Hello, and welcome to the Ben Folds Five mailing list! I've been thinking for some time of getting this off the ground and hopefully have everything in place to do this as a manual digest. I'll be posting regularly, sometimes at odd intervals, but generally keeping up, until I can get it on an automated server someplace.
I've included on the list a number of people who've written to me or whom I've seen posting elsewhere with interest in the group. If, for some reason, I've included you and you'd rather not be subscribed, let me know and I'll take you off the list right away. (hopefully, though, you'll stay!)
Initial administrivia:
To submit a post to the list, e-mail it to
For ease in sorting messages, put Ben Folds Five or BFF in the subject somewhere. This is not essential but may cause me to miss or delay some posts.
To unsubscribe the list, send e-mail to
That's it!
Next, a plug for the BFF pages on my homepage. Link to
Now, on to a compilation of comments and items I've received from various people over the last month or so. I have not included any From: lines or writer's names because they were not necessarily written with the intent that they be posted to a mailing list. This is just so you can see that there are others who share an enthusiasm for this great band! ==============================================================================
>Ya, BFF was great live. They even made most of the screwy situation they >were in. The club where I saw them, is actually the basement of a much >larger club. And upstairs that night Pennywise was performing, so it sounded >like a herd of elephants above us. So they began their set with an Ode to >Satan ??? or something like that. And during "Best Imitation of Myself" when >Ben was singing from the top of his piano, he knocked on the ceiling and >yelled to the people above to be quiet. Pretty funny actually. >
>We talked to them brief after the show and they were real down to earth guys. > Ben apparently has some ties to Michigan, since he played one summer in a >resort town called Traverse City. He even said the song Julianne was about a >girl from Detroit. ==============================================================================
[this is in reference to the performance at Universal Amphitheatre on Dec. 9:]
I was totally impressed with BFF. The "song for the dumped" I think I liked more than you did-- "I want my money back, give me my money back, and don't forget my plaid t-shirt." Just hysterical.
[and this regarding the Newport Beach show on Dec. 10:]
While they were setting up I wandered around back, and ran into Robert chatting with some really wacky looking (Punk style) girls. I walked up to him and said hello, and he seemed relieved to have an excuse not to continue his previous talk. He was very friendly and in a good mood. I told him the usual boring fan talk-- "I love your CD..." and I said that despite the sound problem last night, they were amazing. I asked how long they would play, and he said they were given 45 minutes. Then I asked if I could bother him for his autograph, and he gladly signed my CD liner. It was kind of a fiasco, because my first pen didn't write well on the CD paper, so I gave him another pen. It was not working very well either, and I said I didn't mean to be such a pain. Again, because those punkers were still hanging around, he said "not at all, I enjoy it. I like to Trace over my name!" in a very jovial manner. SInce I had stooped to being an autograph hound fan, I walked right up on the stage to Darren and asked for his sig., a little small talk, and then to Ben, who was still wiring his Piano for sound. He very kindly stopped and obliged, and didn't act put out or anything. Just then the stage guys said "Hey what do you want?" and I said nothing I was just leaving! They played (in approximately this order):
There was very little banter, but Ben did say that last night at Universal was sort of "Traumatic" on them all. The sound was great, the stage was small, the crowd was into it, and I was standing in the front row, less than 10 feet in front of Robert. I had my camera with me, and took a few pictures while they played, and I am curious as to how they will turn out. I was really into it, and singing right along, and they were SO close, as they played they looked right at me several times and knew that I was a fan, and gave an appreciative smile. Later after the Ladies finished, I was out back again, and talked a little more with Darren about NC (I used to live there). And that is it. The rest you must read in the Manor after I write it. ==============================================================================
[From Bedside Manor, the Barenaked Ladies mailing list:]
Just wondering if you heard Ben Folds Five at the WBRU Birthday Bash in Providence, RI this past weekend. That's where I just saw them, and I thought the exact same thing. After about 2 seconds, I told my girlfriend that these guys were definitely barenaked. I chatted with their bass player briefly after their set (he couldn't talk long 'cuz he had to help lug a full-sized grand piano out of the joint) and told him that I thought their music was a cross between BNL and Possum Dixon. He was at first surprised by the comparison, but then said that he could see where I was coming from.
Anyway, definitely a must see act for Barenakeds. They're from Chapel Hill, NC, and were just recent written up in Rolling Stone. ==============================================================================
Well, now it's your turn. Let's hear your opinions of the band, ideas for new songs, gig reviews, your thoughts on Darren's nose ring, suggestions for naming the list, questions and comments! And thanks for participating! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~