Ben Folds To Play Melbourne

Ben Folds returns to Melbourne for the first time since 2006 and will perform one show only at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre, which will be the first time Melbourne audiences will hear live his material from his 2008 release Way to Normal (out now through Sony). A legend amongst musicians, Ben continues to impress with his unique fusion of renegade melodies and punk-rock sensibilities.

Way to Normal has been heralded as some of Ben Folds’ finest work to date. From a career that’s spawned landmark albums including Rockin’ the Suburbs and Whatever and Ever Amen, such praise can only attest to the quality of music Ben has again produced.

Since the release of Way to Normal, Ben has put out two other albums. Stems and Seeds hit stores in February of 2009 and is a double disc set. Disc one houses the stems to the songs from Way to Normal so fans may do their own mixes of these new songs. Disc two is Ben’s own remixes of the songs from Way to Normal as well as the “fake songs” that were leaked on the internet in advance of Way to Normal and bonus material such as Ben singing “Hiroshima” in Japanese.

Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella! released at the end of April 2009 and is a greatest hits collection of sorts from Ben Folds, but the songs are performed by collegiate a cappella groups from the U.S. All the songs on the album are performed sans instruments, using only human voices and Ben himself contributes two a cappella tracks to the album: “Boxing” from the first Ben Folds Five record as well as “Effington” from Way to Normal.

Ben Folds’ return to Melbourne has been highly anticipated. Ben last performed in Melbourne to a sold out crowd alongside the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public from Friday 5 June.

Thursday 3rd September – Palais Theatre

Ben Folds – Great Bushfire Charity Item And New Album.

Ben Folds has created a new album, Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella, a collection of the USA’s best a cappella groups covering his songs.

Over two months, Folds, his wife Fleur, and engineer Joe Costa recorded the tracks themselves. The sounds were all captured with six area mics. Each session got four hours.

Said Folds “If this were Ben World, this would be my greatest hits album. I’d rather this be my greatest hits record than someone collecting my masters and slapping on a photo of me leaning against a piano. This is a better way. I’m a songwriter, and these are my songs.”

The songs:

01 “Not The Same” – The Spartones from Greensboro, NC.
02 “Jesusland” – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Loreleis
03 “Brick” – The Ohio University Leading Tones
04 “You Don’t Know Me” – The University Of Georgia’s With Someone Else’s Money
05 “Still Fighting It” – Washington University in St. Louis’s Mosaic Whispers
06 “Boxing” – Ben Folds
07 “Selfless, Cold, and Compose” – The Sacramento State Jazz Singers
08 “Magic” – The University of Chicago’s Voices In Your Head
09 “Landed” – The University of Colorado Buffoons
10 “Time” – The Princeton Nassoons
11 “Effington” – Ben Folds
12 “Evaporated” – The Newtones from Newton, MA
13 “Fred Jones Part 2″ – The West Chester University of Pennsylvania Gracenotes
14 “Army” – The University of Rochester Midnight Ramblers
15 “Fair” – University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire’s Fifth Element
16 “The Luckiest” – The Washington University in St. Louis Amateurs

Folds is also providing a pretty amazing auction item to benefit the bushfire appeal.

It’s a  Kimball Upright “Tack” Piano played by Ben Folds on Ben Folds Five album tracks and well as on the Ben Folds Five European Tour in 1999. You can also bid on a photograph taken by Ben Folds of the Beach in Port Willunga,

You can bid on the piano here, but be quick there’s only a couple of days to go:

https://auction01.charitybuzz.com/secure/viewItemDetail.do?auction_item_id=93103&lotsindex=0&show=10&order=default