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June 23, 2004

Quite Right

Going to last night's Ben Folds concert was quite an experience. Not to say that Ben wasn't all that I expected him to be (and more, but I'll get into that later), but it was just interesting to find myself in this outdoor ampitheatre totally surrounded by White, middle-upper class, wannabe-hipster bohemians. The minute Marc and I walked through the gate, I could just fell this rush of Caucasia just washing over me, as if sooner or later, I too would be swerving around to the likes of Dave Matthews Band; wearing an overpriced concert t-shirt (Ben Folds : Guster : Rufus Wainwright : SUMMER TOUR 2004) and a pair of Abercrombie's best-selling acid wash jeans. I mean, it was almost scary, even for me. Especially since I grew up in a rich suburban neighborhood, entirely surrounded by girls named Jenna and Sarah and guys that went by Joe and Rich. Marc tried zoning in on some people who weren't as melanin deficient, but out of the four Black people he spotted, three of them were "Definitely gay." I guess it must have been the Rufus Wainwright factor.

I haven't really listened to much from Guster (We purposely showed up late just so that we could miss the first two performances... Unfortunately, the show got started later, and we ended up staying for the other acts, anyway), but I was impressed with the last two songs I heard. I'm not quite sure I'm ready to run out any buy any off their stuff, but I'm sure I'd listen to them again if I happened to download anything.

Rufus, on the other hand, was very cool, in his usual nonchalantly flamboyant way. I've been trying really hard to understand how such an openly gay man can come to terms with having been born with the name "Rufus," but I guess that's really beyond me. Anyways, I was only familiar with a couple of his songs before the concert, and Marc hadn't heard of him at all, so we had a bit of music education. I love that he's got a really strong, legato singing voice, and that his lyrics are relatable. He played "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk," which is now one of my new favorites (Just like Kristina). The boy can make you drowsy after fifteen minutes or so, though, so you only want to take him in small doses. By the end of his little political speech on gay marriages, a big rainbow popped out against the sky, running over the concert stage. "See? God loves the Gays," Rufus chuckled, and what seemed like a thousand card-carrying members of GLADD screamed and cheered before turning to make out with their significant others. It helped that the large crowd of Caucasia was fairly boozed up on bottles of Bud Light, making the noise seem all that stronger. It was a very "We Are the World," atmosphere.

The performances by Rufus and Guster also finalized the debate on whether or not White people can dance. My answer is, most of them can't. Not very well, anyway. See, most of the Caucasian crowd was doing these funky, swerving movements to songs that called for absolutely no swerving whatsoever. They bobbed when they should have ducked. They ducked when they should have bobbed. One pair of girls looked like they were sharing some kind of tandem hula hoop, just swirling their butts around in tiny little circles, and flailing their arms around for dear life. It looked like a combination of the Hokey Pokey and the Chicken Dance, with a little Watutsi thrown in for good measure. None of these people understand what it means to get crunk'd (With extra emphasis on the k'd) or even how to "Get Low." Not that it was even that kind of concert, but still. Being young, upper class, and White does not excuse you from being terrible dancers. Go on out and buy yourself a copy of "Darren's Dance Grooves," if you're desperate. Next time you head on over to that Bruce Springsteen concert, you'll impress the crowd by being the only member of your friends who can dance. Trust me. It's worth it.

But finally, after over two hours of waiting, Ben finally showed up on stage. He went through some new stuff, and brought out some old standbys, like "One Angry Dwarf," and "Kate," my absolute favorite. And I can honestly say that anyone who can sing the lyrics to "Song for the Dumped" in Japanese is truly talented. I sang, I screamed, I jumped for joy. I mean, it's one thing to hear him play on any of his CDs, but it's entirely different thing to see him live. I was really skeptical about seeing him do an entire show without anyone else. Everyone said he was supposed to be good, but I didn't know just how good that was. His set was over an hour and a half long before the encore, and even then I didn't want him to stop. The moment he sat by that Baldwin, I forgot all about the bad dancers and GLADD board members that surrounded me. I was more interested in singing along to "Army," and "Rock Out With Your Cock Out," (A song made up on the spot) to do anything else.

Sigh.

I can die happy now.

Set List:

There's Always Someone Cooler Than You
Zak and Sara
All You Can Eat
Gracie's Song
Kate
Philosophy/Theme from Dr. Pyser
Army
Selfless, Cold and Composed
Too Late
Brick
Careless Whisper (With Rufus Wainwright)
Give Judy my Notice (With Guster)
Rock Out With Your Cock Out
Rockin' The Suburbs
Not the Same
--Encore--
Short Bus Benny
One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces
Song for the Dumped

posted at 8:13 a.m.