THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR

The Ben Folds Five Digest

Issue #405 - July 22, 1997



Magical Armchair Digest     Tuesday, July 22 1997     Volume 01 : Number 405



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TOPICS IN THIS DIGEST:

    HORDE in Denver
    BF5 on Lilith '98
    I don't have any promo tapes left! 
    Robert Sledge

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 21 Jul 1997 10:25:23 -0600 (MDT)
From: "Eric T. Beteille" <eric@hemi.com>
Subject: HORDE in Denver

All-too-brief yet all-too-amazing performance on the second stage
at Denver's HORDE fest. If you see only BFF and Squirrel Nut Zippers,
it is well worth the $30+ ticket price. BFF was the best I'd heard
and seen them; this was my third show. The four-piece string section
adds a LOT. It was like hearing these songs for the first time, all
over again.

And, if you go, stop by the HORDE CD store. Ben and Robert and Darren
sign autographs for about 30 minutes after their show. They signed
my HORDE program, on the same sheet as two of the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

As we've heard many times, Ben is a very nice guy. My friend Andrea was
totally starstruck by him, and too nervous to think of anything to say
at the autograph booth.

She finally blurted out, "I love you guys!" Ben said, "Thanks." And as
Andrea waited for the autographs, she muttered, "Oh, I really didn't
want to do this." And Ben said, "Do what?" So Andrea told him how nervous
she was. Ben said, "Oh, that happens to me too, all the time, in 
situations like this."

Darren's also a very nice guy. The second stage was in a street outside
Fiddler's Green, and BFF played just as the sun set in their faces.
The boys had to play directly facing West, squinting and sweating. So I
asked Darren, "Hot enough for you on that stage?" (OK, lame question,
but *you* think of something non-psychotic to say to your favorite band
in the world.) And Darren says, "No kidding! That sun was right in my
face, all I could see was the reflection off my cymbal." 

Here's what they played (and all of them included incredible
string arrangements):

   [String Intro] (Did anyone recognize the melody?)
   One Angry Dwarf
   Kate
   Fair
   Song for the Dumped
   Theme from Dr. Peyser
   Philosophy
   [String Outtro] (Rockford Files? Charlie's Angels???)

All three were incredibly energetic. Ben abused his piano stool on
several songs. He took to the top of the baby grand on one song and
danced around. Robert, Darren and the string section played their
hearts out. Does anyone know if John (of Fleming & John) did the
string arrangements for them on this tour? He did them on Whatever
and Ever Amen. BFF is re-defining rock string sections the same way
they did rock piano.

Reminder: Get to the second stage as soon as the previous band stops
playing! Once the small space in front of the stage fills up, it's
not easy to get in close enough! Plus you'll get to meet lots of
other BFF-anatics.

I wanna be,
Eric

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 21 Jul 1997 12:41:16 -0400
From: "Faix, Andrew" <AFaix@harris.com>
Subject: BF5 on Lilith '98

Hi All,

Went to the Lilith fair last night and had a ball.  Great performances
by all.  In an interview I read prior to the show w/ Sarah Mc., she
mentioned how she didn't want to alienate males, and that she was hoping
to include some male artists in next year's show.  Whatdya think about
Ben Folds?  I think their in touch enough with their feminine side, and
I'm sure that, "...gimmee my money back, you Bitch!..." will go over
great with the crowd.  Seriously, I think they'd be a great addition to
the line-up.  Any thoughts on that?

So, if anyone else is planning on being at the HORDE in Columbus lemmee
know.

Everyone is entitled to my opinion.

- -Andrew (afaix@harris.com)

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 21 Jul 1997 16:24:35 -0400 (EDT)
From: GenLand18@aol.com
Subject: I don't have any promo tapes left! 

I recently posted about me acquiring some BFF b-side promo cassettes from an
independent record store.  It was actually meant to be informational, not a
commercial.  As in:  "Hey, there's this BFF tape in stores now, so hurry up
and get them."  

This morning when I logged on, my mailbox was FLOODED with requests for these
tapes!  Jeepers!!  

Unfortunately, I gave most of them away...  but I do have a spare one, so the
first person that responded is getting it (I don't have the name right now...
but I have all the e-mail saved concerning this matter).  Someone simply
asked for a copy of it, and I'm happy to oblige.  I will be responding to
everyone's mail soon!!  

The way I found out about these tapes was from HORDE... some guy that was
passing out BFF stickers also handed me some coupons for the tapes (I doubt
you'd need them to claim the tapes....  when I got my "Battle" CD singles, I
just asked for them, and they gave me both singles, regardless if I had a
coupon or not).  

In the Los Angeles/Orange County, CA areas the tapes are found at the record
stores "Cool Stuff" in Huntington Beach or Laguna Niguel... or at "CD
Listening Bar" down in Irvine.  (According to the coupon, that is).

I'm sure the tapes are found elsewhere.  You might wanna call up your local
record store and find out.  

And if any BFF fans are out there that live near these record stores, I
highly suggest you snag a few dozen tapes to help out those I could not.  =(
 I'm terribly sorry.

As another reminder, the BFF tape (entitled "Some B-sides") only contains 4
B-sides, which I believed were all previously made available on CD imports.
 So if you have all the imports, the tape isn't really necessary.  Unless you
just want something extra in your BFF collections.

**Leslie**

"Ben Folds Five:  piano, bass, and drums.  3 guys with no vision.... and a
lot of money."  --  Ben Folds

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 21 Jul 1997 18:14:56 -0500 
From: excandescent@thenexus.com
Subject: Robert Sledge

       I've been told by 70 different people (might have been some on
this list), that Robert Sledge is not only an excellent bass player, he
is also a Garbage Pail Kids character..Any truth to that?

       Also who sings on For Those of Y'all That Wear Fannie Packs?  I
have a feeling its Darren..but..

       Sorry if these issues have been discussed at length before, but I
got a bad memory ;)

------------------------------

End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #405
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