As the lights dimmed at UNC’s Memorial Hall Thursday night, an electric current cut through the air and the crowd of more than 1,400 let our a roar that only grew louder as Ben Folds, Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee entered the stage together for the first time in about eight years.
It was a big night in Chapel Hill – the now legendary hometown group Ben Folds Five reunited for a one-off show and the band's set was nothing short of spectacular.
The group played
The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner from front to back during the first half of the set for the MySpace series aptly titled Front to Back.
The band launched into “Narcolepsy” with vigor, after which Folds commented, “If I'd know about this gig ten years ago, I'd have sequenced the record differently." It was the last time Folds addressed the crowd during the
Messner portion of set until someone yelled "rock this bitch!" after “Your Redneck Past.”
But the shouts and cheers didn’t last long as Folds nodded to someone off stage and his father, Dean Folds, appeared to read "Your Most Valuable Possession" to another huge roar from the crowd. A cheer erupted as the elder Folds read “Good morning, Mr. Ben” and at the end of each line until the band kicked in with the song’s back lounge vibe.
"Army," an obvious stand-out song, got the crowd excited, though much unlike on Folds’ solo tours, no one in the crowd was instructed to join in on the horn parts as there was a brass trio on stage for much of the night. The song seemed to reenergize the crowd after the slower “Hospital Song,” but there was an energy that connected the band and crowd throughout the night.
After wrapping up the
Reinhold Messner set with "Lullabye," the band left the stage briefly before coming back to play some older, classic Ben Folds Five tunes.
The set kicked off with "Jackson Cannery" from the band's self-titled album, which had the guy next to me who traveled from Kansas City jumping up and down with glee.
After the song, Folds took some time to address the release of
Reinhold Messner, and commented that the song "Army" was "the beginning and the end of the commercial success of Reinhold Messner."
The encore continued with more classic tracks including from both the
self-titled record and the most commercially successful Five album,
Whatever and Ever Amen. Watching the band through the night, one would never suspect they hadn't played together in so long. Darren Jesse in particular sounded amazing – and he's not played drums seriously since the band broke up.
After closing the show with "Song For the Dumped" the crowd still wanted more, standing on their feet cheering and eventually joining in on a chant of “Ben Folds Five!” as the post-set music kicked in. After a few minutes the lights adjusted, causing a big cheer from the crowd, but a few minutes later, the stage’s work lights came on and a crew came out to break down the gear – of course to a chorus of boos from the crowd before everyone filed out.
While it’s safe to say no one left the show disappointed, they may not have been satisfied. Hopefully the band won't make fans wait another eight years to see the them play together again, because the magic is clearly still there.
Set list:
The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold MessnerNarcolepsy
Don't Change Your Plans
Mess
Magic
Hospital Song
Army
Your Redneck Past
Your Most Valuable Possession (w/ Dean Folds)
Regrets
Jane
Lullabye
EncoreJackson Cannery
Eddie Walker
Selfless, Cold and Composed
Battle of Who Could Care Less
Where's Summer B.?
Julianne
Song For the Dumped
More than a decade ago with the release of Ben Folds Five's Whatever and Ever Amen and its fan favorite track "Song for the Dumped," Ben Folds garnered somewhat of a reputation as a masterful songsmith when it comes to relationships in distress.
