I love going to concerts. There’s nothing like seeing the artists you love performing their songs right in front of you. And one of the best parts of going to concerts is audience participation. When the artists reach out to the audience, connect with them, and get them involved in the music.
There are many parts of Ben Folds’ concert album, Ben Folds Live, that bring a smile to my face. There is one specific section of it that is downright magical…it is his performance of “Army.” The song itself is enough fun as it is on the studio album, but the performance of it on Ben Folds Live is awesome. Well, first of all, the studio version of “Army,” recorded with the band Ben Folds Five, is all sorts of fun and has horns, drums, xylophone, the works. But all of the material on the live album is just Folds and a piano — no backing band or anything. So, being limited to just the piano, he thought it would be a great idea to split the audience up and turn them into a “bitchin’ horns section.” One half is turned into saxophones and the other into trumpets…and everyone performs brilliantly. I envy that audience every time I listen to the song.
You need two tracks from the recording to get this experience. Towards the end of “Narcolepsy” — which is a pretty good, somewhat quiet tune — you hear Folds splitting up the audience and setting everything up for his performance of “Army.” So it is essential you have both tracks for this. With that, I leave you with the songs of the day.
Songs of the Day:
Ben Folds – “Narcolepsy”
Ben Folds – “Army” / (album link)
Bonus:
Ben Folds Five – “Army” / (album link)
Hopping Into Puddles 
Yeap but theres nothing worst that the band or singer dont play ur favorite song, puffffff.
yeah…especially when the artist/band opens up for suggestions throughout the concert and you’ve been calling out one song every time…and they consciously, intentionally, and deliberately IGNORE you…haha
I am jealous of your music knowledge. The only Ben’s Fold I remember was the overplayed, yet decent song, “Brick”
best ben folds song ever – his Bitches Ain’t Shit remix of Dr. Dre’s… man, i loooove that song.
hahah….yeah…i like listening to Dr. Dre’s original, then Ben Fold’s cover right after. So hilarious.
Hey kristiane, I’m not trying to show off my (perpetually inadequate) “music knowledge,” but did you know “Brick” is about an abortion? He and his girlfriend went to get it while her parents were out of town. It was sad. I didn’t know that was what it was about for a while.
Yes, I did know that. It’s a bit of a sad song…okay, not just a bit. It’s totally a sad somewhat depressing song.
Where are you and why aren’t you writing us a new witty post?
Oh man…I’m pretty booked Mon-Thur these days and I’m ending up blogging only on the weekends.
I’ve been so busy with college stuff lately too. I’m trying to transfer out (hopefully a school somewhat far away ‘cos I feel like moving) and I’ve been having loads of trouble with my UT-Austin apps (I used to live in texas and my brother went to UT). The deadline is tomorrow at midnight.
Their app system sucks! Seriously…error messages all over the place! If they don’t reply to my emails and fix things by tomorrow, it looks like I won’t be a Longhorn.
But anyways, I’ve been a bit tied up with all that. I don’t know how witty it will be, but I plan on posting something relatively soon…maybe