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Ben Folds is widely regarded as one of the major music influencers of our generation.
He's created an enormous body of genre-bending music that includes pop albums with Ben Folds Five, multiple solo albums, and numerous collaborative records. His last album was a blend of pop songs and his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra that soared to #1 on both the Billboard classical and classical crossover charts.
For over a decade he's performed with some of the world's greatest symphony orchestras, and currently serves as the first ever Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center.
Folds released his first book - a collection of interrelated essays, anecdotes and lessons about art, life and music - in 2019, which debuted as a New York Times Best Seller, and is currently hosting a podcast series spinoff of his book entitled "Lightning Bugs: Conversations with Ben Folds." In addition to solo rock and orchestral touring, he's also developing a new unscripted tv series with Fred Rogers Productions, continues to appear in various film/tv guest starring roles, and is working on two new albums.
An avid photographer, Folds is also a member of the prestigious Sony Artisans of Imagery, has worked as an assignment photo editor for National Geographic, and was featured in a mini-documentary by the Kennedy Center's Digital Project on his photographic work.
An outspoken champion for arts education and music therapy funding in our nation's public schools, has served for over five years as an active member of the distinguished Artist Committee of Americans For The Arts (AFTA), and serves on the Board of AFTA's Arts Action Fund. He also served as Chairman of the Arts Action Fund's ArtsVote2020 national initiative that encouraged voter engagement in the 2020 US elections, and continually advocates for improving public policies for the arts and arts education.
Set 1:
Intermission
Encore
Encore
Encore
I would have given it 5 stars if not for the fact that the Violent Femmes seemed to play over/went on way too long and actually played longer than Ben Folds. Ben, of course, was superb as always. I just wish that we had gotten much more Ben.
Great show as usual... loving the 4.00 beers... thank you!!! Now for those at Ruoff!!!
We were there to see Violent Femmes, and they were perfect. This has been a bucket list itrm for me since 1985. Long st with greatest hits and a nice mix of new material. They were tight! Ben Folds ended up not being our cup of tea, so we split after 2 songs.
Until the sun set it was difficult to see the stage. Otherwise, great show.
I started my evening looking for parking cheaper than $20. I finally found it a few blocks away. Went to Fridays to meet with friends and have dinner before the show. When we got to the show at 8pm there wasn't a line and we walked right in. First stop was the bathrooms. Wow! Very nice. Kudos on the new bathrooms. We were offered chairs but decided to stand in the lawn. Loved the Violent Femmes. They are the only reason I went. They sounded amazing and I really enjoyed the show. Once Ben Folds came on I left. I have never been a fan, but I knew going to the show I would leave when he started. Great experience over all.
Went to see the Violent Femmes....not a fan of Ben Folds, so I left after the Violent Femmes played. Violent Femmes were great! Love the venue.
This is an open air event and the weather could not have been more beautiful. The Violent Femmes were ridiculously good, as they always are live. Event personnel were friendly and helpful. Concessions (though over priced) were good with fast moving lines. The new bathrooms at the venue were a big improvement.
This was a weird match up. The Femmes only played for 45 minutes and Gordan sends the rest of the band out to do autographs. I've carried this album around to like 15 concerts trying to get his signature. Ben Folds was not my cup of tea. At all.
I truly loved this concert and enjoyed every moment of it. My only complaint is that I was under the impression that the Violent Femmes and Ben Folds had equal billing. The Violent Femmes played for 2 full hours. We got 45 minutes to an hour of Ben Folds.
Ben never disappoints, and is so great in his interaction with the crowd. The Violent Femmes were fun as well!
Ben only played for a little over an hour. The other guys set was way too long and they barley touched blister in the sun. Ben was great just didn’t get enough of him.
Ben Folds is a wonderful combination of intelligence and effective communication. He was articulate and engaging. Not only is he an amazing musical artist, but an honest and entertaining author and speaker.
As always, Violent Femmes rocked the stage with their ecclectic americana punk,bit this was the first time I've ever seen Ben Folds live and it was nothing short of spectacular!
The Violent Femmes were as great as they have always been; and that's saying something! I don't know how these guys keep doing it, but they still sound like they are in their 20's! My girl friend and I were dancing in the back of the stage area with our walkers!!! ;) Can't wait till they book their next season! :)
My wife and I went just to hear the Violent Femmes, but all three acts were awesome.
The Femmes did a great job and really got the crowd pumped. Cool that they had a set up to meet fans and sign autographs. Too bad they would only sign merchandise you had purchased at the show. My sons were disappointed. Ben did a great job! Very entertaining! He's the whole reason we went to the show. Sadly, he wasn't the reason all the other people in the LARGE crowd were there. Too many people talked loudly through his set. And Ben didn't seem as loud as other artists I've seen at Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre. He told quite a few stories, but it was almost impossible to hear over all the chatter from the crowd. And, if I could have one change, it would be to completely ban smoking and vaping at all concert events. I thought it was a rule that people couldn't smoke in there seats or on the lawn. They really need to police it closely.
The show was fantastic. Ben Folds, backed by Tall Heights brought the energy and the magic. Violent Femmes did likewise, playing a mix of old and new, with a shifting lineup including a horn section. All of the venue staff was exceedingly polite and helpful - unusually personable and friendly and went out of their way to ensure patrons were cared for and having a good time. Complaints: the venue does not allow re-entry, and the prices for food and beverage were ridiculously high. Overall great experience.
Ben Folds is an outstanding musician and performer. The Violent Femmes did not disappoint either. It’s was really a great show
Honestly, I should have read a little further about what I was buying. I thought I was buying tickets to see Ben Folds play a small venue. It was in fact a literal conversation with Ben Folds about his new book. By the time I had realized that, I, like quite a few other people on Facebook, had already purchased tickets. Love Ben Folds, just wish it had been an actual show.
The show was awesome! It was my first time seeing Ben Folds and at one of my favorite venues. It was all but perfect until the Stage AE staff cut the show short due to curfew? What the... Since when does Pittsburgh have a curfew? Folds still had probably 5 more songs on his set list, 2 of which I was dying to hear. Super lame Stage AE, super. lame.
