The first time Ben Folds played with The Boston Pops at Symphony Hall in 2007, the concert was an odd mix of Folds songs and Pops pieces, a fight broke out in the mezzanine, and conductor Keith Lockhart was forced to temporarily halt the show. It was hardly your typical night at the symphony.
On Friday night, Folds returned for round two, looking to make things right. It was an equally unusual night at the symphony, but this time because the set consisted of all Folds originals and a peaceful crowd experienced the confluence of great popular and classical music. In fact, many of the songs sounded as if they had been created with a full orchestra in mind. Ben Folds' music has never been accused of being overly modest, and while the Pops players didn’t inject much life into their parts, the grandiose Symphony Hall and deep instrumentation fit the tunes like a glove.
After a few ho-hum collaborations to open the concert, Folds played a beautiful version of “Landed” before launching into the real jumping off point of the concert – “Zak and Sara.” For the first time that evening, the Pops played with the power of a full orchestra, vying with Folds’ voice and piano to be the center of attention. Enhanced further by the backing of a choir, the songs that followed sounded lush but not melodramatic; Folds’ songwriting held up well in a potentially saccharine setting.
Seated at a piano in front of the orchestra, Folds played the part of host for the evening – taking over Lockhart’s usual role with the Pops. Between songs, Ben would chat up the audience, tell stories, discuss song origins, and throw in the occasional piano-based gag. Aware that this concert was an unusual engagement for Symphony Hall, Folds acknowledged the humorous juxtaposition more than once: he described writing “Cologne” while accidentally high on codeine at a show, noted that “Back That Ass Up” is not in the Boston Pops repertoire, and described “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces” as being a “gay Broadway tune.”
Musically, the acoustics of the Hall were incredible (as one would expect) and Folds could be heard even without a microphone when he led the audience in a three-part harmony on “Not The Same.” The acoustics, at times, made the concert piano sound almost too good – Folds’ songs are meant for a mushier set of ivories than the crisp and clean set owned by the symphony. Perhaps as a result, Folds eschewed his piano stool on multiple occasions and chose instead to stand, throwing himself at the keys as if attempting to gain leverage over an instrument designed more for Johann and Amadeus than for Zak and Sara.
On the songs Folds played solo, the crisp piano and warm Symphony Hall acoustics brought a level of sincerity to his words. Following “Not The Same,” Folds slowed things down, sat down in the spotlight, and sang two new songs alone with the piano. The songs – which lacked titles even on the setlist – came from an upcoming album that Folds is making with novelist (and now lyricist) Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity and About A Boy, among others. Fittingly, the lyrics stood out.
Folds finished the main set with ripping four-song series – “Steven’s Last Night In Town,” “Fred Jones Pt. 2,” “Narcolepsy,” and “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces” – and a pattern began to emerge: standing ovation, encore, standing ovation, encore, standing ovation, encore, standing ovation. On the first encore, Fold was accompanied by the orchestra in a beautiful rendition of the always moving “The Luckiest.” The second time, Folds improvised a ditty to serenade the Pops as they left the stage, with lyrics of “When I was young I practiced my instrument all day. I didn’t learn the basic skills like bullying, football…and kissing girls. Now I rock this bitch with the Boston Pops, so you can kiss my ass because I rock this bitch with the mother[mumble] Boston Pops.” He followed that cheeky tune with a high energy take on “Army” that had the audience standing, clapping, and singing along the entire time. The third and final encore brought the best juxtaposition of the night – Ben Folds playing “Rocking The Suburbs” and leading the audience in a chorus of “better watch out, because I’m gonna say ‘fuck.’” Like I said, not your typical night at the Symphony.
During the opening lines of the first encore, conductor Keith Lockhart turned around to sneak a peek at the audience. The glance carried extra meaning as Folds sang “I don’t get many things right the first time,” particularly given what transpired during the first Pops/Folds collaboration. Mixing audiences and styles is always a risky choice, but Friday night proved that it can sound natural, balanced, and beautiful. This time, they got it right.
