THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Digest
Issue #679 - December 6, 1997
Magical Armchair Digest Saturday, December 6 1997 Volume 01 : Number 679
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TOPICS IN THIS DIGEST:
various
BFF in DC (Review)
those crazy kids
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #676
my website, WEAEA CD-ROM info
DC Show review
Re: Triple J HOTTEST 100
Fliming of the DC show
BRITISH PEOPLE
Dec 2nd
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #676
Georgetown...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 1997 01:27:29 -0500 (EST)
From: Tidal Wave <el266071@hvcc.edu>
Subject: various
before i kept thinking about this, but never got around to mailing
the list until now: this is my very own attempt to start a thread :P
anyways, if there is a ben folds five song that describes your
life to a t, which one would it be? for me, it would be "smoke" because,
as ben describes it, it's about being unable to escape your memories or
your past, and i've done some really dumb crap over the course of my life
that i'm never gonna be able to escape the memories of and i'm gonna
regret doing this stuff for the rest of my life and i'll never be able to
get away from it. or maybe "jackson cannery" because of that whole
"seconds pass slowly and years go flying by" bit :)
i dunno if that whole "wow, that cat ben folds is singing about MY
life" spiel is gonna apply to everyone or just a select few of
people...ahh so be it.
finally, a public apology to lajohns4@vt.edu for that
soundgarden-crapawamba (sorry to anybody here that might like them)
thing..i mailed him off the list and said sorry for misinterpreting your
post. anyways, if anybody can contribute to my thread, please do so i
dont feel like an utter failure ;)
And now, some things to ponder:
"It's unpleasantly like being drunk."
"What's so unpleasant about being drunk?"
"You ask a glass of water."
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 1997 01:34:55 -0500 (EST)
From: Oddsman <oddsman@wam.umd.edu>
Subject: BFF in DC (Review)
I've been a lurker for the most part over the past 2 years or so (has
it been that long?), but always post after a show...anyway, here's my 2
cents on the DC show.
When we first got to the building on Georgetown campus, a line was coming
down a set of stairs...we waited there for about 10 minutes before they
began letting us up the two flights to the hall. The place held about 600
people on 2 levels. I looked alot like a church, and both the opening
band and Ben made reference to it. It was not sold out when we got there,
but was probably pretty close by show-time. There were seats (which
sucked), but everyone stood once BFF came on.
Yazbek was...uh...hrm...they came off sounding like a copy-cat BFF
band. The opening act shouldn't be soo closely related to the main act
that you begin comparing them. This was the case. The lead singer was a
mix of Billy Joel and Elvis Costello. I thought the bass player was pretty
smooth, but they got on everybody's nerves towards the end of their set.
People began yelling for them to shut up and get off....
So in between bands, my friends and I noticed them setting up film camera's
all around. They taped the whole show! Ben spoke about it briefly,
saying something like "Here's your chance to be on film." Anyone know
what/when/if this video will be released or shown, etc? back to the show.
BFF rocked! I thought they were a little rough getting started (Darren kept
racing the beat way too fast), but by the third song, all was sweet!
Here's a setlist(not in any particular order):
missing the war
one angry dwarf
fair
Brick
Selfless, Cold & Composed
Kate
smoke
stevens last night in town
battle of who could care less
She Dont Use Jelly (Flaming Lips cover---completely remade)
Jackson Cannery
Philosophy
Julianne
Alice Childress
Underground (Robert had a nice little R&B thing during "And now it's..."
Last Polka
Best Imitation of my self (said they don't play it much anymore, but saw
it as a request)
Pyser
Encore:
Boxing
Song for the Dumped
Great set...lotta crowd interaction...great show.
kev
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 1997 21:09:52 -0500
From: schander@juno.com (joe s schanderson)
Subject: those crazy kids
In response to Chris' post about a bad BF5 concert experience,
Steve wrote:
>Lighten up! Enjoy yourself!
Steve? Didn't you even read Chris' post. He was TRYING to enjoy himself.
That's the problem.
Steve continued:
>Maybe it was because I was probably singing along with the band the
loudest.
>It wasn't rude at all...probably the two best times i've ever had.
Thank you for making Chris' point for him. Just so you know, YOU don't
get to decide if it was rude or not. I think it's actually impossible to
be rude to yourself. Chris' point, which you make a great example of is
that he noticed people being far more self-centered than ever before. It
was the two best times YOU ever had. Chris is arguing, and I am agreeing,
that tooooooo often, people are so concerned with pleasing themselves
they don't even care OR NOTICE that they are negatively affecting others.
I don't care that Steve is 40 and writing. Who CARES!!! This isn't really
about age which is the one part of Chris' original post that I don't
agree with. YOUR RIGHTS END WHERE OTHER'S BEGIN. THIS GOES FOR
EVERYTHING. Believe it or not.
michigan joe
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 1997 01:18:21 -0600 (CST)
From: "Mark A. Wood" <revt@texas.net>
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #676
RE: BF5 In Concert (Austin)
*sigh* I had to miss this show, even though I had planned on being there
since I heard about it 2 months prior (hey, I got to spend time with my
kid, which, as much as I love these guys, nothing else comes close). I've
gotten over the disappointment of having missed them, but it really tweaks
my nads when I see people complaining about the shows.
I mean, come on, BF5 are consummate musicians, granted. But, if you
haven't noticed, THEY'RE FUN. They inspire bouncing and jumping around and
singing along. This is a rare thing, in my opinion. No other band that
I've listened to in the past 15 years has inspired this much FUN. So if
you just want to "sit and enjoy the music", wait until they play the Frank
Erwin Center. Then you can sit in your seat and 'enjoy just listening' to
the band. Until then, leave the Zona Rosa and Liberty Lunch shows to us
young upstarts.
Here I stand, sad and free
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 1997 01:45:14
From: "Hannah Kuhlmann" <kuhl0025@tc.umn.edu>
Subject: my website, WEAEA CD-ROM info
hey - who wants to do me a great service AND have some web-surfin' fun? I'm
trying to build a neat little BFF web page, and I need people to visit it
and check it for bugs AND review the content. I'm planning on just a humble
little shrine to the fab 3, because geocities only gives me so much free
space AND I don't want to just recycle what's already on the web. SO --
it'd be super cool if you'd stop by. Then, if you're inspired, drop me an
e-mail with any suggestions for more interesting content, typo alerts or
whatever. THANKS! I knew I could count on you guys. :)
I'm at:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Cafe/1094/
p.s. thanks for the validation and support, fellow procrastinating-obsessive
computer geeks! you guys are penis-a. (look, it's a compliment now! like
"grade-a". I love it. :D )
p.p.s. who needed the WEAEA interactive info? e-mail me, and I'll just do a
big mass mailing thing with a list of plug-ins and sites to get 'em at.
(why am I suddenly the self-proclaimed expert on the CD thing? I'm not even
the one who discovered it! Well, I like the feeling of authority and power,
at any rate.)
- ---------------------------------------
hannah kuhlmann - kuhl0025@tc.umn.edu
Bring it on down, bitch.
- -DARREN JESSE
- ---------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 05 Dec 1997 03:57:18 -0500
From: Rodrigo Delgado <rdelgado@home.com>
Subject: DC Show review
Wow, the Georgetown show last night just kicked sooo much ass. Before
I start rambling, here is the set list
missing the war/BOWCCL/Philosophy/SelflessCold&Compossed/DrPhyser
LastPolka/Stevens/Fair/Brick/Kate/JacksonCannery/Julianne/OneAngryDwarf
BestImitation/AliceChlidress/Smoke/SheDontUseJelly/Underground
Encore: - Boxing/SongFortheDumped/strange 80's Improve Outro
As you can tell, it was a really long show (21 songs), but it was great.
Robert was totally on the whole show. His bass set the tone for the
whole set(he broke a string on BOWCCL). The sound was fantastic, and
the crowd reaction was good, especially on Last Polka.
Ben and company did a little interacting with the crowd, dedicating a
song
to one guy cause it was his birthday. I was stuck for the first part of
the show next to this true asshole who kept screaming at the soft parts
just to be heard. He had come to the show drunk as hell, and ben
even took a moment to poke fun at him. "I wanna tell you that your
being
really anonying. I just thought Id let you know". This was recieved
with
cheers from the drunk guy. But Ben played the songs he wanted to hear,
and
he settled down. And all was right with the world.
I was soo happy to hear Alice Childres and Boxing, two of my favorites,
which dont strike me as common show songs. The Robert Into to
Underground
was the same preacher into hes been doing all tour, but it still sounded
fantastic.
The 80's outro at the end was fantastic. Everybody did a little solo,
including a neat drum solo, and then ben jumped up on the piano, and
did a crowd repeat repsonce thing (say yeah, yeah, so ohh, ohh, now
scream, ahh). It was mighty fine in deed.
The standard request is made by me. I NEED to have a copy of this, and
I
have a some stuff to trade in return. On a side not, (Ill metion more
later)
the whole show was filmed. Not videotaped, but actually filmed by a 10
or 12
man chew, with several steadycams, and all sorts of stuff. I wonder
why.....
This show rocked. If you have a tape contact me. I will find a way to
convince you to trade with me.
Roy - Still flying high
: "Remember all the trees behind the garden, they're gone. They all
: got cut down when she died." BFF
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 05 Dec 1997 17:05:01 WST
From: "Danielle Griffin" <chewoki@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Triple J HOTTEST 100
Sorry, Petra, too late...I've voted for Paranoid Android. After all,
BFF didn't play an all ages show in Perth, BUT, Radiohead IS going too!
:P (No, that's not the reason why I didn't vote for BFF) Yes, that's
right! My brother saw someone with a Radiohead t-shirt on today in a
music store, so he asked him where he got it from, and he said he got it
from the record company, and he also told my brother that they told him
that Radiohead are playing at the Perth Entertainment Centre on February
10th!!!!!! Perth...Entertainment Centre = all ages...Radiohead! What
could be better?? I know I'm going to be buying tickets the first day
they go on sale.
Yes, I was going to say something about Ben Folds Five, but, I have now
forgotten what that something was. Don't you just hate that? Sorry for
the non-BFF content.
Danielle
Ohh yeh, something to add BFF into this email...Paul McDermott and Mikey
Robbins were on Midday Show (I have no idea why!) and at the end, Mikey
asked if he could throw the stool at Goeff Harvey's piano. I don't know
what they said to that...someone just told me they had heard them
talking about it in the morning on the radio one day. *sigh* I'm gonna
miss Paul and his weather in the morning.
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 05 Dec 1997 04:20:51 -0500
From: Rodrigo Delgado <rdelgado@home.com>
Subject: Fliming of the DC show
OK- heres the thing. The entire DC show was filmed. This was not a
normal videotaping or even a professional videotaping. There was a 10
or 12 man crew, all wearing pretty much the same uniform (navy blue
T-shirt, blue jeans) from a professional crew in the area. There seem
to be two 'director'like guys in charge, and there where at least four
(I think five) cameras throughout the stadium. There was a mounted
camera at the far back. There was a camera on a stand which a guy
manned on the left side. There where two mobile cameras which camera man
used as they milled through the crowd, at the back of the stage.
They had creen markers, time measures, and the cameras used film packs,
of which they went through dozens of. Clearly, they taped almost the
whole show. The only points where all cameras seemed to be going was
the first four songs, and the last two.
So, what I wanna know is why the show was filmed. no matter why, I must
get a hold of whatever comes of it, but I wanna know now what it will
be. Here are the possibilities as I see them.
1. A home video - They could be planning to release a home concert video
of the show, or that and other shows. This would explain why they
seemed to tape the whole show. But why would they do this with Naked
Baby photos coming out soon, and none of the new NBP songs in the show?
2. A concert video - Heh, they could have been filming a video(like for
MTV). I know they processes take time, and with the good responce to
Brick, I cant help but think sony will want to follow up with another
video coon. Maybe they are just putting up the cash for a concert
video. I mean, they could have taped the whole show just to have enough
footage, but close ups on the slow songs vs the fast songs would be
inconsistent, and they couldnt use all the tape they used. And even so,
what song would it be? Some possibilities:
a. Song For the Dumped - A lot of people, my self including,
seem to think this will be the next single. Its just too perfect
b. Kate - its possible . The song is great sigle material
but its not likely
c. Stevens - Another very likely possibility. Its the other
big fast song from the album still unreleased.
d. Anything from NBP - but why would they not play any of the
new unreleased stuff (Emaline,Eddie Walker) Maybe Julianne Live
3. A 'live' Tv broadcast - I guess they could have done this to do a
live tv show, like live from the Ten Spot, of something on VH1 or
something like that. But why splurge for putting it on film (WAYY MORE
EXPENSIVE) if its ending up a tv special. Video would have looked about
as good for all intensive purposes (one or two broadcass)
I thinbk the music video (like MTV) is the most likely.
If frank or anybody, anybody at all, hears whats going on, or has any
other clue where I can get a copy of this, please dont hesitate to speak
up.
Im done rambling. Time to sleep.
Roy
"Being awake never felt like this before" - BFF
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 1997 11:46:38 +0000
From: "B.D.WATTS" <tl6304@qmw.ac.uk>
Subject: BRITISH PEOPLE
Are there any British people left on this list???
Six days to go.
and eight hours.
and three minutes
not that Im counting mind
Let he who casts the first stone cast it directly at Tony Blair,
TL6304@qmw.ac.uk
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 05 Dec 1997 05:10:05 -0500
From: Steve Deame <sdeame@iona.com>
Subject: Dec 2nd
Hi All:
Great show at Avalon on Tuesday. You have read all the reviews so I won't go
into detail. I saw one person state that they played "Video"
Well Ben commented that they didn't know it and that was that. I didn't have
that many beers at that time so I am pretty sure I am correct (plus the fact
this was my eighth time seeing them).
It seemed Ben was really into playing "Dumped" . I thought maybe with his
problems with Kate, the song has more meaning...;)
I was really impressed with Everclear. The lead singer commented that BFF
was one of their favorite bands and they wished they could write songs like
that. They rocked the house themselves though.
Here is to the band playing back in Boston in Feb. We love them up here
cheers
steve
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Senior Account Manager | www: www.iona.com
IONA Technologies | ftp: ftp.iona.com
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http://www.iona.com/Press/PR/orbix2_3.html
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 1997 09:05:43 -0500 (EST)
From: marc s kaplan <mkap@wam.umd.edu>
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #676
you wrote:
>don't hate me cause i'm stupid. hate me cause i smell.
Ok.
-/\/\arc
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 1997 09:23:18 -0500 (EST)
From: marc s kaplan <mkap@wam.umd.edu>
Subject: Georgetown...
The show was of course incredible.
I don't remember the exact set list, but It started off with Missing the
war, and ended up with Boxing (a weird choice for an encore song i think!)
and Song for the dumped:
Other songs at G.U. in no particular order (i'm sure some on who has a
better memore than me will post the order :))
Philosophy, kate, julliane, best imatation, brick, selfless cold etc,
Stevens, BOWCCL, She dont use Jelly, Alice childress, Jackson Cannery,
Fair, OAD--thats all I can rememmber (no Video :( )
Anyway the place was packed, and yasbec the opener had a copule of good
songs (and a copule of really bad songs e.g. 666). But he(the lead
singer) seemed to have real respect for Ben and the other 2/3.
The concert was great, I was standing right next to the left speaker(my
ears are still ringing), right near some crazily dancing girls :),
everything was lovely, with the exception of the guy in front of me who
I think shit his pants--he smelled like it at least!!
I am glad I got to go this was my first concert, and look forward to going
to another 1-3 in feb.
"I feel like I should be preaching in here"
-Ben last night in Gaston Hall G.U.
------------------------------
End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #679
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