By By Jillian Sorgini
Joining forces with the Yellow Umbrella Tour 2005, Ben Folds rocked the Orpheum Theatre on Nov. 5.
Inspired by Christine Baze’s battle with invasive cervical cancer, the Yellow Umbrella Tour aims to promote awareness about cancer prevention. Diagnosed in 2000, Baze lost all desire to write and perform. After watching the movie Harold And Maude, Baze felt compelled to make a difference.
Performing as the first opening act, Baze played a short but exceptional set. Playing with only a drummer and guitarist, her melodic voice filled the theatre. Her performance was truly a testament to those who have overcome any disease.
Next, The Fray took control of the stage. Releasing their debut album How To Save A Life in September, the Denver foursome sounds like a mix between an under-produced version of The Killers and a new wave version of Lifehouse. Despite a tough crowd, they gave an alluring performance. “Look After You” brought the audience to their feet. The Fray served as the perfect segue into Ben Folds.
When he played in Boston in August, Folds gave a less than stellar performance, partly because he was sick. However, on this trip to the city, he more than made up for the last time.
Preceeded by a mini light show, Ben Folds finally took the stage with a guitarist and drummer. Opening with the first track off his latest CD, Songs For Silverman, Ben Folds made the crowd go crazy. Every single person in the audience was out of their seat and singing as Ben played song after song. He even played two different versions of the song “Jesusland.”
Giving the audience a taste of what’s to come, Folds played some of his in progress works. Writing most of his songs in the fall, while on tour, is extremely difficult, and as a result, none of his songs were finished. The lyrics from one of the songs came directly from The New York Times.
After running out of brand new material, Folds played one of the most unforgettable songs of the night. With lyrics by Dr. Dre and music by Folds, the song “Bitches Ain’t Shit” was the funniest performance of the night. Picture a 40-year-old white piano player from the south singing the lyrics to any degrading rap song. It is such a perfect mockery, and shows that even Ben Folds knows how to make fun of himself. At the end of the song, the drummer and guitarist left the stage.
Folds played many of his classic solo songs, such as “The Luckiest,” “Lullaby” and “Brick.” It did not matter that he had only a piano behind him; Folds filled every space in the theatre with his music. He even divided the audience into groups and taught them a part from “Army.”
Bringing back the band, Folds continued to play songs from his older albums. At one point during the performance, a stagehand came out to tell Folds the time. Unfortunately, there was a curfew in the theater, because otherwise Folds probably would have played all night. Ending with the song “Narcolepsy,” he beat the piano so hard that he had to check his elbow to make sure he wasn’t bleeding.
Luckily, he came back for an encore. He chose to end with an old but great song, “One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces.” Marking the end of his performance, he picked up his stool, threw it at the piano and took his much deserved final bow.
Folds will be performing at the University on Nov. 29, and students can expect nothing short of a stellar performance.