THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Digest
Issue #267 - April 28, 1997
Magical Armchair Digest Monday, April 28 1997 Volume 01 : Number 267
THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Mailing List
Topics in this issue:
fine...fine...another COVER suggestion.
Greetings.
BF5 international
Cleveland show was rockin'
BFF interview
hi!oi!aloha!
Mainstreaming and HORDE
What?!? A poor review?
Cleveland Show!
Wrapping up the chicago events.
HORDE
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #265
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 15:18:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: Eggasaurus@aol.com
Subject: fine...fine...another COVER suggestion.
seems obvious enough, but how's 'bout "i'm the man" by joe? c'mon...how
cool would that be?
(besides..."sugar magnolia" seems a bit far-fetched...)
egg
p.s. to FRANK M. - despite the critiques, thr Armchair is still the place to
be...thanks again.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 15:21:05 +0000
From: mill <mill@geocities.com>
Subject: Greetings.
Hello everyone. I have recieved this for a little, but I am finally
posting something. All I have to post is this question: On what songs
does Ben play a melodica? I ask this because I just got out my dad's old
melodica and would like to hear one being played. Thank you,
Goodbye all,
spicky.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 22:08:17 +0200
From: lynchmob@northnet.org (Ian)
Subject: BF5 international
Hello to all of the cool fans out there,
Just wanted to say that I was in Ottawa this weekend for a class
trip and saw the coolest thing. While walking down a pretty vacated alley
I found a little sign for a restaurant/cd shop through this door. Well
when I went to see what was popular in Canada these days, I was frustrated
to find that I hadn't heard of any of these bands. They only carried about
100 cd's so most of it was Canadian. But then it popped out at me, yea you
guessed it-Whatever and Ever Amen. It is amazing to me that our litle band
from Chapel Hill is making it bigger than any of the other up and coming
bands from the states.
Oh and a question for anybody out there. What is CMJ magazine? I
had never heard of it and the owner of the store told me that CMJ had given
BF5 a lot of support so they decided to give them a try and of course loved
it. Well I hope to see some of you at the Saratoga Winners show. Peace...
Ian Lynch
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 16:12:15 -0400
From: David Beck <drbeck@ibm.net>
Subject: Cleveland show was rockin'
Last night, i experienced utter bliss. i will tell about the concert
from the start to finish, for anyone who didn't get to make it. Being a
native of columbus oh, i did not know my way around cleveland. we
checked into the embassy suites hotel, and grabbed a burger at
lifestyles, the grill next door. we kept seeing all these freakshows
walking around, with black nail polish, weird makeup, and leather.
These freakshows were there(as we later found out) because of a marilyn
manson concert going on that evening also. i was relieved to hear that,
because now i knew that i would not have to run into any of them at the
odeon!(i do not have anything against these people, except the fact that
they listen to a devil worshipping artist) we then caught a cab to the
odeon. we got there at 7 45, and there was a line of about 30 outside,
while some band warmed up inside. i looked for fellow, armchairers, but
no luck.(i think there should be a given sign to give, for all concerts,
like the whatever symbol with your hands or something) we got in, and i
ran to the wall for posters, and t shirts. my friend saved a place up
front for me. i had brought a recorder, and was going to try to tape
the show(i am the king of rookies in the subject of taping a concert). i
got up front to wait,and hold my spot. then i ran into some "armies",
one of which i passed the next hour talking to (hi Sandi!). we met some
other armchair people(hi guy with the k on his hat!), and still
more(hello girl and guy with blond hair, sorry i was so grouch about
giving up my spot, i know, i am very hulking!). then Komeda came on,
and i thought they were pretty good. the lead girl could have moved a
bit away from the mic, so we could have understood her better, but thats
okay. i felt bad for her, when some drunken oaf in the back threw
something at her, i think that hurt her feelings. they ended with a
funny dance, and that was komeda. there was then a half hour break,
while bff set up. darren came out and set up the drums himself, and that
was cool. sandi and the girls made a sign to sing fanny pack, but i
didnt happen. finally they came out, and the room was filled with
cheering, and they started. ben was wearing a doobie brothers shirt, and
looked comfortable, yet shy. i didnt memorize the playlist, so hopefully
someone else has it and will post it. they played some new stuff like
emaline, theme from dr. psyer (sp?) and she dont use jelly. they even
started the song from risky business twice, but it didnt go through.
bras were thrown on stage, and robert put one on, and acted fruity the
rest of the show,(and i always thought robert was the most unfunny, but
i guess not!) they ended, and everyone hung around for a while, then
left. before i left, i thought i saw kate, but i wasnt sure, cause i
knew she did lights, and this girl was very cute, with curly short black
hair, guess ill never know. then i saw him. ben was on stage, helping
the crew with the piano. for some reason, no one else saw him, so i ran
over and exchanged a few words with him. he was very nice, and when the
"bouncer" pulled me away before i got to the stage, ben even said it was
okay. so both my friend and i walked away with his john hancock. all in
all, it was a very "radical" night. for some reason, my taping didnt
work, and only got the first half hour, with emaline, polka, kate, and
some others. i dont care that much, all i wanted it for was the
memories. well, i think ive bored you enough, and i know that is cool
(to be so bored and all).
officer friendly
ps i think that the ultimate cover could very well be raspberry beret,
by The Artist(prince). also, if anyone has any copies of concerts, or
even other albums besides their ep's, i would be very interested.
HAVE FUN IN ATLANTA SANDI! GET KATES PICTURE AND GIVE IT TO ME! KISS
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN AND JAKE FOR ME!LOVE YA!
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 16:29:30 -0400 (EDT)
From: Steve Jones <misterjones@mindspring.com>
Subject: BFF interview
There's an interview in the Sunday, April 27 issue of the Raleigh (NC)
_News & Observer_ about 2 Chapel Hill bands that broke into the mainstream,
the Squirrel Nut Zippers and BFF. Interesting article ... and a few quotes
from Ben about success. You can find it online at
http://www.nando.net/newsroom/nao/tri/042797/tri05_26114.html
Steve Jones
Durham, NC
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 20:33:14, -0500
From: QPQJ32A@prodigy.com (MS KIMBERLY HORN)
Subject: hi!oi!aloha!
okay, just out of curiosity, where have people seen ben folds five?...
..
(this wasn't my original post---my post was censored----cause being,
i was off topic of ben folds five....)
seferina
____
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. How many Spice Girls does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. Who cares, as long as you are holding the ladder.
(how true!!!!!!!!!!!!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 15:52:46 -0500
From: "Louie Nash" <louie@tamu.edu>
Subject: Mainstreaming and HORDE
I really don't mind mainstreaming that much except for what VH1, MTV, and
Blockbuster do to bands. They seem to exploit the living hell out of them
and then make fun of them like they were New Kids on The Block, hence,
Hootie. It's really too bad, too. Hootie had talent. It's easier to push
somehting mainstream when it's actually good. When BFF becomes the next
Hootie, then I will have lost all faith in modern music culture.
Does anyone know how long BFF will be on the HORDE tour this summer?
Usually some bands only do a couple of legs of the tour, much like Dave
Matthews band did last year. (That was a really good show!)Please, pray to
God, don't let Edgefest have scared BFF away from Dallas forever!
Bo Nash
louie@tamu.edu
"The average woman would rather have beauty than brains,
because the average man can see better than he can think."
Somebody Famous
"The one serious conviction that a man should have is that
nothing is to be taken too seriously."
Samuel Butler: 1612-1680, British poet
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 17:06:53 -0400
From: "Jason M. Reich" <jmr15@cornell.edu>
Subject: What?!? A poor review?
Hi folks-
At the risk of introducing some controversial material for which I
will be soundly crucified, I present the following... I, personally, think
it's interesting to read a bad review of a good album, so here's Rickey
Wright's review of "Whatever" as it appeared in the Washington, DC City
Paper on April 25, 1997. (Yes, I'll type it...I gots nothing better to do):
"The leader of Ben Folds Five simply tries too hard. On 'Whatever
and Ever Amen,' the three-piece Five's sophmore(-ic) second effort, Folds
too often augments his early-'70s Elton John and Todd Rundgren swipes with
unconvincing profanity and bad jokes that turn on his unprepossessing status
as a piano-pounding songster; he joins the two on 'Song For The Dumped,'
whose chorus is built around the cry, 'Give me my money back, you bitch.'
None dare call it Weezer. Folds displays his stunted sense of irony of
'Fair,' which features a hapless lug whose wife changes her mind in the
midst of leaving: 'When he lunged onto the hood/She stopped to tell him
she'd been wrong/He was thrown head over heels/Into the traffic coming
on/But then/All is fair in love.'
"Much of the remainder of the disc is spent on sensitive-guy stuff
like 'Brick,' an abortion tale whose subtlety lands like its title object.
At least it makes Fountain of Wayne's similar and far-superior 'Sick Day'
sound even better than it already did. 'Selfless, Cold, and Composed' is a
tediously lengthy homage to 'Night and Day'-era Joe Jackson (it figures that
Folds would aim for an easier target than Jackson's own more complex role
model, Elvis Costello).
"In straining to open out his trio's sound, Folds missteps
stylistically to an embarrassing degree. 'Smoke' fails at its try at
French-cafe ambiance, while 'Steven's Last Night In Town' grafts several
Klezmatics to its jazzy tale of another college-town loser. Unfortunately,
Folds can't think of anything for the guests to do but run through a
Broadway-style showstopper that doesn't exactly threaten to supplant our
memories of Fats Waller or Louis Jordan.
"He finally gets it right, and gloriously so, on the record's 10th
song, 'Battle of Who Could Care Less.' Not only does Folds nail this envoi
to a Rockford Files-addicted couch potato, he sings it to a winning tune in
a pared-back setting that, for once, actually honors 'Honky Chateau' and
'Something/Anything?'. In blasting the 'unearned unhappiness' of a pal
several years after the phrase 'slacker rock' was last deployed in Rolling
Stone, the singer gets across on well-planted detail ('See, I've got your
old ID/You're all dressed up like the Cure') instead of generalizing about
an obvious topic, as he does over 'Whatever's' other three-quarters of an
hour. Maybe the third album will offer a worthy B-side for a 'Battle' 45."
So there you have it. If you want, you can check out
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com. I don't think the review itself is
online, but you can certainly e-mail the editors with your humble opinions.
Otherwise, if anyone has any comments about this, let's hear 'em.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this letter are the opinions of City
Paper critic Rickey Wright, and do not necessarily reflect those of the
person sending this to the listserv. I think the album's great. Really, I
do. Later on, kids.
Jason
"My mother didn't breast feed me.
She said she liked me as a friend."
- Rodney Dangerfield
"Love is being stupid together."
- Paul Valery (1871-1945)
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 18:08:12 EDT
From: sandishortcake@juno.com (Sandi Shorter)
Subject: Cleveland Show!
First, I must start by saying that this was the best show I have ever
seen in my life! That means a lot coming from me, considering I have
seen legends such as Bob Dylan and Santana live also...but BF5 FAR
surpassed them, I am happy to say.
My friend Christine and I got to the Flats early since we planned on
meeting up with fellow Armchair-ites at 6pm...We got a great parking
spot, right in front of the Odeon (across the street). BF5's bus was
right in front of the lot we parked in. As we were getting out of the
car, we saw Ben getting off the bus, so we went over and talked to him
for a minute and he signed our tickets. He was REALLY nice...even said
(when I asked him if Kate was with him) that he would introduce us to her
if he saw us around later. Then we were off to Longhorn. We had a table
set up for 10 of us and Chris and I sat down and waited. Well, I think
it was about 6:30pm when 2 people showed up: Tiffany and Christa. They
told us that Elizabeth, who had set this whole thing up, had e-mailed
everyone around 5pm that night saying most people wouldn't be able to
make it until 7pm, some at 6:30 and that she might not make it at all.
Okay, that's fine, but if you're going to ditch something you set up, at
least be kind enough to let everyone know in advance...give me a break.
We had already left my house by 5pm so there was no way I would have
gotten that e-mail in time. Okay, enough bitching, now on with the
story...
Anyway, to everyone that did show up at Longhorn and to those of you who
dropped by to say hello: it was really nice meeting all of you. I had a
nice time. Sorry we couldn't stay longer, but you know how determined I
was to be RIGHT UP FRONT! I had to get in line at the Odeon and Chris
was kind enough to go along with my nuttiness. Okay, so onto the show:
it was so great! We were right up front. I even managed to make it back
and forth to the bar a few times without losing my place! What talent!
Christa had a pad of paper and a pen with her and she wrote down the set
list. I'm sure she'll post it on here, so I'm not going to boggle my
brain about that one. I was the obnoxious one up front that kept holding
up the sign that said "PLAY FANNY PACKS!" (beautifully made by Chris).
Ben just laughed at it at first, but then I held it up again and screamed
for him to play it and he said that it was just a song they made up and
they didn't play it live (and he even said my name on stage...swoon,
swoon) ...to which I replied "you played it once" because I remember
reading about it on the Armchair, but he just gave me an "I'm sorry" look
and they continued on with the set. They were WONDERFUL. I haven't EVER
had so much fun. It was great. To all of those whom I stepped on while
dancing and bouncing around like a nut: I'm sorry... We waited around
FOREVER after the show and I got all of them to sign the 2 posters I had
snagged from the walls of the club. (One for my friend Matt who didn't
get to meet them in St. Louis) Ben also apologized to me for not playing
Fanny Packs. What a nice guy. I even met KATE. She was really nice.
My only regret was not having my camera! I could have gotten a picture
with Ben, Robert, Darren, and Kate! I guess that will have to wait until
next weekend at the Atlanta show. That's all for now...my fingers are
getting tired. Sorry about the lengthy post!
- --Sandi
"get born. keep warm. short pants. romance." -Dylan
http://kent.edu/~sshorter
Where we discuss the Wallflowers, BF5, strange dreams, & things that piss
us off!
Join us! sandishortcake@juno.com
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 18:25:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: Yoda90210@aol.com
Subject: Wrapping up the chicago events.
To those of you that saw there was a guy that looked a helluvalot like Jerry
Garcia, that was Jerry Bryant, famed of JBTV, which airs on wednesdays,
saturdays, or really whenever they can find a slot on local access around
2:30 AM...basically, i've decided that if i can't find it on the telly, I'll
call up jerry myself and request a copy of the original footage, which we can
then distribute to armchairees. Who knows if it will work, but it's worth a
shot.
Thanks to everyone that shouted out Howard for my friend eliz.. Thanks to
those of you with uncorrupted minds that didn't mind the sexy motherfucker
bit we pulled, and thanks to the band for an incredible show, which even my
mother, balcony, left, enjoyed.
Again, it was nice to meet all those i did for the brief hellos. I think i
met six or so armchair persons or more. But you people just didn't respond
to scooby doo, damned it.
lv,
susie.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 19:05:37 EDT
From: sandishortcake@juno.com (Sandi Shorter)
Subject: HORDE
One more thing....Ben said they ARE doing the HORDE tour! Yippee! See
you there!
Sandi
"get born. keep warm. short pants. romance." -Dylan
http://kent.edu/~sshorter
Where we discuss the Wallflowers, BF5, strange dreams, & things that piss
us off!
Join us! sandishortcake@juno.com
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 19:56:56 -0400 (EDT)
From: BUZZARD16@aol.com
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #265
I was at the BFF concert last night in Cleveland and let me tell you it was
great i was up front with a few other armchair folk so that was cool .It
started kinda lame with there openers Kameo or somthing like that. They had a
good keyboard player that was about it . Then BFF hit the stage add WOW every
song was a hit .Everyone was danceing , jumping , singing ,and just having
fun .Once in a while Darren would crack a joke like this one "THIS SO GREAT
NOW THAT WHERE SO FUCKING RICH WE GET TOWELS" also he said how they have had
almost everything thrown at them but a bra yes a little later one flew to the
stage . Also Ben was given the gift of handcuffs from a fellow armchair
member. At the end when they cleared the stage the crowd chanted " Ben Folds
Five Ben Folds Five" and right then they ran back out shacking hands and
finished the show . WOW WOW WOW WOW it was great I loved it if you get the
chance go see them.
Ben Folds Five ROCKS
JoHn
------------------------------
End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #267
**************************************
THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR - The Ben Folds Five Mailing List
Submit articles to: armchair@maillist.il.ft.hse.nl
Send administrative requests to: armchair-request@maillist.il.ft.hse.nl
WWW homepage: http://oeonline.com/bff
List archive: http://oeonline.com/bff/list/