‹ Random Cover of the Week – Billie Joel Gets Punked •
Ben Folds is the sort of musician who isn’t afraid to challenge his audience. Last night at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, Folds kicked off his Way to Normal tour with a gutsy move: he came out and played 16 songs from his upcoming album Way to Normal, and the accompanying “fake” album he leaked to prevent the actual album from leaking.
In case you haven’t heard the story, Folds realized his upcoming album was probably going to leak before it’s September 30th release date. So he took a preventative measure. He booked a day of studio time for him and his band, and they recorded “fake” versions of many of the songs on the album. They wrote new lyrics and music to go with the titles of the real songs and laid down the tracks in just a few hours. Then they leaked that as the real album. Genius.
Ok, back to the concert. Fortunately for me, I had heard the fake album, and I had heard two of the real songs, “Hiroshima” and “You Don’t Know Me”. So I recognized 7 of the 16 songs. Other members of the audience didn’t seem to be so fortunate. In general the audience seemed confused and irritated. People around me talked amongst themselves about not recognizing the songs. Other people in the crowd shouted out names of fan-favorite songs. And I saw several people walk out. It wasn’t exactly the audience rioting during the premier of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring”, or booing Dylan when he plugged in, but it was definitely awkward.
Awkwardness aside, the band was tight, the new songs were fun, and the music was just plain good. Once they got through the new material, the band took a break and returned to play some old favorites. The crowd got more into things when Folds launched into “Zak and Sara”. The joy was short-lived however, as he only played four old songs before closing with another fake, a gloriously goofy tune called “The Frown Song”.
Overall the show was interesting, and the music was good, but it wasn’t all that exciting. Highlights were “Hiroshima”, “Zak and Sara”, and “Effington”. But the absolute best was the fake version of “The Bitch Went Nuts”. Hearing a song about a super-Republican dating a raving Democrat in the epicenter of American politics was very cool, and any song that includes the line “everytime I close my eyes I think I’m fucking Jimmy Carter” is a winner in my book. Here’s the song, from the leaked album:
“The Bitch Went Nuts (Fake Version)”
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Here’s some video of “Losing Lisa”:
The real version of Way to Normal comes out next Tuesday, but you can pre-order it now
