THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Digest
Issue #271 - April 30, 1997
Magical Armchair Digest Wednesday, April 30 1997 Volume 01 : Number 271
THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Mailing List
PLEASE OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING:
* DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the posting address!!
Send all administrative requests to
armchair-request@maillist.il.ft.hse.nl
* Change the subject of your reply to something pertaining to your
message (not "Magical Armchair Digest, Volume X, Issue #nnn").
* Keep your posts short. Remember, you are writing to over a thousand
people. Long posts tend to ramble. Reread your message before
sending it!
* DON'T quote excessively, OR QUOTE THE ENTIRE DIGEST, when
replying. Edit your quote to only the line or lines you are
replying to. Remember, unlike Usenet, everyone's already seen the
original message.
* Please keep non-Ben Folds Five content to a minimum. Members who
chronically post off-topic messages may be unsubscribed. This
includes chain letters, virus warnings, etc. Also, refrain from
posting a message that basically says "me too" or answers a
question that has already been answered unless you have more
details. Messages of a moderating nature are off-topic; the moderator
will handle this behind the scenes.
* Before posting questions of a general nature (e.g., "Anyone have
tour dates?" or "What are the words to Underground?"), check the
Web resources available.
Topics in this issue:
Hiya! 1st show - Cleveland
song for the dumped in japanese
cancellation on conan--let's try dave instead!
re: for those of y'all who liked komeda
cleveland tape tree?
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #269
JJJ nicknames.
mini concert review
come on now people!
PHILLY
BF5, cover suggestions, why i will miss bf5 on 120, blah, blah, blah
Ben Folds Five ROCKS Irving Plaza...
Submit your cover candidates now!
unsubscribe
ben folds at the odeon
Conan Boycott
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 22:53:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: PERCYSTAR@aol.com
Subject: Hiya! 1st show - Cleveland
Hi newly found fellow Armchairers:
I just joined the Armchair after the Cleveland show. I have been impressed
with BFF since I first heard them in '95 (I think), but I never had the
gumption to join the maillist. I was very wrong to procrastinate, and now I
totally regret not meeting you all at the Cleveland show. Or, maybe I did
meet some of you... was anyone upstairs after the show? Anyway, I thought
I'd throw in my review, just for good measure. The concert was soooooooooooo
much fun! I've always thought their CD's were great, but they're live sound
is even better! That is the mark of a truly excellent band. Also, I didn't
expect to dance so much, but I couldn't stop myself. Philosophy and Don't
use Jelly were super rad. BFF's unique use of scat, and unique instrumental
techniques ie. Ben playing with his feet and chair, were not only
entertaining, but demonstrated BFF's great love of music and respect for
different genres of music. I don't mean to be so analytical in my review,
but BFF's talent is inspiring and a great time too. Anyway, I am really glad
to be on the list and hope you all had as much fun at the show as I did. Hey
girls out there, don't you wish you were "Darren's girlfriend"? I do. TTFN.
Luv, Heather
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 23:07:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: excandescent <el266071@hvcc.edu>
Subject: song for the dumped in japanese
i'm obsessed with this song now :), and i haven't had a chance to
hear the japanese version..so i'm wondering, if anyone knows where i can
get the cd with it on it, or maybe send me a tape of it =), i'd really
appreciate it..
absenter's stupid freakin web page:
http://bbs.cowland.com/absenter
"feed me enough poison, i'll learn to enjoy it." - jawbox
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 23:44:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: MissDa@aol.com
Subject: cancellation on conan--let's try dave instead!
hey guys, here's an idea.... instead of trying to get conan to reschedule
bff, why don't we try and get 'em on dave letterman? in my humble opinion,
he's a much cooler host than conan anyway... i already wrote 'em a letter....
everybody else do the same at lateshow@www.cbs.com and maybe it'll work!
amanda
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 22:52:07 -0500 (CDT)
From: William Christopher Kane <kanew1@mies.wustl.edu>
Subject: re: for those of y'all who liked komeda
> Got a pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-party going on...How about those
> white jumpsuits/orange straight-outta-oasis bass player?
the jumpsuits- cool.
straight outta oasis? not quite. marcus- the bass player (along with the
rest of the band) is much cooler than anyone from oasis... and their
music kicks that of oasis in the ass!
i sort of sneaked backstage after komeda's set at the st. louis show and
got to talk with the band for a little bit. they were all really cool and
really friendly- and it was really nice of them to let me stay there and
talk with them (in swedish too!), instead of kicking me out while they
were packing up all their stuff...
and then after the main act, while the bouncers and whoever were kicking
everyone out of the club, i stuck around for a bit and got to talk to ben
when he came out from backstage! we talked for a minute about the
lollapalooza show they played in vermont last summer, he signed some stuff
for a couple of people and talked for a little bit, but then we had to
leave. he was really nice, he signed everything the people there asked
him too, he posed for pictures, etc. pretty cool, if you ask me...
schnikty snooch.
chris kane
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 23:01:54 -0500 (CDT)
From: William Christopher Kane <kanew1@mies.wustl.edu>
Subject: cleveland tape tree?
hey, who do i send that information to (what email address) to get on the
cleveland tape tree?!!
schnikty snooch.
chris kane
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 00:27:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: Kristaffer@aol.com
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #269
I am reading the armchair, and I head a bit of BFF on David Letterman as they
went to a commercial. It was the intro to BOWCCL! This is cool!
Okay, call me crazy! Dave must be getting gealous that they are on Conan
tomorrow night ond not on David Letterman!! Oh my god! They played more
coming from the commercial! Sorry. I am just excited. No big deal.
http://users.aol.com/kristaffer/family
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 14:29:18 +1000 (EST)
From: Derek Scott <scoco@netspace.net.au>
Subject: JJJ nicknames.
Hello all.
Just a message to Mark "Testicles the Mighty Warrior" from the ACT. If
you're on this list, I just thought I'd say hello and that your nickname and
request amused me.
[He rang up the request fest last night on a nicknames theme and said his
nickname was the above, and then proceeded to request Underground. I was
very amused.]
Anyway, thanks.
Claire.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 00:35:05 -0400
From: cynthia@people.timeinc.com (Cynthia Wang)
Subject: mini concert review
Hi all,
I know a lot of y'all will post from the Irving Plaza show in NYC, so I'll
keep my comments brief.
1. My first time seeing them live - totally worth it, even if you have to
stand behind a person who is constantly leaning backward. Sigh.
2. Three words - "The Ultimate Sacrifice."
3. In "Fair," during the "buh-BAA-buhs," they sang "the bath-room" and
"bi-BI-ble." Very subtle, very clever.
4. People rushing the preamble to "Underground" were politely cautioned by
Robert to "waiiiit for it..."
5. Worth seeing in every way. Harmonies, musical tightness, enthusiasm -
all there.
Take care,
Cynthia
- -------------------
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 15:01:29 +1000
From: hillsey@tpgi.com.au
Subject: come on now people!
g'day,
It's hillsey from Australia, I've been on this mailing list for about
1 month now and all the stuff you people write in about "Ben Folds 5" is
so over the top. Now come on BFF are great but their not what you all
make them out to be.
hillsey!
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 01:33:59 -0400
From: Barone <barone@magpage.com>
Subject: PHILLY
- --
PK
Hi everybody,
Im going to the philly show tomorrow and i have a big question.
Where is the best place to try to meet the band after the show? Should i
hang out near the stage? I remember last year at the SEBADOH show at the
TLA that bouncer dudes were kicking people out after the
show....accually the bouncers were kinda rough( thats the philly way i
guess..gotta love it) This will be my first bff show and i cant contain
my self...today i was driving while listening to them and i got all
giddy and shit...i usually dont get that way....weird.Well anyway philly
people beware...i think that dumb president's summit will still be in
town on wed so theres gonna be a helluva lot of traffic around the s
street area....cause its oh so close to center city. ok gotta go...i
think the new son volt is coming out tomorrow:)
PEACE, LOVE, COTTAGE CHEESE,
Travis
ps- "to much livin is no way to die"-son volt
" if u dont eat your meat, u cant have any pudding...how can u have
any pudding if u dont eat your meat?"
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 01:53:17 EDT
From: caprikorn@juno.com (Stephen J Edge)
Subject: BF5, cover suggestions, why i will miss bf5 on 120, blah, blah, blah
hi all
just so i will not be off topic, i will discuss bf5 for a brief minute.
after making everybody at the music store i work at listen to "whatever"
twice each day for the last month, WE HAVE A CONVERT!!!!!! a girl i work
w/ who usually only listens to the smashing pumpkins now LOVES the new cd
and is going to buy the first one any day now. after hearing them,
reading about them in the new musician magazine (she plays bass and loves
the fuzz bass sound), she said she would gladly accompany me to see the
boys when (not if) they get to south florida (hint, hint).
okay, next topic: cover song suggestions
here are my pix
1) tricky - christiansands
2) nirvana - love buzz
3) rem - shiny happy people
4) =w=eezer - only in dreams
okay next topic
i wasn't really planning ahead, but somehow i messed up. next sunday
(the same day as bf5 appears on 120), i will be seeing silverchair and
local h in fort lauderdale. since fort lauderdale is a 2 hour drive, i
guess i will not see the guys, but i am sure it will be mentioned on this
list.
ENDING NOTE
ANYBODY ON THE LIST FROM SOUTH FLORIDA WHO WILL BE ATTENDING THE NO DOUBT
AND CAKE SHOW AT CORAL SKY, come up and say hi. i will be the white guy
w/ glasses wearing a red presidents of the u.s.a. shirt
(i am sure that will narrow any search down).
well that is it
"of course, that is just my opinion. I could be wrong" - Dennis Miller
bye bye
stephen
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 02:02:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: KRI1701@aol.com
Subject: Ben Folds Five ROCKS Irving Plaza...
Just in from the Irving Plaza show. Great time. the band was rocking and
the packed house was right in time with them. i'm sure someone will post a
set list but here are a few notes. We got a "Satan is my Master/Freebird"
Medley when Robert had trouble with his bass strap. Ben started to introduce
"Fair", but said he had to wait for Robert to do the killer bass intro, so
Ben and Darren filled in with this medley. Wonderful, rockin', fun rendition
of The Ultimate Evil. The crowd was singing along, and really got going when
the band launced into Jackson Cannery. At times, it seemed as if they were
playing at twice the songs normal speed, even on the normally fast tunes.
I was upstairs at Irving Plaza, having got there early and staked out a good
place along the edge of the railing. I ended up with a wonderful ariel view
of Ben playing and kick ing the shit out of his piano. It was great to
watch. What that man does to a piano truly shows why in grade school music
class they always told you the piano was a percussion instrument. I had a
great time--and the band seemed to be having a good time as well.
If anyone taped this show--please let me know!!
Ken Ingram
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 02:16:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: NakedVegan@aol.com
Subject: Submit your cover candidates now!
Less than a week remains for you to send me your ONE pick (title/artist)
for a song you'd like to see Ben Folds Five cover. In about a week, I'll
post the complete list of responses I've received, along with
instructions for voting, so that every member of the Armchair can pick
the song they'd most like to see BF5 cover. Who knows, maybe BF5 will
honor us by doing the song that we pick?
** YOU MUST SEND YOUR ONE PICK DIRECTLY TO ME. Cover suggestions that
are sent only to the Armchair will not be counted!
Next topic, someone wondered what we should call ourselves, and suggested
"benheads". My thought: How about "fivers"?
Finally, I wince whenever I see anyone seemingly slam Frank Maynard (our
list administrator) for not including the lyrics at the end of the
digests any more, or for the fact that the digest comes out more
frequently now. Sure, it was great for us when Frank did the whole damn
armchair BY HAND, but is it really fair for us to expect him to devote so
much of his free time to painstakingly piecing together the digest just
so that we have a slightly easier read? There's something like A
THOUSAND subscribers to this thing! The few tangible disadvantages of
the new format aren't really worth complaining about. Anyone who feels
so strongly that the new format is unacceptable, maybe you should
volunteer to produce the Armchair manually for the rest of us. Look at
it this way: if it's inconvenient for YOU to get a few different digests
separately instead of getting them in one larger mail, imagine how
inconvenient it was for FRANK assembling all the digests in the first
place! Also, remember that Frank is STILL putting in a bunch of unpaid
volunteer time, taking care of things behind the scenes, such as helping
people who don't know how to unsubscribe themselves properly.
Peace, -- Michael Bluejay
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
| bluejay@pobox.com | If adding me to your address book, |
| | please use this address. |
|---------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| http://pobox.com/bluejay | Home of AUSTIN MUSIC, KING CHEESE, BIKING |
| | IN AUSTIN, VEGETARIAN pages, & more |
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 14:53:07 +0800
From: Giles Wilson <seagull@snakebite.com>
Subject: unsubscribe
unsubscribe
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 02:53:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: mcl3@po.cwru.edu (Michelle Leighty)
Subject: ben folds at the odeon
well, the cleveland april 26th ben folds five show is one of the best
concerts i have ever been to, and i have been fortunate enough to see such
greats as paul mccartney, oasis, tom petty, pearl jam, ash, for squirrels,
radiohead, the lemonheads, the cranberries, counting crows, and many others.
but none of them had the same energy and familiarity of ben folds five. i
arrived at the odeon in cleveland about 15 minutes after the doors opened
and promptly snagged one of the few remaining posters that were hanging on
the walls. it is now hanging in my dorm room next to U2. i then made my
way to the tee shirt guy, who was quite a character i must say (he wanted me
to pay for my 15 dollar shirt all in pennies), and purchased a rockin'
long-sleeved ben folds shirt. the opening band, the swedish 'komeda,' was
quite possibly the worst musical viewing and listening experience i have had
in my 18 years. however, their last song had choreography that was mildly
entertaining. but nothing could have prepared me for the blast of sheer
energetic happiness that is ben folds five. they opened with "missing the
war," which was surprising to me. the audience was entranced and sang
along. and then, the fury ben's piano spit out the bands faster songs and
the crowd went wild. the show was just amazing, and they were definitely
audience-involved. they talked to the audience alot more than most
performers, and i even had the fortunate experience of shaking robert
sledge's hand (well, along with about 30 other people). a myriad of items
were thrown at the stage, including shirts and towels. when the band
commented they had never gotten any bras, within seconds bras were flying on
stage from every direction. rob promptly put on a purple satin one, and
continued playing. the covered the flaming lips "she don't use jelly" and
closed with "underground." they then returned to do a short encore, and
then they were gone. as i was leaving, two of my lucky friends were handed
backstage passes, but alas, me and the rest of my companions were forced to
journey home, me with my shirt, poster, the tunes still flowing through my
mind, and the utter happiness at the joy of the experience. hurray for ben
folds five.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 00:52:49 -0700
From: qreeus@uclink4.berkeley.edu (Nathan Gunn)
Subject: Conan Boycott
I don't think it's fair to want to boycott a great show like Conan O'Brien.
If you don't like the way this BFF thing is being habdled, think about who
is executive producing the show, Lorne Michaels. He, incidentally, is also
the guy in charge of Saturday Night Live. That's why you always see the
SNL cast members on Conan doing really bad and thoroughly unamusing comedy
bits. SNL is dying a slow, miserable death and is trying to drag Conan
down with it. Don't let it! Support good television, protest idiot
producers!
Swingfully,
Nathan
***********
"I don't trust anybody's nostalgia but my own. Nostalgia is a product of
dissatisfaction and rage. It's a settling of grievances between the
present and the past. The more powerful the nostalgia, the closer you come
to violence. War is the form nostalgia takes when men are hard-pressed to
say something good about their country."
-- Don DeLillo
------------------------------
End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #271
**************************************
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/