Last Friday I finally got to see Ben Folds after missing out on seeing him in the US countless times. I know that Ben Folds might not be the most current music but he is someone who I started to listen to back in Jr High and whom I continued to listen to. I like his writing and his melodies are soft yet fast. Amy and I drove down to Hiroshima after work and rushed to the venue. When we were arrived we were told to line up by ticket number and I was number 33! Of course it didn't matter much because there were only about 130 people (or less) total and the space was standing room only. I got close to the front since I went in early and, because people are polite over here, even when more people arrived no one pushed me out of the way. Amy, who had a higher number, was able to join me. Out of the 130 or so people, only about 5 were non-Japanese (aka I stood out). Also, the space was really small (about the size of two classrooms) so it was pretty intimate.

The actual show was amazing. I was happy to hear that Ben Folds voice live sounds like it does on the CD. I hate when you go and the sound is completely different. He also had extremely talented musicians that could both sing and play. After a few songs he explained that they were recording the concert so sometimes they would repeat verses or openings. They also interacted with the audience a lot to get certain "audience participation,"like singing and clapping. That was fun because it broke down the barrier in certain ways.

I guess when Ben Folds played in Hiroshima before, he fell off the stage and had to go to the hospital for head x-rays. He wrote a song about it and it was on his, Way to Normal CD. A lot of the audience had been at that show so there was a lot of joking going on, and I was surprised that Ben and some of his band mates spoke Japanese (though the pronunciation was really hard to understand).

At one point he called out for requests and because a) I am loud, b) I speak clear English, c) I am blond, and d) I was close to the stage, mine got picked. I don't know why but Gracie just came out of my mouth so that is what we got. In the end he never ended up playing Brick so I should have called out for that, but oh well. Amy was sad because her song, Karaoke Supernova didn't get chosen. Only one other request was taken and that was by a Japanese girl who called out for Smoke after me, which was a song I had kind of forgotten about but which I knew all of the words to.

Another great moment was when the band played a song with "toy instruments." Ben played a small keyboard, one guy played acoustic guitar, one guy had a maraca, the bass player played bass on his iphone, and the drummer played on an Anpanman drum.

I felt bad because Amy and I, being American, were a little louder and wilder than the Japanese and one lady got a little mad. I can't help if I sing along- how can you not? And I can't help it if I am loud when I get excited (TGIF FRIDAYS- laugh if you get that joke). Or if I dance and throw my arms. Amy was mad at a couple in matching outfits (oh Japan) who were in the front row who were not into the music. She thought they were a waste of space. For the most part, though, the crowd was a good one. I was surprised that so many Japanese people knew Ben Folds and that some could even sing along.

Of course, it was funny to see people dancing and head bopping to some of the more depressing songs that just happen to have good beats. It helped to be one of the few English speakers in the crowd. At one point the manager was on stage and he made an inappropriate joke and sad, Sloppy seconds, to which I kind of groaned to and Ben looked over. We were the only ones to get what they were talking about. Another time when the tambourine guy came down front Amy and I started cat calling him, saying tambourines were hot, and he turned around and winked at us. This all sounds silly, but it was nice to go to a concert and to be able to interact with the band (instead of like the US where we always get upstaged by hot bitches- Japanese girls are hot but they couldn't follow the English fast enough or they were too shy to make comments).

I feel like this post is just not doing it justice. In all reality the show was one of the best concerts I have ever been to (after maybe Nickel Creek, the Bebo Norman show where only about 20 people showed up, Simon and Garfunkel with my Dad, and the Dave Matthews Band shows) and I really hope he can come back. Sometimes I go to concerts and the bands play new songs which I don't really care for so I sit down. But even though Ben Folds played a lot of new stuff, it only made me want to buy more music. The lyrics are good and not your average fair.

I guess all that is left to say is that Ben Folds was amazing and I highly recommend him.

And here is the set list...