Suffice to say, beloved piano-pounder Ben Folds soared during his concert for a capacity crowd at 20 Monroe Live on Sunday with a career-spanning set list and lively stage banter. Review, photo gallery.
Rockin’ 20 Monroe Live: Ben Folds on stage Sunday night. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Ben Folds has never been accused of standing still, musically or literally.
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So the Grand Rapids stop on his solo “Paper Airplane Request Tour” for a capacity crowd at 20 Monroe Live on Sunday night had a little bit of everything: old songs, new songs, Ben Fold Five songs, a creative drum solo, wildly entertaining and humorous stage banter and, of course, the second-set launch of countless paper airplanes toward the stage filled with scrawled tune requests from fans.
Fun Banter: Folds had plenty of it in Grand Rapids. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
At one point, during “Still Fighting It,” he even had the opening act — Boston electro-folk duo Tall Heights — join him on stage for some top-drawer vocal harmonies.
All of it was classic Ben Folds, a virtuosic, piano-propelled, improvisational tour de force overflowing with the usual fans hoots and yells, clever exchanges with concertgoers, drunken-sounding sing-alongs and engaging descriptions of selections from his ever-changing set list that covered tracks dating back to the 1990s, including Ben Folds Five’s “Brick” and “Army” (the first paper airplane request song).
Along the way — as part of the special seated show at 20 Monroe Live — he also trotted out faves such as “Phone in a Pool,” “My Philosophy,” “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces,” “So There,” “Capable of Anything,” “Annie Waits,” “Fred Jones Part 2,” “Landed,” “The Luckiest” and “You Don’t Know Me.”
Next up, the tour hits the Lexington Opera House in Lexington, Ky., and the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., and there’s little doubt devoted fans there will be ready to pepper him with more paper airplanes and plenty of stage love, just as they did in Grand Rapids on Sunday night. — Anna Sink
PHOTO GALLERY: Ben Folds, Tall Heights at 20 Monroe Live
Photos by Anthony Norkus
Copyright 2017, Spins on Music LLC
