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[PIANO POP] In the late '90s and early 2000s, there was one voice for the sarcastic, slightly disenfranchised small-town or suburban white band-kid, and that voice was Ben Folds. Going to a Ben Folds show, in those good old days, was like going to church. Folds, whether with his band or solo, would preach from the stage, telling stories of not wanting to go to college, watching other people trip on acid and small humiliations—the kinds of things we could all understand. He would lead the crowd in sing-alongs, turning hundreds of awkward young adults into his horn section, making us feel like we were part of something that wasn't lame or disappointing. He was angry but also aware of how ridiculous it was to be angry when you are born into the extreme privilege of being an educated middle-class white person in America.
Then, Ben Folds got happy. He got married, moved to Australia, and his songs lost their edge. Instead of singing about abortion, he sang about real estate. Then he got divorced and that's when things got really rough: He became a judge on a reality show, The Sing-Off, with Nick fucking Lachey. It's the ones you love that hurt you the most. The last time I saw Ben Folds in concert, he was playing a winery in Northern California, where a glass of wine cost $15, the seats were bolted to the ground, the woman in front of me had a Gucci bag and no one was singing along. On Tuesday, he comes to the Roseland with yMusic, "a group of six New York City instrumentalists flourishing in the overlap between the pop and classical worlds." Like any fool who can't let go of the past, I'll be there, in the back, yelling: "Do Eddie Walker!" Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., (971) 230-0033. 8 pm Tuesday, Sept. 15. 8 pm. $42.50 general admission, $65 reserved balcony seating. 21+.
WWeek 2015
