Ben Folds - WTF?

[RobDogg15]

Just curious what anyone in my situation thought of this:

I was a big Ben Folds fan when I was younger. I love piano and I always loved how he did it. So, this being my first chance to see him live, I was definitely going to for at least a little whie, even though STS9 was one of my most anticipated shows of the weekend.

So, it really annoyed me at the beginning of the show when they messed around on stage for a good 20 minutes before playing. What the hell was that. He gets on, does a 5 minute soundcheck, then gets off, some british guy gets on and plays for 10 seconds. They repeat this. Then ben folds gets on drums, plays for 10 seconds. Then the british guy gets on the piano again. then nothing. and on and on. We finally just got really pissed and headed over to STS9.

It was funny for the first 5 minutes, but then it just seemed really obnoxious. I know the people who were around me agreed. Anyone have thoughts? Anyone agree? Anyone think I'm an idiot? Just curious...

[FunkThompson]

[quote:2da8667290=\"RobDogg15\"]Just curious what anyone in my situation thought of this:

I was a big Ben Folds fan when I was younger. I love piano and I always loved how he did it. So, this being my first chance to see him live, I was definitely going to for at least a little whie, even though STS9 was one of my most anticipated shows of the weekend.

So, it really annoyed me at the beginning of the show when they messed around on stage for a good 20 minutes before playing. What the hell was that. He gets on, does a 5 minute soundcheck, then gets off, some british guy gets on and plays for 10 seconds. They repeat this. Then ben folds gets on drums, plays for 10 seconds. Then the british guy gets on the piano again. then nothing. and on and on. We finally just got really pissed and headed over to STS9.

It was funny for the first 5 minutes, but then it just seemed really obnoxious. I know the people who were around me agreed. Anyone have thoughts? Anyone agree? Anyone think I'm an idiot? Just curious...[/quote:2da8667290]

Did you notice all the crackling during the first few songs?

I'm thinking he kept coming out, sound checking, saying it still wasn't right, then starting to play anywho. It was 4 or 5 songs in that the crackling finally ceased (it ruined the guitarists' vocals on at least one song...) Then he started joking about STS9.

If I were him or his band, I would be a bit upset over the sound issues. It is hard enough to play live music to your own monitors, much less with another band drowning you out. You have to be able to listen to the other instruments and know when your hook is or when the beat changes or whatever.

Nonetheless, I was not a Ben Folds fan and after that set I think the man is a musical genius. One of the best shows at Waka '08 for me.

[RobDogg15]

[quote:9ad0bbdbb7=\"FunkThompson\"][quote:9ad0bbdbb7=\"RobDogg15\"]Just curious what anyone in my situation thought of this:

I was a big Ben Folds fan when I was younger. I love piano and I always loved how he did it. So, this being my first chance to see him live, I was definitely going to for at least a little whie, even though STS9 was one of my most anticipated shows of the weekend.

So, it really annoyed me at the beginning of the show when they messed around on stage for a good 20 minutes before playing. What the hell was that. He gets on, does a 5 minute soundcheck, then gets off, some british guy gets on and plays for 10 seconds. They repeat this. Then ben folds gets on drums, plays for 10 seconds. Then the british guy gets on the piano again. then nothing. and on and on. We finally just got really pissed and headed over to STS9.

It was funny for the first 5 minutes, but then it just seemed really obnoxious. I know the people who were around me agreed. Anyone have thoughts? Anyone agree? Anyone think I'm an idiot? Just curious...[/quote:9ad0bbdbb7]

Did you notice all the crackling during the first few songs?

I'm thinking he kept coming out, sound checking, saying it still wasn't right, then starting to play anywho. It was 4 or 5 songs in that the crackling finally ceased (it ruined the guitarists' vocals on at least one song...) Then he started joking about STS9.

If I were him or his band, I would be a bit upset over the sound issues. It is hard enough to play live music to your own monitors, much less with another band drowning you out. You have to be able to listen to the other instruments and know when your hook is or when the beat changes or whatever.

Nonetheless, I was not a Ben Folds fan and after that set I think the man is a musical genius. One of the best shows at Waka '08 for me.[/quote:9ad0bbdbb7]

Well I have to say, that's really good to hear. We actually left before he started because people were waiting for us and we knew it would be hard as hell to find them. I've heard a good bit of his live stuff over the years and it's always been amazing. If there was a legit reason and he was just making light of sound issues, then I stand corrected, and that makes me happy.

[PeartMoon]

I thought Ben Folds was one of the real pleasant surprises of the festival for me. He was a blast. It started late because they were having sound problems (something that was a continuous problem on the Revival stage). I don't think he was trying to be funny by prolonging soundcheck.

[Captain Outrageous]

I unfortunately missed the last 30 minutes of Ben Folds because someone told me that Wayne Coyne was at the Lips movie tent signing autographs and taking pictures with people. Hated to miss the rest of Ben, since that was probably when he played a lot of my favorite stuff. But I couldn't pass up the chance to meet Wayne...it was definitely one of the highlights of my weekend.

[April Green]

I was annoyed that STS9 kept bleeding over to the Revival tent during Ben Folds. There were definitely way too many stages in that area. There was a lot of \"noise pollution\" between the four stages.

STS9's noise level was great when I was watching their set, but they were way too loud if you were chilling at another stage.