Jimmy Weasel - Monday, 22 April, 2002 - Print Version
Imagine sitting in a shoebox, packed with leering and drunk "Shire-folk," waiting 2 hours for pizza, and then getting shafted by a licensed bandit calling himself a bartender. It's combinations of things as these that fill the evening with instant regret and a sense of foreboding.
The warm-up act guy, Mick Greening, wasn't terribly good either. I guess it's an experience thing. The guitarist from Merge took pity and joined the poor bugger onstage for some jamming or whatever the musicians call it.
Merge themselves are a more than moderately tight outfit. They just kept playing and playing. I didn't recognise any of their songs despite having seen them once before purely by accident. I say 'accident' because many elements of that evening, also, were comparable to a boathook accident. But the band didn't give me tetanus, and for this I am grateful.
The Brass Monkey, despite all its shortcomings has a good sound - acoustics or something. That's its only redeeming feature.
And Merge? They're kinda rocking, but the vocals had me a little on edge. And to their credit, they did play for a long time. Their guitarist is one of the more skilled on the local scene at this point in time.
Back then I was impressed with their presence and on-stage energy, and straight-up musical talent. The support acts were surprisingly good, and made the time before Ben Folds appearance on stage more enjoyable. I was impressed with Clem Snyde; another solo act, this one with acoustic guitar and stranger lyrics.
Despite not having a band to back him up on this tour, Ben Folds still manages to make amazing music in the flesh. This man is both a musician and an entertainer. He is a man who encourages audience participation right from the get go, and invited us to sing for him "Khe Sahn" or whatever it is by Jimmy Barnes.
I should mention now that I dislike Jimmy Barnes as much as I dislike his music, but I wasn't going to let this fact ruin the whole evening. In fact, the whole night was filled with Ben Folds telling which parts the audience had to sing. And in-between songs, he'd tell anecdotes about songs or travel or what-have-you. The set was odd; mostly stuff from his current album, and a few foot-stompers from the Ben Folds Five days. "Song for the Dumped" he changed around from a major key to minor; which really was a mindbender to hear and it changed the entire complexion of the song.
He also belted out a bunch of songs that we can refer to as "contract-obligation-quota-achieving" songs. These filler songs turned out to be pretty comical; "one down, three point four to go," was a highlight to be sure.
Finagle with our bagel and keep a fresh and up-to-date eyeball on our latest reviews, articles and filthy somesuch. Mmm doughy.
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