The High Life
The VIP section at the National is fantastic. Not only did I have one of the best views in the house from a private balcony to the right of the stage, but I also had free reign of the VIP bar, where I had somehow managed to obtain a 21 and up wristband. How I came to obtain that is something the world will never, ever know. In addition to the VIP bar, the other benefits included the option to sit at the front of the main balcony where there are VIP tables and being able to get in through the VIP entrance, where there was no wait at all.
The guy who opened for Ben Folds is a guy named Eef Barzelay, who was actually a really great singer-songwriter type who just played his electric guitar and sang by himself. He had an incredible folk-blues typed voice, and the opening song he played was about Richmond on an old ukulele. Essentially the song was about him meeting a girl in Richmond, having sex with her and leaving her with child, and then running away afterwards. It was great.
As for Ben Folds, he is by far one of the most entertaining musicians to behold that I’ve born witness to. The man is brilliant; his songs are charming and often hysterical, but never lacking technical skill. I mean, his piano skills are on par with Elton John’s, if not exceeding. I’ve never heard Elton John do some of the blisteringly fast keyboard tricks that Ben uses, and Ben makes them seem effortless. He also played a song about Richmond that I couldn’t quite grasp, because it was so technically mind-blowing that the only thing I heard him sing was about getting a speeding ticket. But he went into the craziest, trippiest solo I’ve damn near ever heard on a piano, and then halfway through switched over to his Moog and kept blasting away. His backing band was nothing short of phenomenal, either. I guess my only real problem with the show his that he only played a few songs from Whatever and Ever Amen. He played “Brick” (I knew he would) and “Kate,” but there a couple songs from that album that I’ve never heard of him playing live after Ben Folds Five broke up. Specifically, “Evaporate,” “Missing The War,” and “Cigarette.” He’s done “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces” live, but he didn’t do it last night, and that’s one of those priceless ones that would have made the set. Anyways, if you get the chance to see him live, do it. he’s amazing. Everything about him.
