? That song had crossover written all over it. Deltron, Blur, those four low-Hz bass hits, and something about some cartoons.

Now, Gorillaz have transmogrified from cartoons to something quite real in Plastic Beach, one of 2010′s most versatile and promising albums. At the group’s creative core is still Damon Albarn, but a buck-shot of guests appear on the record, each one expanding on already diverse universe the album creates. From more obvious collaborations like De La Soul and Gruff Rhys to, well, Lou Reed, Mark E. Smith, Snoop Dogg, Paul Simonon and Mick Jones, Bobby Womack, etc… You’d think it was some benefit for some impoverished country, but no, it’s just consortium of legends contributing the The World of Plastic Beach. And when the majority of them show up and play it live? It’s unbelievable.

Runners Up:

Ben Folds + Nick Hornby

Ben Folds has got his fans, and he ain’t losing them. I’m not sure if he’s gaining new ones at this point, but we all have a little place in our hearts for him somewhere, I’m sure. His collaboration with author/screenwriter Nick Hornby on his Lonely Avenue is confusing, since at this point in Folds’ career, I am more interested in watching him try to grow as a songwriter. But his nerdiness and lightheartedness may never leave him, and that’s wonderful, so why not get the guy that wrote High Fedilety to write the lyrics for your album. For a Ben Folds jam, it feels off-kilter, but there are some nice moments. Folds’ knack for a quick and catchy melody married with Honrby’s wry humor is just innocuous enough to listen to once or twice.

Thom Yorke + Flying Lotus

When you think about it, this isn’t strange one bit. But then when you think about it a little more, you wonder: why Thom Yorke? Who called who? Getting Yorke on your album is like getting Kanye: guarnteed hype and buzz. Of course, when you listen to the Flying Lotus track “…And The World Laughs With You”, Yorke’s processed voice loops around à la “Kid A” and before you know it, the song is over. Cool, I guess, but for Cosmogramma and its density, that one floats right on the surface. I mean, Ravi Coltrane is on the album, wouldn’t you rather listen to him? No? Ok, I understand.

Bethany Cosentino + Weezer

Details are scarce, but Paste tells a tale of twitter flirting turned collaboration between Best Coast frontwoman Bethany Cosentino and Weezer linchpin Rivers Cuomo. The song is “kind of a duet” — apparently “duet” now a subjective term — and Cosentino offered this quote about the team-up: “When we were writing lyrics, he didn’t look at me like, ’That’s really cheesy,’ like some people might. He was like, ‘Oh that’s cool.’ I was like, ‘Finally, somebody gets it.’ It took Rivers Cuomo to make me feel confident that someone else understands.” No details on when we’ll hear this, but my bets that it’s going to be worthwhile. Trust me, it beats Weezer’s collaboration with Hurley.

The duo hit the stage at NBC’s studio 6B and performed a synth-ed out, harmony laden, rocking version of “Saskia Hamilton”. The song has lyrics that find Folds singing about falling in love with the famed American poet despite only “seeing her name on a spine.” The lyrics themselves are awesome, but the energy from Folds and his band make the performance unforgettable. They even throw in Herman’s “secret word” for kicks.

Check it out below, then catch Folds on the road at one of the tour dates listed below. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster.com.

Ben Folds 2010 Tour Dates:
11/05 – Chicago, IL @ The Riviera
11/06 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore
11/07 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Orbit Room
11/08 – Columbus, OH @ LC Pavilion
11/10 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogarts
11/11 –  Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Zoo
11/12 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
11/13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Tower Theatre
11/17 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theater
11/18 – Montclair, NJ @ Welmont Theatre
11/20 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore
11/21 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
11/27 – Nashville, TN @ Tennessee Performing Arts Center

So, brush up on the horn part in “Army” and check out Ben Folds on the road this fall. He’ll be supporting his new album Lonely Avenue, the highly anticipated collaboration between him and English author Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About A Boy, An Education). The tour kicks off November 5th at Chicago’s Riviera Theater and will conclude in Nashville on November  27th at Nashville’s Tennessee Performing Arts Center to benefit the Nashville Symphony. Check out the full tour dates below. Tickets are on sale this weekend and are available at Ticketmaster.com

Lonely Avenue is out September 21st via Nonesuch records.

Ben Folds 2010 Tour Dates:
11/05 – Chicago, IL @ The Riviera
11/06 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore
11/07 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Orbit Room
11/08 – Columbus, OH @ LC Pavilion
11/10 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogarts
11/11 –  Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Zoo
11/12 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
11/13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Tower Theatre
11/17 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theater
11/18 – Montclair, NJ @ Welmont Theatre
11/20 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore
11/21 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
11/27 – Nashville, TN @ Tennessee Performing Arts Center

The song in question is not one of the 11 tracks included on Hornby and Folds’ forthcoming collaborative album Lonely Island, but provides another reason why you might want to pick up a copy when Nonesuch releases it on September 28th. You know, just in case “Levi Johnston’s Blues” didn’t sell you.

Find the video below and the album’s tracklist after that. You can currently pick up “Things You Think” on iTunes. Oh, and props to Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn of PomplamooseMusic for their gun sound effects at the end of the video. I’m not sure why, but that proved particularly enjoyable.

Lonely Avenue Tracklist:
01. Working Day
02. Picture Window
03. Levi Johnston’s Blues
04. Doc Pomus
05. Your Dogs
06. Practical Amanda
07. Claire’s Ninth
08. Password
09. From Above
10. Saskia Hamilton
11. Belinda

I love going to music festivals and seeing live music, but to be honest I wasn’t initially sure how excited I was to attend HulabaLOU. I enjoy several of the bands on the lineup, but hate equally as many of them. I didn’t know if the vibe and crowd would be welcoming, laid back, and music loving or a bro and cougar fest looking for an excuse to drink in public. While doing some prep work before the festival (you know, like a real reporter) I read someone jokingly ask, “Who will be playing all of the state fairs this weekend?!” True, at first glance, the lineup looks pretty strange. It’s filled with as many state fair acts as truly legendary, as much classic rock as bluegrass, and a mixture of local bands none of us has ever heard of and indie acts that no locals have ever heard of, as well.

But after fighting the record high temperatures and a few cougars, here’s how it went…

Friday, July 23

Chrisette Michele

Around 4:00 p.m., Chrisette Michele strolled on stage wearing a black dress with white polka dots, circa Billie Holiday, boldly adding frosted blonde hair and blue eye shadow. “What’s up Louisville,” she yelled out. “I know there are only 10 of y’all, but what’s up?” Most of the sparse crowd looked like they were just there to get a good seat for the Gladys Knight and the O’Jays, but there were a few hardcore fans up front.

I only knew Michele’s name from being featured on rap songs by artists like Jay-Z, Nas, and The Roots.  But I learned that she’s got a lot more to offer than a catchy chorus. Michele’s got a powerful voice and was funny and engaging throughout her set. She opened with “Epiphany”, the titular track off latest effort and an empowering song about getting out of a bad relationship (“I’m just about over being your girlfriend. I’m leaving.”).  She showed off her impressive vocal range and powerful pipes during every song, taking time to do vocal solos, using it like an instrument.

“How many of y’all are in love,” she continued to engage the crowd, to which seven people raised their hands. “Only seven of y’all? It must be part of the recession.”

Setlist: Epiphany, What You Do, All I Ever Think About, I’m Okay, Porcelain Doll, Golden, If I Have My Way, Blame It on Me, Fragile

The B 52s

“We have some special guests with us here today,” frontman Fred Schneider screamed. “Us!”

Even though I don’t know a ton of their songs, I was still excited to see The B 52s. I like to see classic songs performed, and they had enough of them to get me excited. It’s an added bonus when you retain all of your original members (save for guitarist and founding member Ricky Wilson who passed away in 1985). They started the show with two of their more familiar songs, “Private Idaho” and “Mesopotamia”.

On stage, the B-52s look like they’re in some kind of improv play, running around as if they’re inventing dance moves, while oozing with charisma and confidence. There must not be a lot of money in the wardrobe budget as they’re all still wearing the same outfits from 30 years ago. Maybe that’s the charm, though.

For Kentucky, they blended newer songs like “Funplex” with an oldie like “Roam”, ultimately ending the show with the very expected “Love Shack” but returning for the unexpected encore of the very awesome “Rock Lobster”.

Setlist: Private Idaho, Mesopotamia, Give Me Back My Man, Funplex, Roam, Party Out of Bounds, Love in the Year 3000, Cosmic Thing, Hot Corner, Wig, Love Shack, Rock Lobster

Train

After The B52s, I decided to catch the end of Train’s set. I’m not a fan, but I have to admit their singles can be catchy.  I got there in time to see “Hey Soul Sister” and “Drops of Jupiter”, which basically runs the gamut of their back catalog’s success. In hindsight, there was nothing really special about their performances, just live versions of their studio work. But it seems like the band’s recent fame and success has given lead singer Pat Monahan a natural smile and a lot more confidence and charisma – at least if we’re to base it off the last time I saw them, which was about 10 years ago.

Doobie Brothers

“I was half-baked. Smokin’ doobies. Doobie brothers, I was smokin’ doobies with my brothers. Peace out, Seacrest!” -Michael Scott, The Office.

The Doobie Brothers played the same stage as the B-52s before them, but the crowd actually seemed to get a lot younger, filling up with 20-somethings like myself who grew up on classic rock. Never having seen the Doobie Brothers before, I didn’t know whether to expect a good show or a sad depressing reminder of why it might be better to burn out than to fade away.

First of all, the Doobie Brothers look exactly like what you’d think a “Doobie Brother” would look like.  And since they have always had a high turnover rate for band members, seeing the original lineup is somewhat of a relative thing. Even so, this incarnation boasts half of the original lineup, so it’s no Lynyrd Skynyrd situation.

The Doobies performed mainly classic songs, starting off with sing-alongs “Take Me in Your Arms” and “Jesus is Just Alright”.  They worked the crowd into enough of a frenzy to eventually introduce some new songs from an upcoming album. I was surprised to see an older guy singing every word of one of the new songs, proving that that generation might watch live concert videos on YouTube as much as we do. (Maybe more if they’re reliving the glory days!)

Anticipation built enough until they finally teased us with the first few chords of “Blackwater.” Everyone perked up and sang along. Coupled with the encore of “China Grove” and “Listen to the Music”, I was reminded of summers full of classic rock radio. The Doobie Brothers look a little aged, but their music and delivery still sound fresh.

Setlist: Take Me in Your Arms, Jesus is Just Alright, Dangerous, Rockin’ Down the Highway, Clear as the Driven Snow, Nobody, World Gone Crazy, Back To The Chateau, Takin’ It To The Streets, Don’t Start Me to Talkin’, Little Bitty Pretty One, Blackwater, Long Train Runnin’, China Grove, Without You, Listen To the Music

Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi was the night’s headliner, and if t-shirts were any indication of excitement, the crowd was ready to party like it was 1988. (Bon Jovi fans must not be familiar with the “Don’t wear the t-shirt of the band you’re going to see” rule.)  Jon Bon Jovi came out wearing a sleeveless leather vest showing off a Superman tattoo on his left bicep. I was shocked.

While not Bon Jovi’s biggest fan, I’ve got to admit that they play to their audience with the best of them. Calls to the crowd for more energy were met with deafening screams from both men and women of all ages.  I actually forgot that I didn’t like Bon Jovi while I was singing along to “It’s My Life”.

Their set was 19 songs long, which included 18 singles. The only song that wasn’t a single was “We Got It Going On” off of 2007’s Lost Highway. Maybe a deeper cut for the real fans? They delivered.

Setlist: Lost Highway, We Weren’t Born to Follow, You Give Love a Bad Name, Born to Be My Baby, Superman Tonight, It’s My Life, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, We Got It Goin’ On, Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night, Bad Medicine/Oh, Pretty Woman (Roy Orbison cover)/Shout! (Isley Brothers cover) Bad Medicine, Lay Your Hands on Me (Richie Sambora on lead vocals), (You Want to) Make a Memory, I’ll Be There For You, Runaway, Have a Nice Day, Who Says You Can’t Go Home, Keep the Faith, Wanted Dead or Alive [feat. Dierks Bentley], Livin’ on a Prayer

Saturday, July 24

Kim Taylor

Cincinnati’s Kim Taylor was one of Saturday’s first acts. I hadn’t planned to show up until Ben Sollee but I heard one of her songs on Pandora a few days before and changed my mind. She came out barefoot, wearing an ankle-length, navy blue summer dress. She has a powerful voice that hauntingly echoed as it went through the mostly empty Churchill Downs. Of no fault of her own the lack of an audience made it feel like she’s probably more suited for the Bluebird Cafe than for a music festival like HullabaLOU.

Ben Sollee

After reading reviews of Ben Sollee’s newest album, released on Sub Pop with Daniel Martin Moore, I was excited to check him out. HullabaLOU was a one-off show, a break from his current tour with Moore and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James to raise awareness about mountain top removal.

I really enjoyed Sollee’s set. His voice sounds like a mixture of Amos Lee and Paolo Nutini, mixed with some beautiful cello music. I didn’t know many of the songs but I enjoyed focusing on the sounds that he was bringing out of the cello. And there were honestly a dozen fans in front of me that knew every word to every song, which always makes a show more fun. I loved the line from his song “It’s Not Impossible”: “And I must admit/All jokes aside/I find some men beautiful/Some girls handsome, and some children wise/And I hope some day/Before I die/I can share the kiss/That brings tears to my eyes.”

Sollee’s from down the road in Lexington and was excited to be playing a festival in his home state.  “Take care of this festival,” Solle said.  “Hopefully we can grow it.”

War

Bandleader Lonnie Jordan is the only original member still left in War, so this show’s lineup was mostly like a “review” of the original, and I mostly expected to be underwhelmed. But they sounded awesome.  These days, War sounds like a jam band, and maybe they always were, even before we really coined the term. Even when there were some sound problems and Jordan’s keyboard had to be worked on, the band ignored the sound guy and just kept jamming. The youngest member of the band, bass player Francisco “Pancho” Tomaselli, really stood out and was featured on a lot of the songs.

Hearing “Low Rider” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends” (“The best part of Lethal Weapon 4 was hearing this song in the credits” according to the friend who came with me) was cool, and both renditions sounded better than I expected. I made it through seven songs before I left to hear Ben Folds.

Setlist: Cisco Kid, Me An Baby Brother, Slippin’ Into Darkness, Galaxy War, Summer, Why Can’t We Be Friends, Low Rider, and more

Ben Folds

I’ve seen Ben Folds about five times or I would have been there for his entire set. He’s incredibly talented, plays several instruments, and is funny and engaging enough to keep an audience’s attention even when he’s on stage by himself. I got there in time to join in on a raucous sing-along of “Army” and the rest played out just as well.

Joan Osborne

Joan Osborne is originally from Louisville, KY and had a large crowd at her show.  She started the show with a tribute to her second home New York with the song, “Bury Me on the Battery”.

There were several Grateful Dead shirts in the crowd, people excited to see her for her past work with the band, and probably hoping she’d cover some Dead songs.  They didn’t have to wait long, getting a cover of “Brokedown Palace” as the third song of the seat.  During “Help Me” Osborne sauntered around stage singing “I don’t feel like sleeping, I just fell like lying down.”  She must have been pretty jazzed because she even picked up an electric guitar and played on “Ladder.”  The set finished with songs like her singles “St. Teresa” and “One of Us”.

Setlist: Bury Me on the Battery, Pretty Little Stranger, Brokedown Palace (Grateful Dead cover), Help Me, St. Teresa, Ladder, What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, One of Us, Only You Know and I Know.

Al Green

Al Green was one of the most anticipated sets of the weekend for me. Even though he’s been performing in a red and black tux, throwing out roses, and fronting a 14 piece band for years it still works.

He mixed his own classics like “Let’s Get Married” and “Let’s Stay Together” with contemporary hits like “”I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)”, “Bring It On Home to Me”, “My Girl”, and “Dock of the Bay”. I was surprised to see the “Reverend” cursing at a sound guy during his rendition of “Amazing Grace”. Apparently he didn’t find the grace to be too amazing.

The main thing I took away from the show was how strong Green’s voice still is, and how much people love him.

Govt’ Mule

I was able to see about half of Gov’t Mule’s show. Even though we were battling record high temperatures all weekend a strong breeze started blowing as I reached the shade of their stage, making it one of the most enjoyable atmospheres of the day. Lots of Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers shirts were scattered throughout the crowd and joined each other singing Soulshine. The crowd liked ending with Soulshine, but seemed like they wanted something with bigger bang to go out on.

Setlist: Railroad Boy, Gameface > Banks of The Deep End, Steppin’ Lightly, Broke Down On The Brazos, Beautifully Broken, I’m A Ram, Mule > Soulshine

Kenny Chesney

Kenny Chesney showed up, played his songs (the ones on the radio and some other ones), and left.

I’ve never seen so many people singing every word, going crazy over something that I didn’t get.  But then I realized, Kenny Chesney is a genius.  He speaks to a neglected demographic.  I know people that spend every vacation at the beach every year, and have since they were kids.  I know people that have abandoned Sunday school but still somehow feel connected to it.  I know people that live for happy hour and a good time.  Kenny Chesney speaks to them.  He’s taken what Jimmy Buffett started, updated it, and added an American flag.  I don’t like it, but now I get it.

He did actually cover “The Joker”, “Three Little Birds” (he has a member of the Wailers in his band), and “Gimme Three Steps” which I enjoyed.

Setlist: Beer In Mexico, Keg In The Closet, Big Star, Summertime, Ain’t Back Yet, Out Last Night, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, Don’t Blink, I Go Back, Anything But Mine, Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven, Back Where I Come From, The Woman with You, There Goes My Life, Living In Fast Forward, Young, The Joker/Three Little Birds/Gimme Three Steps (with Jason Aldean), Never Wanted Nothing More, When The Sun Goes Down, Don’t Happen Twice, How Forever Feels, She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy

Sunday, July 25

The Avett Brothers

HullabaLOU lets you get a good place for the secondary stage acts, but unless you have reserved seats in the first section, the main stage view is awful. It’s a good side stage venue, but not a good main stage venue. The Avett Brothers were a victim of the main stage. It was ironic to see the band so far away from the fans it usually connects so closely with. There were about 100 people, maybe, in the first two reserved sections. There were a couple of small pockets of fans that knew all of their songs, but most of the seats were empty. I assume their ticket holders were resting up for Zac Brown and Dave Matthews. They’ve gotten a new drummer since their Bonnaroo show, drummer Jacob Edwards who used to play with Samantha Crain.

Half of their songs were from the new album, but it seemed like those were the most familiar to the crowd. Older songs like “I Killed Sally’s Lover” and “Swept Away” really helped the energy, and it was exciting to hear new song, “Down With the Shine”. The open spaces and sparse crowd might have hurt them, but the Avetts still put on an energy packed show. I don’t think they know how to put on a bad show.

Setlist: Tin Man, January Wedding, I Killed Sally’s Lover, Kick Drum Heart, Signs, The Fall, Pretty Girl from Cedar Lane, I and Love and You, Down With the Shine, Swept Away, Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise, Go to Sleep, Laundry Room

Loretta Lynn

I arrived to Loretta Lynn just in time to see “You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man”.  If newer country gals like Carrie Underwood would key a cheater’s car and Taylor Swift would tell somebody they’re gay, Loretta’s brand of country would threaten to kill them, and so convincingly that you’re sure she means it. Just like with most of the other performers this weekend, I was surprised at how strong Loretta’s voice still was. Between songs she rambled on like my grandmother, but I found it warm and enduring, not annoying.

Steve Miller Band

The Steve Miller Band was my most anticipated set of the weekend. Growing up on classic rock, their greatest hits CD was always on heavy rotation for me. There must have been a lot of other people that felt the same way, because this was the biggest non-headliner crowd I saw all weekend. As soon as the first notes of “Jet Airliner” were played, the large crowd started singing and dancing, and never really stopped. However, you could tell that almost no one has kept tabs on the band, as newer material like “Hey Yeah” and “Further on Up the Road” went over everyone’s heads. (They must have missed our review of new album, Bingo.) But that’s to be expected with a “classic rock” act.

Steve Miller came out by himself and played an acoustic version of “Wild Mountain Honey”, which sounded beautiful and haunting echoing through Churchill Downs. One thing that really impressed me was how Miller’s such an underrated guitarist. After seeing him live, I’m convinced he deserves more consideration, both in composition and performance.

The show ended on eight straight singles, starting with “Dance, Dance” Dance”, “The Joker”, and “Abracadabra”.  For the song “Living in the U.S.A.”, Miller told the crowd, “I wrote this song for some people gathering in Chicago outside of the Democratic National Convention in the 60’s. Everybody was paying attention back then. Nobody is paying attention now. I challenge you to question your government and pay attention.”

The set closed with “Fly Like an Eagle” and “Rock’n Me”, which featured a boy named Dillon Brown on guitar. Brown is a student at Kids Rock Free, a School of Rock-type school that Miller helps fund and oversee.

I was once again surprised by how clear and strong Steve’s voice and guitar playing was after all these years.  The show lived up to the hype for me, and I was glad to get more than just a note-for-note rendition of the greatest hits.

Set list: Jet Airliner, Take the Money and Run, Mercury Blues, Hey Yeah, Further on Up the Road, Ooh Poo Pah Doo, I Can’t Be Satisfied (Muddy Waters cover), Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma, Wild Mountain Honey, Dance Dance Dance, The Joker, Abracadabra, Serenade, The Stake, Living in the U.S.A., Fly Like an Eagle, Rock’n Me

Rhonda Vincent

The Bluegrass Stage where Rhonda Vincent played was the strangest stage at HullabaLOU. It was practically in a big open hallway between the entrance and the other stages. The area in front of the stage was so small that almost no one stood in it the entire weekend, choosing rather to sit on benches or tables elevated away from the stage about 30 yards back. So anyone who decided to dance or watch up close was almost part of the show to the audience.

She was billed as just Rhonda Vincent, but she was also joined by her band the Rage. Since she stopped after the Steve Miller Band, I was able to catch the last part of her show. With her popularity and the aged-to-perfection sound of her old timey blue grass, I was expecting to see a much older woman, but surprised to find a younger looking 48-year-old. Even playing to a smaller crowd she seemed to have a good time, and sounded great.

Dave Matthews Band

I’m doing this review through the eyes of someone that used to be a big Dave Matthews Band fan. I saw a dozen shows in the late 90’s, but gave them up cold turkey and haven’t been to see them in about five years. So if you’re in the same boat as me, I’ll give you an update as to what’s changed.

Matthews started the show with the first single off their latest effort, Big Whiskey & The Groogrux King, “Funny the Way It Is”.  It took five songs before we heard a song from one of the classic DMB albums, and that song would be “Crush”.  Before all of their recent material, Matthews would tell people the name of the song, which is something that never used to happen. I don’t know if it’s due to the fact that he talks more between songs (don’t worry, he still mumbles unintelligibly too), or if it’s out of necessity because older fans wouldn’t know the new songs without an introduction.

The death of founding member and saxophonist LeRoi Moore has taken an element from their live shows that can never be completely replaced. I personally loved what he added to their songs, both in the writing process and in live performances. But the addition of saxophonist Jeff Coffin, trumpet player Rashawn Ross, and guitarist Tim Reynolds does what it can to make up for Moore’s musical absence, and has added a new depth to their live sound.

Some of the highlights of the show included a great version of “#41”, a full band version of “Gravedigger”, and “Lie in Our Graves”. Zac Brown joined in for covers of Willie Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away” and Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower”.

The show ended with an acoustic version of “Some Devil” and the typical version of “Ants Marching”, with a little different drum intro to try and throw people off.

All in all it was a solid show. I can see why people are still drawn to it, and I remember why it was a gateway to other things for me, and why it’s something that I’m no longer really into. I’m sure they will continue to headline festivals, but at this point I’m not sure I’ll find myself in the crowd.

Setlist: Funny The Way It Is, You Might Die Trying, Stay or Leave, Seven, Crush, Don’t Drink the Water, Why I Am, Spaceman, Corn Bread, #41, Gravedigger, Lie In Our Graves, You and Me, Shake Me Like a Monkey, Aint It Funny How Time Slips Away [w/ Zac Brown], All Along the Watchtower [w/ Zac Brown], Some Devil, Ants Marching

Conclusion

Overall, HullabaLOU was a great success. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be like going to a frat party, or an incredible music experience. In reality, it was a little bit of both. I had a good time and I saw a lot of bands that performed and sounded much better than I thought they could. The heat was rough, but there were places you could go that actually had air conditioning, there were several free water fountains, and cold water was only two bucks a bottle, so it was manageable.

I mainly enjoyed the small crowds and the chance to see so many legendary acts in just three days. Steve Sexton, president of Churchill Downs Entertainment, says that HullabaLOU will be back next year. And hopefully I will, too.
——

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Folds recently recalled: “After watching the Republican National Convention the rest of us were thinking, ‘holy shit that woman could be president,’ but [Hornby] was thinking, ‘holy shit, this poor guy’s got to marry the daughter.’”

– “Coincidentally” released the same week Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston announced their engagement, “Levi Johnston’s Blues” offers our first taste off Ben Folds and Nick Hornby’s forthcoming collaborative effort Lonely Avenue.

As may have guessed based on the title, the track predates the couple’s recent announcement, focusing instead on the future son-in-law of Sarah Palin’s life changing experience upon learning that he knocked up the daughter of a Vice President candidate. After all, as Folds sings, “I’m a fuckin’ redneck, I live to hang out with the boys / Play some hockey, do some fishing, kill some moose / I like to shoot the shit and do some chillin’, I guess / Ya fuck with me and I’ll kick your ass.”

Hear the track for yourself below. Lonely Avenue — which you can read all about it here — is due for release on September 28th via Nonesuch.

track_04.mp3

Due for release on September 28th via Nonesuch Records, the album features music and vocals by Folds and lyrics by Hornby, with string arrangements by influential pop string arranger Paul Buckmaster (David Bowie, Elton John, Leonard Cohen). Folds recommends that Lonely Avenue be listened to on vinyl and, because of this, he recorded the album on a 2-inch tape and will make it available on audiophile-grade vinyl, cut with the Direct Metal Master process at Abbey Road Studios and pressed at Pallas Manufacturing in Diepholz, Germany. For those non-record playing elite, the effort will also be released on CD, digitally, and in a special deluxe edition that includes four short stories by Hornby.

According to an issued press release, the idea to create an album of “Folds’ unique pop songwriting sensibilities with Hornby’s insightful prose was conceived during a dinner conversation between the two friends one night in 2009. After that, Hornby began regularly emailing lyrics to Folds, who then turned them into Lonely Avenue’s 12 musical short stories.” The end result is said to touch on subject matter ranging from a mother with a child in the hospital over New Years Eve to the work of lyricist Doc Pomus, lyricist of countless ’50s and ’60s pop hits.

Above, you’ll find the album art work. We’ll update you when more information is released.

On round two of his three-night, sold-out stint at Chicago’s comfy Vic Theatre, Folds shuffled out to his lone-yet-shiny grand piano, waved hello to the hundreds watching, let out a sigh, and pitched a chummy rendition of Ben Folds Five’s “Twin Falls” to a happy-go-lucky audience. Billed “Ben Folds and a Piano”, the stage presented just that. But you wouldn’t know the difference if you were staring at your feet all night. It’s been said countless times by now, but the guy carries the energy and skill of a full sized band. His personality makes up for any lost space, though.

If there were ever a tour to catch Folds on, this would be it. He’s not only lugged his entire discography, but he’s brought along some great friends, too. Opening artist Kate Miller-Heidke adds so much power to the bill. Safely snug tight behind her keyboard, the Australian vocalist unleashed some highly raw yet truly rich talent, all to new ears. Along with her equally stellar guitarist (and husband) Keir Nuttall, the two shimmied through an enjoyable 25-minute set, chocked full of acoustic pop that felt surprisingly authentic. Like most female vocalists’ efforts these days, her talent is lost in the production, resulting in studio work that comes off as rather staple, forgettable even. On-stage though, Miller-Heidke’s a whole other beast. The notes she can hit should tug at your eyes, while the way she delivers her lyrics, especially on “R U Fucking Kidding Me?”, should charm you enough to smile and maybe even laugh. Set closer “Words” allowed room for both artists to jam equally, though most patrons were on their feet as Nuttall slaughtered his acoustic guitar. Yes, slaughtered.

The two returned later in the evening to help out Folds during “You Don’t Know Me”. While Miller-Heidke’s own work could draw comparisons to Regina Spektor, she hardly stuck to Spektor’s style here. Instead, she went off course and had some fun, deciding to let her vocals scratch the ceiling, sit at the back bar, and warm up some vagrants in the alley nearby. When they left Folds to his repertoire, you could tell from the Chicagoans’ applause that she was more than welcome to stay longer.

They didn’t though, but Folds kept the crowd busy. Between asking for help during a three-part harmony on “Bastard”, digressing on his new material he’s worked on with author Nick Hornby (both “Practical Amanda” and “Levi Johnston’s Blues” sound exceptional), and instigating an uber-sing-along during a cover of The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights”, Chicagoans had their work cut out for them. It wasn’t a hits-filled night, either. That was Monday. Instead, Folds dusted off some rarities, which included an entire encore dedicated to his former band — you know, Ben Folds Five.

But it didn’t matter what he played. He could have spent 28 minutes noodling around on his piano, or humming McDonald’s melodies, and the crowd would have licked it up and smiled the same stupid smile. That’s not a negative criticism or even a positive one. It’s just an observation, but it’s one that reveals the type of entertainer he is. Folds plays like a friend, and because of this, it’s less about the music and more about the feeling. By night’s end, you feel good… really good. If you ask me, that’s worth all the money in the world.

Especially the price of a single concert ticket.

Photography by Heather Kaplan.

Ben Folds set list:
Twin Falls (Ben Folds Five)
There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You
All You Can Eat (They Give No Fuck) (Ben Folds Five)
Bitch Went Nutz
Jesusland
Gone
Practical Amanda
Levi Johnston’s Blues
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head (Burt Bacharach cover)
You Don’t Know Me (w/ Kate Miller-Heidke)
Kate (Ben Folds Five)
The Last Polka (Ben Folds Five)
Free Coffee
Carrying Cathy
Bastard
Landed
Dr. Yang
Such Great Heights (Postal Service cover)
Talkin’ Texan?
Underground (Ben Folds Five)
Zak & Sara

Encore:
Evaporated (Ben Folds Five)
Steven’s Last Night in Town (Ben Folds Five)
One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces (Ben Folds Five)
——

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Alicia Keys:

What: Dates for Miami, FL; Santa Barbara, CA; Las Vegas, NV

When: March – April

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM EST

Ben Folds:

What: Dates for North American tour

When: March – April

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM EST

Band of Horses:

What: Tour date for Orlando, FL

When: April 29th

Tixs: $23.25

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM EST

Josh Ritter:

What: Tour date for Chicago, IL

When: May 15th

Tixs: $24.00

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM CST

Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band:

What: Date for Canandaigua, NY

When: July 21st

Tixs: $20.00 – $99.50

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM EST

Titus Andronicus:

What: Dates for North American tour

When: March – April

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com at 10:00 AM EST

And don’t forget about these tickets, which recently went on sale…

Arctic Monkeys:

What: Dates for North American tour

When: April

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com

Jónsi (of Sigur Ros):

What: Dates for North American tour

When: April – May

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com

Mastodon, Between the Buried & Me, & Baroness:

What: Dates for North American tour

When: April – May

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com

The National:

What: Dates for Boston & Philadelphia

When: June

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com

The Tallest Man on Earth:

What: Dates for North American tour

When: May

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster.com

Christmas music is everywhere this time of year. Since the beginning of November, the air has been littered not with the cheerful dust of snowflakes, but a mess of mediocre audio. Certainly classic recordings have their charms, but the classics are over played and mainstream holiday songs are mostly of flimsy facades of holiday cheer over less than inventive songwriting. As a genre, Christmas music is very limited. It takes a lot of creativity to create a truly stand-out holiday song. Throughout the years, many brave and artful souls have undertaken the challenge, either to render the cliches warm and heartfelt again, or simply to turn the whole concept on its head.

Last year, Media Potluck, the source behind Audio Archaeology, put together an album-length collection of worthy holiday tunes to make the festivities more merry, bright, and palatable. Now we proudly gift this compilation to you, dear CoS reader, complete with track-by-track commentary sharing all the fun factoids that you’ve come to expect from Audio Archeology. These tracks are the very best of holiday music- from blatantly Christmas-related, to commentary on the hectic gift-giving season, or simple celebrations of wintertime.  Some tracks are more common than others, some are quite eclectic, all of them guaranteed to give you a break from dross of the shopping mall sound system.

Enjoy Media Potluck’s Holiday Feast Volume 1 now in podcast format here and get ready — the 2009 edition is on its way.

Media Potluck’s Holiday Feast Volume 1 (2008)

1. Shirley Walker - “Winter Reveries [Excerpt from Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1]”

A beautiful and mysterious-sounding wintery bit of classical music from the Barry Levinson film, Toys. The film deserves a Media Potluck article all on its own (check back later this month). It’s an incredible holiday film that’s watchable any time of the year. This song appears in the opening scene of the film and leads into the following track, “The Closing of the Year.” Shirley Walker, who serves as conductor on this track, was a frequent collaborator with Danny Elfman and is perhaps most notable as the composer of the entire score for Batman the Animated Series and its spin-offs.

2. The Musical Cast of Toys Featuring Wendy & Lisa - “The Closing of the Year”
Along with John Williams’ “Somewhere in My Memory” from Home Alone, “Closing of the Year” is a Christmas song so smartly composed that it gained an existence past the film that spawned it. Though lesser known than the aforementioned track, “Closing of the Year” has since been recorded by opera-types as a holiday tune and occasionally gets airplay on holiday stations. It was written by mega-producer Trevor Horn and score composer Hans Zimmer who jointly crafted Toys’ wonderful score and soundtrack. Wendy & Lisa are the musical duo once a part of Prince’s Revolution. Since the late 80s they’ve released their own albums (their fifth came out a year ago) and have written a number of television scores. This version of the song comes from the Toys soundtrack album and blends in from the first track. The extended single is longer and features vocals by Seal. Check out the video of that version here.

3. The Smashing Pumpkins - “Christmastime”
The Smashing Pumpkins are an unlikely source for a heart-warming Christmas hit, but they delivered one. This track was released in 1997 for the third installment of the A Very Special Christmas compilation series. Whereas major artists such as Paul McCartney and Elton John made new holiday hits of the cheery party variety, the savage, alt. rocking Pumpkins did just the opposite. The low key, harmonic styling of “Christmastime” was a direct product of the era the band was heading towards with their electronica-influenced 1998 album, Adore.

4. Jethro Tull - “A Winter Snowscape”
In 2003 prog rockers Jethro Tull released a full-blown Christmas album. Though this may seem odd to the casual eye, Tull released a Christmas song as early as 1969 and other Christmas songs, or winter-themed tunes ever since. The album features new recordings of these tracks as well as new songs. This track is an instrumental composed by Tull guitarist Martin Barre.

5. David Bowie & Bing Crosby – “Peace on Earth/ Little Drummer Boy”
In 1977 David Bowie appeared in Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas, a television special, and sang a duet with the acgingcrooner. Often referred to as one of the weirder moments in television history, it’s something that has to be seen/ heard to be fully understood. The “Peace on Earth” portion of the duet was written especially for Bowie who in actuality was none too fond of “Little Drummer Boy”. This song is among several Christmas tunes parodied by the cast of Adult Swim’s Venture Bros. and released online. Check those out here.

6. Mark Mothersbaugh - “Snowflake Music [From Bottle Rocket]”
A short instrumental track used in the Wes Anderson film Rushmore. The original version of this track appeared in Bottle Rocket, Anderson’s first full-length film, and his first collaboration with Mark Mothersbaugh.

7. The Darkness - “Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)”
A comedic rock track from modern Brit glam rock outfit The Darkness. The comedy aspect of the song may fall on deaf ears without a little morsel of information, so allow me to educate: “bell end” is slang for the head of the human penis.

8. Chris Squire & Alan White - “Run With the Fox”
Chris Squire and Alan White are two members of Yes. Following the 1980 breakup of the band, these two continued working together and attempted to form a supergroup with Jimmy Page called XYZ (Ex-Yes and Zeppelin). The project never panned out and in very short time Yes reformed. Between those two events the duo released one track – “Run With the Fox” an unusual, but spirited holiday tune that can’t help but conjure up visions of various animated films about quadrupedal woodland animals.

9. Crash Test Dummies - “Jingle Bells”
In 1992 folk rockers the Crash Test Dummies released a Christmas single of their rendition of “The First Noel”. The version was traditional but made distinctive by lead singer Brad Roberts’ very deep voice. Years later this spawned a whole album of traditional Christmas song re-renderings, including this track. If you ever wondered what “Jingle Bells” would sound like if sung by pagan tribes or demons, well, now you do. The album is amazing, pick it up here.

10. mc chris - “Evergreen”
Adult Swim personality and rapper, mc chris, renders a charming portrait of the dead-beat drug-addled
youths who work part-time at Christmas tree tents. If you like your holidays full of laughs and cuss words, this is the song for you.

11. Bob & Doug McKenzie - “The Twelve Days of Christmas”
Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas’ legendary comedy duo, The McKenzie Brothers perform their stumbling and confused rendition of a holiday classic. Hoser accessories such as beer, back bacon, and toques replace the original song’s golden rings, French hens, etc. Endless fun. Last year, a full animated video was made for the song in preparation for the long-awaited Bob & Doug animated series which premiered this year.

12. Grand Buffet - “Stocking Stuffer”
Grand Buffet are a Pittsburg-based rap duo specializing in synthcore beats and head-scratching, mirth-making rhymes. This tale of one young man’s encounter with Saint Nick is sure to warm your heart.

13. Tom Tom Club - “Il Est Né”
The funky, dancey husband-wife team of Talking Heads members Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth present a chill rendition of a traditional French Christmas carol. In 2002, “Il Est Né” and another track, “Christmas in the Club”, were made available for download on Tom Tom Club’s website. The tracks were taken down after the holidays passed and didn’t return again until 2007, when they released a single called Misletunes. The single features both tracks and the CD version features two additional mixes of “Christmas in the Club”.

14. Kate Bush - “December Will Be Magic Again”
A magical Christmas song from the likewise enchanted Kate Bush. It appeared on a single in 1980 and has appeared on finer Christmas compilations ever since. There are two versions. The version featured on the Holiday Feast favors a caroler sound, while the other rendition has a more minimal production and starts with chanting. The latter was featured on the 1979 BBC television event, The Kate Bush Christmas Special, you can watch that clip here. The TV special has recently been rebroadcast on the BBC, but a commercially available version has yet to surface.

15. Loreena McKennitt - “Snow”
McKennitt spins the words of Canadian poet Archibald Lampman into a Celtic ballad of wintertime beauty. What better expression of Christmas’ roots than a pagan-esque worship of nature and perhaps the winter solstice?

16. Spinal Tap - “Christmas With the Devil”
From their second (real) album, 1992′s Break Like the Wind, Spinal Tap explores how Satan celebrates the yuletide spirit. Here’s a hint: it involves BDSM.

17. “Weird Al” Yankovic - “Christmas at Ground Zero”
Continuing comedic variations on the holidays, we move to the master of musical comedy: Weird Al. His “Christmas at Ground Zero” aptly plays upon the 1980s’ paranoia of impending nuclear holocaust and attempts to dress up the scorched black remnants of humanity with tinsel and Christmas cheer. Truly there’s a bright side to everything.

18. Run-D.M.C. - “Christmas Is”
The lesser-known of Run-D.M.C.’s two Christmas singles. The first was “Christmas in Hollis” (1987). “Christmas Is” was released in 1992 and is a fantastic product of its time, discussing the consumerism of the holidays. A choice example is the kid’s Christmas list at the end: “yeah, that’s right — give up the dough. I want my Ninja Turtles, I want my bike, I want my Sega Genesis, I want my Nintendo, and turn my mommy lights back on!”

19. Phantom Planet - “Carol of the Bells”
A compelling synth-rock version of the most famous Christmas instrumental of all-time from the band best known for having had Jason Schwartzman as their drummer and writing the theme song to The O.C.

20. Ben Folds - “Bizarre Christmas Incident”
Piano-rocker Ben Folds details a none-too-pretty encounter with the corpse of Santa Claus on Christmas morning. Allegedly the song was composed for the Grinch film, but was turned down. Too explicit? Perhaps. This song first appeared on Maybe This Christmas, a counter-culture Christmas compilation that lasted three albums between 2002-2004.

21. Shogo Sakai - Snowman
Every installment in Shigesato Itoi’s video game series, Mother (called Earthbound in the US), has featured the “Snowman” theme composed by Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka. It’s been reworked several times in the past. This version appears on the soundtrack to the final installment of the series, Mother 3, and was arranged by that game’s composer, Shogo Sakai.

22. The Band - “Christmas Must Be Tonight”
From The Band’s 1977 album, Islands. “Christmas Must Be Tonight” is a soulful retelling of the birth of Christ. No gaudy evangelicalism, just beautiful music and a tale for the ages.

23. My Morning Jacket - “Xmas Time is Here Again”
And so ends the album with an easy-going meditation of harmonies and jingle bells from Southern rockers My Morning Jacket. This song if off their Christmas EP, My Morning Jacket Does Xmas Fiasco Style, released early in their career, between their first and second albums.

Happy holidays, Internet. From the Media Potluck and CoS families.

Regardless, the bustling Windy City festival hosted thousands upon thousands of fans, all with the intention of drinking, meddling in mud, or getting in a fight. Yes, despite the array of laid back indie-talent, hundreds of male 20-somethings managed to throw arms and collapse on one another. It might have been cold, what with the frisky wind and pummeling rain, but fellow Chicagoans kept it nice and toasty with good ol’ fashioned bar brawls.

But that didn’t stop everyone else from having fun. After all, this is the festival that keeps Midwesterners sane throughout the winter: The idea that beer will be had, that outside life will be enjoyed once again, and music will never skip a beat. We’re only day one into the festival, but Mr. Perry… we salute you.

Manchester Orchestra
Budweiser: 12:15-1:00 p.m.

“Screw the rain! Let’s rock!” And with that, Q101′s Ryan Manno kicked things off at the oh-so-subtly titled Budweiser Stage.

Well, not really. Seconds later, Manno admitted that the ambivalent, hanging rain that would annoy the rest of the day was pushing things off schedule slightly. A few minutes later, though, one of the first sets of the day began, performed by Atlanta, GA’s Manchester Orchestra. Lead singer/guitarist Andy Hull led the quintet on stage, complete with red wool cap and Doug Martsch-esque beard. And the Built to Spill connection doesn’t really end there. Often times, throughout the set, Manchester Orchestra felt a lot like BTS-Lite. Well, maybe Lite too strongly implies easy listening. Maybe Built to Spill with more shouting and more melodramatic hooks.

They certainly do have the hooks though, and they were plenty big enough to draw a large crowd, especially for a 12:15 spot. The echoed howls of “Shake it Out” got the people pogo’ing pretty early into the set. Big, chunky guitars, plentiful of backing vocals and unbridled enthusiasm were the trademarks of “In My Teeth”, and, really, their entire set.

“This band has never had so many people like us…In the same place,” Hull smirked, before kicking into “I’ve Got Friends”, which proved to be the real crowd favorite. The muscle-y anthem about the success of others (off of the strong if unassuming Mean Everything To Nothing released in April) sounded just as thundering and sharp as the record, an impressive feat for such an early afternoon start time.-A.K.

Hey Champ
Chicago 2016: 12:15-1:00 p.m.

Chicago loves Hey Champ, and rightfully so. The group’s catchy electro rock gets the body moving in all the right ways, but oh how it feels so wrong. The sexy bass lines, the space-y guitar parts, and the velvet vocals all give both The Killers and U2 a run for their talent (not money, let’s be real here). Earlier this year, the band headlined the fourth night of Schubas’ Tomorrow Never Knows Festival, and though they nailed the set and pleased the sold-out crowd, they weren’t nearly as tight and realized as they were here in Grant Park. Vocalist and guitarist Saam Hagshenas dominated the Chicago 2016 stage and led his band into an empowering set, treating their early-bird slot as if it were a celebrated evening set. Songs “Face Control” and “In The White City” brought keyboardist Pete Dougherty to the forefront, but it was hot single “Cold Dust Girl” that roped in the trio as one. Hagshenas danced about, prowling around percussionist Jon Marks, who retained a consistent energy throughout. It may have been even too early for a beer, but these three snagged one hell of a crowd. Even some nearby stragglers over at the Citi Stage — all the way across the park — were swaying those hips. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that they’re locals, either. -M.R.

Gringo Star
BMI: 12:30-1:15 p.m.

After the sardine can train ride that was the CTA Red Line, the drizzly adventure of Lollapalooza started with Atlanta, Georgia’s very own Gringo Star. Mixing one part punk rock ethic, one part manic performance and a heavy dose of 1950′s Americana, these guys got the party started early. Lead singer Nicholas Firgiuele wailed like a banshee hopped up on caffeine and the rest of the band followed his fanatic trailblazing. On songs such as “No One” and “The March Of Gringos”, the quirky Southern quartet packed punch after punch just below the three minute mark. Lead guitarist Peter Firguile’s guitar solos brought to mind the late and great Bob Stinson of The Replacements, complete with overzealous sloppiness and raw intensity. Images of old Western shootouts, drunken nights in saloons and frantic pianos were all over the place while they played. Switching instruments between songs, these guys kept the downtime between numbers next to nil. For 45 minutes, Gringo Star blazed their own path of musical glory in the great city of Chicago and in the process took a few souvenirs with them, concluding with a cover of The Exciters’ “He’s Got The Power.” -J.Z.

The Knux
Citi: 1:00-1:45 p.m.

L.A. via New Orleans’ The Knux were a breath of fresh air after wandering through a bunch of same-sounding, anthemic rock. Plus, instead of talking about how the rain sucked and how they were glad you stayed through the rain (LIKE EVERY OTHER BAND), Kintrell “Krispy Kream” Lindsey offered this feeling: “We know it’s raining, but do we give a fuck?” To which, the enthusiastic crowd shouted, that no, they did not. Krispy and his brother Alvin (aka “Rah Almillio”) were joined onstage by a DJ, a synth player and a guitarist, filling out their genre-crushing hip-hop quite masterfully.

By the end of the excellent “Cappuccino”, most of the huge crowd was bouncing along to the beat. But it did take a little bit of convincing for the ladies to go “Ooh” and the fellas to go “Aah” at the proper times. Once it caught on, though, Krispy was excited. “No homo, but I liked the guys’ one better,” he chuckled. “Don’t twit[tweet?] that. ‘Krispy is gay’.” Their set heavily focused on last year’s excellent Remind Me In Three Days, including “Bang! Bang!”, “Roxxanne” (which included some impressive guitar-work), and the true-love story “Powder Room”(“I don’t know what’s wrong with you, meet me in the powder room”). In the end, there was a lot of superfluous talk about “the smoke,” meeting up after the show and giving shout-outs to the city, which took up a lot of time that could have been used instead for another of their interesting, fun jams. -A.K.

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Vitaminwater: 1:00-2:00 p.m.

After the impressive start to the day from Gringo Star, Austin, Texas soul patch descendants Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears stirred the musical Kool-Aid at the Vitaminwater stage. Having previously performed at the Chicago Folk & Roots Festival a month prior, Lewis & The Honeybears nonetheless felt right at home again. Blazing through soul-drenched numbers such as the sexual “Big Black Snake” and the blunt but awesome “Bitch, I Love You”, these modern day soul warriors brought visions of Otis Redding’s legendary 1967 appearance at the Monterey Pop festival. While these guys are hot off the wire no doubt, they’re on their way to serious awesomeness. They sounded much tighter than their Chicago Folk & Roots appearance weeks before, however their energy suffered greatly due to the surrounding hip hop show’s overexuberant bleeding of the music into their downtime. This was a shame however as it felt somewhat stale in an otherwise great performance. Nothing can be said about how great the guitars and saxes sounded, those were on fire. It’s just too bad the ambience couldn’t match the band’s intense soul jams, but good show nonetheless. -J.Z.

The Builders and The Butchers
BMI: 1:45-2:30 p.m.

Portland, OR’s The Builders and the Butchers set up shop at the small-ish BMI stage, where, unfortunately, their sound had to compete with the near-by Perry’s dance party. Once fighting through the techno grooves and the tree groves, the Builders and Butchers’ sort-of-gothic folk (think O’Death on Xanax) had a bit of trouble filling out the small area they’d been assigned. Maybe it was due to the fact that they were largely an acoustic act (a risky proposition in a non-main-stage setting), but the guitars, banjo, and ukulele all sounded rather flat and small.

But their music was still about as interesting as it ever was. “Vampire Lake” (off of last month’s Salvation is a Deep Dark Well) elicited a good crowd reaction, bringing a bit of stomp to the soggy conditions. The excellent “Down in this Hole” was no less stompy, complete with thumping tom drumming and a melody perfect for shouting along to.-A.K.

The Gaslight Anthem
Chicago 2016: 2:00-3:00 p.m.

If there’s one band that’s been the talk of the town all summer, it’s The Gaslight Anthem. Some may argue they broke through last year, especially with their critically acclaimed sophomore record The ’59 Sound, but this summer, they’re everywhere. After a rousing performance overseas at Glastonbury, complete with a cameo by the one and only Springsteen, these New Jersey rockers haven’t slowed down since. In addition to their own touring, they’ve hit the festival circuit pretty hard, and a week after the disaster that was All Points West (which ended up cancelling their Sunday spot), the Jersey boys took it all out on Chicago. Drummer Benny Horowitz machine-gunned into “High Lonesome” and amidst some smoke and rain, the rest of the band followed his lead. His leadership immediately fell to vocalist Brian Fallon, however, who spit out story after story, all about a town and state few had visited, but most related to — sort of the band’s shining hallmark. Song after song entertained the wet and frozen crowd, some of whom kept warm through unnecessary moshing.

Blame the crummy weather, but Fallon appeared rather stoic throughout much of the performance. He nailed each song, especially “Old White Lincoln” and “Film Noir”, but he came off a bit weathered. His knack for storytelling bled through, before he introduced “Miles Davis and the Cool”, as he pointed to the Congress Hotel and talked about Al Capone doing “stuff behind closed doors” and likening Capone to the cool cat that was Davis.

Fallon found his stride when he injected some humor. Before jumping into the three-fist punch that was “Where For Art Thou, Elvis?” into “Meet Me By the River’s Edge” and closing with “The Backseat”, Fallon confessed that his first concert ever was actually Depeche Mode, saying, “I don’t like mayo, but I like Depeche Mode.” People laughed, people applauded, and the rain continued. As if to acknowledge his influences even more, the boys threw in a gentle nod to The Clash (and Fallon’s idol Joe Strummer) by playing a refrain of “Lost in the Supermarket” towards the end of “The Backseat”. On the train back, hours and hours later, someone stated they had checked out the band on a whim, but that they were “definitely buying their fucking album.” That says it all. -M.R.

Bon Iver
Playstation: 3:00-4:00p.m.

Bon Iver kicked off the Playstation Stage’s “Night of Sort-of Pretentious Indie Folk!” (okay, that’s my label for it, not theirs). Well, actually, the definitively-not-dead Thax Douglas kicked it off with an entrancing poem about angels and dead skin cells. And, unfortunately, things went sort of downhill from then.

Justin Vernon and co. kept things light and mellow, for the most part; however, light and mellow, combined with a light and clinging rain and a heavily intoxicated crowd who often talked over the music wasn’t the greatest situation for Vernon’s lilt and croon. “Blood Bank” didn’t have its usual driving, shuddering drums. “Skinny Love” suffered from a glut of completely off-key backup singers in the crowd. New song “Brackett, Wisconsin” sounded like perfect background music for a tender moment on “Gilmore Girls”.

“Creature Fear” ended with a surreal feedback freakout, which felt completely out of place.

Before closing out the set, Vernon made sure to give a shout out to his friends: “Enjoy the Fleet Foxes boys, and Andrew Bird. It’s just going to be a pleasant afternoon.” If this was pleasant, I’m sure I’d like something a little different. -A.K.

Heartless Bastards
Vitaminwater: 3:00-4:00 p.m.

Following the heartening and rain soaked set from New Jersey powerhouse act The Gaslight Anthem, Cincinnati, Ohio garage rock quartet Heartless Bastards took the stage. By this time, the rain picked up and drenched the field with caked up layers of mud, slush and dirt for what seemed like miles. Gathering together in the center of the stage, rhythm guitarist/vocalist Erika Wennerstrom put on a decent display of vocal talent and good musicianship. The Bastards’ served as a good toss up between the late ’60′s Allman Brothers and the perennial favorites from England, The Pretenders. At times, Wennerstrom’s vocals hearkened back to iconic frontwoman Chrissy Hynde (oddly enough from Akron, Ohio), and in an odd way she resembled her appearance, as well. For the most part, save for Wennerstrom, the rest of the band musically weren’t much to write home about until roughly halfway through the set when they woke up a bit and started rocking out. Some random guy in the crowd pulled the “I’m-fucked-up-time-to-get-naked” card from the Lollapalooza UNO deck. Sure enough, while the band performed “Valley Of Dupree”, the Naked Guy showed no shame whatsoever in unsheathing down to nothing in the cold, damp rain, moshing with the crowd and dancing with whomever he could stand near. As aforementioned, the Heartless Bastards were decent at best, even amidst sound problems, but the fact that this guy (literally) had balls to spice it up a bit, it’s what makes this show memorable. You have to respect that…I think you have to respect that. -J.Z.

Ben Folds
Budweiser: 4:00-5:00 p.m.

Up north at the Budweiser stage, thousands relaxed in the depressed mud and gunk before pulling themselves out to the piano-laden soul-rock of Ben Folds. Umbrellas littered the crowd, everything from neon green to polka dots to even the Disney-endorsed affair. They stayed up, too, as Folds and his hired guns dove head first into the tongue-in-cheek “Bitch Went Nutz” off of last year’s lackluster Way to Normal. Whether they knew the song or were just happy to see the four-eyed piano-fiend, that’s up for discussion, but fists were up in the air and poncho-covered heads bobbled up and down.

The problem with Folds nowadays is that he’s kind of, well, dated. Aside from the “bros”, who can really get behind the seemingly-now-forced cover of “Bitches Ain’t Shit”? Even the band seemed lacked the enthusiasm, punch, and wit necessary to make it “work.” Again, blame the dismal climate conditions, but Folds came off rather remiss. Even anthemic tracks like “Landed” and “Rockin’ the Suburbs” lacked the heart ‘n’ soul that always seem to be there on repeated listens — though the latter could be blamed on the lack of synthesizers or effects, which really do sell the song.

Still, it’s Ben Folds, and while this may not have been a keystone performance (even for the day), he did come through on a few tracks. “Kate” brought soggy festivalgoers to drier days, and surprisingly enough, “Hiroshima” tore down the walls, even if there weren’t any there at the time. Though just when the band found its stride — drummer Sam Smith can become a beast — they came to a close. Quite a shame as during the set’s closer, “Army”, the entire crowd filled in on harmonies to near perfection. Forget the rain, blame the weak set list. Where was “Annie Waits”, “Zak & Sara”, or even the bittersweet “Still Fighting It”? Folds, your discography awaits you…use it. -M.R.

Fleet Foxes
Playstation: 5:00-6:00 p.m.

Where Bon Iver had just fallen flat of their recordings, Fleet Foxes took the Playstation Stage next and pushed a sound far larger and superior to their studio recordings. This didn’t seem like a possibility, though, as vocalist/guitarist Robin Pecknold quietly trod into the center of the stage, looking completely overwhelmed and discussing the fever he apparently woke up with that morning. But the soaring harmonies of “Sun Giant” showed no sign of being overwhelmed or sick. It was kind of sad to hear such a bright, breezy song about the sun that just wouldn’t show up at all.

A few songs into the set, I nearly get kicked in the head by a teenage female crowd-surfer. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Fleet Foxes are probably one of the least crowd-surf-able bands this weekend, but it was attempted nevertheless.

The rollicking, beautiful harmonies and rich musicality made “White Winter Hymnal” the absolute standout of the set, which, I guess, was to be expected from the outset. But, “Mykonos”, off of last year’s serene Sun Giant EP, gave it a run for its money. The dreamy, swirling rock paired with Pecknold’s ethereal vocals and lyrics about a pleasant (there’s that word again!) getaway made for a brief escape from the rain. -A.K.

Peter Bjorn and John
Citi: 6:30-7:30 p.m.

The last time we heard from Peter Bjorn & John at a major United States music festival it was back in March at South by Southwest. If you remember, things didn’t go to smoothly and led many to begin asking if the success of 2006′s Writer’s Block had begun to get to this Swedish outfit’s head. If Friday’s performance at the Citi Stage said anything, the weekend in Austin was nothing more than a small blip in what has otherwise been a pretty flawless career.

Within minutes of its Friday set at the Citi Stage, it became quite evident that the trio was on a mission, having returned to Lollapalooza to followup on a 2007 debut performance that was best described as disastrous — the sound cut out 15 minutes into the set. And while the weather may not have cooperated, the sound sure as hell did. The result was a 45 minute set consisting of both selections from their most recent full-length, Living Thing, and old favorites, including “Young Folks”, “Amsterdam”, and “Up Against The Wall”. It was fun, powerful, downright kick ass, and ultimately, left little doubt that these Swedes are still a force to be reckon with. – A.Y.

Andrew Bird
Playstation: 7:00-8:15 p.m.

A large portion of the Playstation crowd jumped ship after the impressive set by Fleet Foxes, but a hardcore constituency stuck it out for hometown hero Andrew Bird. After enduring a good bit of “I love you”s and the like (including [no joke] a group of females throwing underpants on stage), Bird and his bandmates were ready to get down to business (and play music, you weirdos). The sublime “Fiery Crash” opened the set on a positive note, complete with plenty of his trademark whistling. “Masterswarm” featured the first use of the iconic functional and esthetically pleasing double-leslie speaker, filling the area with a whirlwind of multi-looped violin. Bird’s excellent touring bassist Mike Lewis also filled in on clarinet and saxophone. The typically impressive violin intro for “Anonanimal” only grew more impressive with tenor sax backing Bird note for note. “Not a Robot, But A Ghost” got an extended ambient outro, including the guitarist (who Bird introduced twice as “Lonesome Jim”) holding a portable radio up to his pickups, producing a distant, echoed noise wash.

“There might be some snacks, later,” Bird hinted before jumping into “Oh No!”, the opening track off this year’s excellent Noble Beast. The latin-tinged pop of “Imitosis” was a huge hit with the laid-back crowd, even producing some dancing. The typically distant(or perhaps embarrassed) Bird even gave back some of the love he was receiving: “You’re important to me” he drawled in that bass-y way that only he could.

The typically middling “Scythian Empires” was quicker, sharper than usual. It really shows that the group has been working together for a while, establishing connections and an understanding of the way the songs worked.

And, what do you know, there were snacks. Well, there was “Tables and Chairs”, off of the sublime Mysterious Production of Eggs, with its endearingly understated chorus of “There will be snacks, there will.” The band powered right through the subtle, complex tune, adding a layer of clarinet to match Bird’s looped violin hook. But this impressive work was quickly eclipsed by a rousing, masterful rendition of “Fake Palindromes”. Bird stood on one leg, kicking the other at the knee like a child telling a long story, violin held aloft as he coyly sang the song’s second chorus. As always, Bird was nothing short of amazing in his musicianship, his engaging lyrics and his impressive, multilayered(in so many senses) performance. This set proved, for those that didn’t already know, that he is a can-not-miss type of performer, something that needs to be seen and never gets stale, instead growing and changing organically with each new day. -A.K.

Kings of Leon
Budweiser: 8:15-10:00 p.m.

Kings of Leon played to a very different Lollapalooza than they’ve played in the past. Instead of the 10 or so fans that Caleb Followill mentioned during the festivals’ traveling days and the mediocre afternoon crowd back in 2007, they played to roughly 40,000 screaming fans as one of this years six headliners opposite the park from Depeche Mode. With a headlining spot, the brothers (plus a cousin) really had a chance dig into their catalog this time around. That’s exactly what they did, as they pulled plenty of songs from all four of their albums, pleasing both avid and casual fans. Caleb mentioned that Chicago is one of his most favorite cities in the world, and he added between some sips, “I’m gonna get drunk tonight.” Something tells me that wasn’t wine up there…

After getting through the sing-a-long “Sex On Fire”, Caleb thanked the crowd again for “making us a bigger band than we really are.” Somewhat of a double edged sword, Caleb isn’t exactly happy with the huge crowds that are showing up to see the Southern rockers as he’s mentioned in multiple interviews with Rolling Stone and Mojo to name a few. After dedicating the show to a girl named Louise (sp?), who the band met during the day, they launched into current single “Use Somebody” only to follow up with a crowd pleasing “Black Thumbnail”, to which Caleb kicked the microphone off the stage. Awesome. – A. Keil

Depeche Mode
Chicago 2016: 8:00-10:00 p.m.

It’s been a long time since Depeche Mode hit the Second City, and boy does it show. An hour before the English sensation graced the stage — and just as the rain cleared and the skyline lit up — fans arrived by the truck load, camping out and claiming ground with the utmost sincerity. Mountains of sweaty, rain-weathered flesh came together at the front of the Chicago 2016 stage and went back as far as behind the sound tent, and this was at 7:45 p.m. By the time frontman Dave Gahan rattled off the lyrical madness of “In Chains” (off of this year’s Sounds of the Universe), the dedicated fanbase had formed walls and started shoving those attempting to push forward — more often than not, just stragglers who decided too late to catch Depeche.

This brought about some remarkable scenes, that played out even better with Gahan and co.’s accommodating scores. During “Wrong”, another new cut from this year, intimidating and pulsing red lights flashed on and off as zombie-looking drunks stumbled atop the fan club fans. It was chaos, but beautiful, too. As Gahan traipsed around the stage, twirling the microphone stand as if it were as light as a scarf, more and more attemped to push through, only to be butted back out. These weren’t the only spectacles, however. No, as if to top last year’s magnificent light displays (thanks to Radiohead, NIN, and Kanye West), Depeche Mode came prepared.

Throughout each song, surrounding video engulfed the band in one giant digital display. At one point, during Violator‘s classic “Policy of Truth”, gumdrops fell from a bubble, bouncing up and down, left and right, creating this jaw dropping display of candy-coated colors. Oddly enough, they all bounced along perfectly to Andrew Fletcher’s rhythmic basslines. What’s more, during “A Question of Time”, neon pinks and blues accented the stage, while each member had their share of time on-screen. It looked straight out of a music video from 1986, and added to the decadence the band sports with no shame.

What’s remarkable is how tight, crisp, and clean this band sounds. Drummer Christian Eigner is flawless, rivaling the likes of Stewart Copeland, as he throws in fill after fill. And then there’s Martin Gore, the band’s brainchild, who literally adds the glitter to the already overflowing glam this band trademarks. While nowadays Gore shares more looks with Keith Richards than that of the trendy ’80s poster-boy from yesteryear, he still dances and sings like he’s 25. During “Home”, the sparkly guitarist smiled and giggled about when the crowd gave him props. It was nice.

Some other highlights included the hair-raising, head-popping, and hip-breaking performance of “Enjoy the Silence” (no doubt a religious experience for some), the driving tour-de-force behind “Precious”, and naturally, the perfect chart topping closer, “Personal Jesus”, complete with the lifting bassline that could make any geriatric boogie. While there were some tunes amiss (“Waiting for the Night”, anyone?), the set list pleased even the most casual spectator, enough to have them argue and throw water at the more dedicated fans who refused to let them in. That’s the formula for a perfect headliner, and really, that’s exactly what Depeche Mode offered. How nice of them. -M.R.

Photo courtesy Brad Bretz

Some time ago,  rumors popped up that Folds would be collaborating with Hornby for an album, one which would combine the lyrics of the novelist with the sounds of the musician creating one ridiculous musical creation of epic proportions. While said rumors seemed to be ignored in lieu of other projects (Stems and Seeds included), it finally appears that us fans both locally and abroad have something to look forward to.

In a recent interview with Paste Magazine, Folds confirmed that he and Hornby are finally ready to put their collaboration to record and will hit the studio this June.

“[Hornby's] written like 18 pieces, I think, so far, I’m trying to keep up at the moment, ’cause I’m doing all this other stuff and touring. I think that’s gonna be a fairly quick and live recording. The fake tracks that are on the Stems and Seeds release were six songs written, recorded, mixed in one day. So, yeah, I am on that [kick] at the moment.

“I’m gonna write the music really quickly… The band will be coming in, you know, say one or two o’clock. I’ll get there in the morning, look at the lyrics, come up with something and then when they show up, I’ll show ‘em how the song goes and we’ll press record and do it. I think it’s gonna be fun.”

Supposedly it has also been made clear that there could be an over-abundance of unreleased/unfinished material left on the cutting room floor. Whether or not this is foreshadowing of a double album or an addition to some later b-side collection is something to discuss later, but for now let us hope that this project actually sees the light of day this time.

Meanwhile, I think “Song For The Dumped” is still making me chuckle.

Aptly titled Ben Folds Presents: University A Capella, the 16-track effort features a capellas from 14 university groups, along with two from from the originator himself; Folds recorded two of his own a cappella tracks: instrument-free versions of “Effington” (from his 2008 album Way to Normal) and “Boxing”, which originally appeared on the 1995 self-titled Ben Folds Five album. Oh, and then there’s the part about the whole recording process…

Ben, his wife Fleur, and his engineer Joe Costa packed up their equipment, and hopped on planes, trains and automobiles to record these groups. Over 2 months, they set up camp in dorm lounges, lecture halls and campus television studios. They even recorded in a Synagogue.

Needless to say, the whole project turned out to be quite an endeavor, a fact which Folds explains highlights the sincerity of the album. “This is not a novelty. I consider this my new record. I’m incredibly proud of this. If this were Ben World, this would be my greatest hits album. I’d rather this be my greatest hits record than someone collecting my masters and slapping on a photo of me leaning against a piano. This is a better way. I’m a songwriter, and these are my songs.”

Check out an early taste of the album below and/or Folds at any of his upcoming tour dates (listed below as well), though the latter probably won’t feature as many a capellas…

Ben Folds Presents: University A Capella Tracklist:
01. Not the Same – The Sparetones (North Carolina at Greensboro)
02. Jesusland – Loreleis (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
03. Brick – Leading Tones (Ohio University)
04. You Don’t Know Me – With Someone Else’s Money (University of Georgia)
05. Still Fighting It – Mosaic Whispers (Washington University, St. Louis)
06. Boxing – Ben Folds
07. Selfless, Cold, and Composed – The Jazz Singers (Sacramento State)
08. Magic – Voices in Your Head (University of Chicago)
09. Landed – Colorado University Buffoons
10. Time – Nassoons (Princeton)
11. Effington – Ben Folds
12. Evaporated – The Newtones (Newton High School, Boston)
13. Fred Jones, part 2 – Gracenotes (West Chester University of Pennsylvania)
14. Army – Midnight Ramblers (University of Rochester)
15. Fair – The Fifth Element (University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire)
16. The Luckiest – The Amateurs (Washington University, St. Louis)

Ben Folds 2009 Tour Dates:
03/26 – Montclair, NJ @ Wellmont Theatre
03/27 – Chestnut Hill, MA @ Boston College
03/28 – New Haven, CT @ Shubert Theatre
03/30 – Fredericksburg, VA @ University of Mary Washington
04/01 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
04/02 – Boca Raton, FL @ Florida Atlantic University
04/04 – Jacksonville, FL @ University of North Florida
04/06 – Mobile, AL @ Saenger Theatre
04/07 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
04/24 – Atlantic City, NJ @ House of Blues
04/28 – Orono, ME @ Collins Center
05/17 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater

That being said, Way to Normal is still a catchy pop record. But that’s just it. There’s nothing here that stretches or breaks the barriers of say, “quaint.” Everything works off of mechanized drum beats and piano scales that seem borrowed from half a dozen Folds tunes found elsewhere in his solo work. In fact, there’s not even a strong, solid song within the twelve tracks available. It’s either tongue in cheek humor or overdone angst that seem perfect for someone fifteen years under.

Admittedly, “Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hits His Head)” is a great opener, filled with splendor, bombast and authority. It’s as if the North Carolina native might actually be on to something here, hinting that there’s more than what meets the eye. Hell, there are at least four hooks in the chorus alone. It’s a song that provides reason for his relevance today. Unfortunately, it’s misleading by all means. What follows after are staples not only to Folds’s discography, but to this genre alone. “Dr Yang” seems dusted off from The Beatles “Hey Bulldog”, while “The Frown Song” sports a ridiculous chorus (“Rock on, rock on, with a fashionable frown/ And spread the love around”). And although the latter is more tolerable than the album’s entire second half, that’s not really saying much either.

One thing to salvage out of this clunky mess is Folds’s duet with Regina Spektor on “You Don’t Know Me”. It’s spunky and cheeky, with all the makings of a trendy indie classic. Regrettably, it’s not a perfect song by any means, either. There’s a moment when Folds seems to channel Panic at the Disco, and when Spektor whispers, “…at all”, it’s so peachy that one might want to actually laugh. In fact, come to think of it, as good a song it might be, it does begin this smarmy, nonchalant layer of immaturity which seems to carry over to the album’s other eight tracks.

There’s the Cool Ethan (of 2002′s Slackers) that Folds emulates in “Cologne” (one of the album’s finer moments, actually), the Weezer-like instrumentation in the very, very lame “Errant Dog”, the 80′s throwback that misses the mark in “Free Coffee” (which actually sounds worse than the cut off his “fake” album), and the rather juvenile and Something Corporate-like swagger of “Bitch Went Nuts.” If those descriptions don’t cause the stomach to turn some, then by all means let this review warrant a listen.

To think there are still three more tracks. “Brainwascht” could have actually been a strong number, had Folds been able to write another part; instead, it comes off repetitive and stoic, especially with the mundane drum beat. “Effington” should bring some laughs… to ten year olds. There’s some fun, driving music here, but it’s lackluster in its unstable, shoddy lyrics (“Do Normal people do it too?/ Normal people do it, people do it, people do it”). It all sounds so earnest and heartwarming, but on repeated listens it becomes borderline asinine. At one point, you might be anticipating someone to yell out, “Would you like anymore gum? More gum? More gum?” Yeah, it’s in that league.

And while “Kylie From Connecticut” fancies some sharper lyrics, at least for this album, it comes off too late and serves too weak of a closer. It’s a fascinating story, but nonetheless, it’s the same ol’, same ol’ from Folds: an angsty melodrama that’s close to his heart. Only now after seven albums, it comes off natural and predictable. It’s here where he’s at fault. There’s nothing unexpected about this release. It’s all preordained and just so damn “quaint” that one wonders if we’re to take this seriously. With a title like Way to Normal, one hopes (and prays) that this isn’t the normalcy Folds might aspire to attain. That would be disastrous, especially when his last studio album’s single (“Landed”) is miles ahead of anything these twelve whole tracks can offer. That’s not normal, that’s a career meltdown. Speaking of which, is there any truth to Folds joining his former band anytime soon? Might be due time.

But by night’s end, it wasn’t what Ben Folds did that made his performance so memorable, it was how he did it. As the 42-year-old graced the elevated stage to the applause of 3,000 music happy New Yorkers, who packed the three levels of the ginormous Terminal 5, intimacy was far from presented. Supported by the backdrop of a dull blue curtain, which surely hid just another hollowed out area, and the unfriendly barricades separating the musician from his adoring fans, Ben Folds was faced with the daunting challenge of performing his fan-friendly selections in one of the city’s most unwelcoming of venues. For the unfortunate ones who had not showed up early enough, Folds and his accompanying outfit were little more than specs on stage, performing muddled sounds on what appeared to be miniature instruments. Add to the equation that many of the selections composing the 26-song set were taken from his brand new album, Way to Normal, which many present were still quite unfamiliar with, and the concert had all the makings of a recipe for disaster.

Fortunately, Folds is as good a showman as he is a musician. As the final chords of set opener, “Way To Normal” rang from Terminal 5′s mammoth overhead sound system, the tried and true Carolina, draped in a black t-shirt, khaki pants, and his characteristic black, nerdy-approved glasses, offered a bit of Southern hospitality and began to explain what would be witnessed over the next two hours. “We’re going to play a lot of new songs and old songs. The one you just heard was a new one, but it’s not on the new album, even though it shares its name. The next one [Brainwascht] is, but don’t worry. We’ll explain more along the way.”

There was much explaining throughout the next 75 minutes or so. Playing a mix of both real and fake Way To Normal tracks, Folds introduced each song with an description of its validity and what exactly it meant. Obviously more than a few, “non-nerds,” as he would call them, didn’t comprehend how or understand why the crafty pianist had created two brand new albums, but only one of them was to actually be considered real. However, by the time the head-popping piano crescendos and Fold’s humorous words flowed throughout the air, what the song was or where it was from didn’t matter all too much. Instead, it was the task of taking in these brilliant foreign sounds that became the central issue at hand, and trying to figure out their rhythms so toe taps and collective claps could be offered in response.

The new selections lightened the mood, captured minds, and brought a daze of tranquility among the bland dullness of the overwhelming venue. Even those in the furthest depths, the ones who saw nothing more than a speck singing about coffee utopias and falling off a stage in Hiroshima, found themselves laughing, caught up by Fold’s sheer enthusiasm and gripping narratives, rather how just depressingly far away they may have been. But ultimately, it wasn’t the second part of the set where Folds balled up these emotions and made Terminal 5 feel like the size of a living room than warehouse.

The eight-song encore saw Folds dish out the old favorites. The cool pounding chords of “Bastard” brought out an all out frenzy, while the stunningly beautiful “Still Fighting It” surely prompted a few tears. By the time Folds and Co. rolled into a rendition of the Ben Folds Five classic, “Army”, the audience was at the pianist mercy, singing along like it was scripture. You can only imagine what the scene was like when “Rockin’ The Suburbs” and “Not The Same” followed.

So it came as little of a surprise that an all out riot almost ensued when the house lights began to brighten when Folds exited the stage for his second and, at the time, planned final time. Calls for more and a chant of “Let Him Play” echoed out any attempts by the helpless Terminal 5 staff to adhere to the mandatory 11:00 p.m. curfew. Within seconds, Folds returned with a hilarious impromptu of “Hava Nagila” before leading his band into “Philosophy”. No matter where you were, high or low, in the back or in front, Folds had captured the 3,000 on lookers and brought them all to one, up close and personal seat. He had shrunk Terminal 5 to a size that was little bigger than his piano, and offered a performance that, regardless of the setting, is a few and far in between.

———-

Oh, it doesn’t hurt that the song is pretty good, too.

Ben Folds 2008 North American Tour Dates:
09/06 – Philadelphia, PA @ Mann Center
09/07 – Nashville, TN @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center
09/24 – Washington, DC @ Constitution Hall
09/26 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum
09/30 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
10/01 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
10/03 – Ft. Wayne, FL @ Embassy Theatre
10/04 – Louisville, KY @ Kentucky Center
10/09 – Detroit, MI @ State Theatre
10/10 – Chicago, IL @ Congress
10/16 – St. Louis, MO @ Pagent
10/17 – Minneapolis, MN @ Myth
10/22 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theatre
10/23 – Dallas, TX @ Palladium Ballroom
10/24 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
10/25 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s
11/13 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
11/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theater

Get tickets here and here.