THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR

The Ben Folds Five Digest

Issue #1039 - June 4, 1998



Magical Armchair Digest    Thursday, June 4 1998    Volume 01 : Number 1039



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TOPICS IN THIS DIGEST:

    bff at pine knob....
    Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1035
    [none]
    "Air" is on the Fear Of Music album
    the Pine Knob gig

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

Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1998 16:55:38 -0400
From: aplauri@juno.com
Subject: bff at pine knob....

well, i will just sart off saying that ben folds five at pine knob was a
very nice 45-50 minutes of my life!! they had all kinds of energy, jumpin
all over, bangin' the piano, screamin in the mic....  ahhh, it was
great!!!  the setlist in semi particular order (i KNOW the first 4 are
right!!!)

pyser/dwarf/underground - minus "never cool in school stuff" sad, sad,
sad/selfless/battle/steven/philosophy/fair/dumped/

they did not have a set list to follow (at least thats how it looked)
they would go back and kinda huddle to see what song to play next.  i
thought the opening bit with the pyser/dwarf/underground medley was
AMAZING!!!  

thanks to all of you that stuck it out and stood up....  (me, sharon and 
katie were the ONLY ones up in the beginning)  well, it was nice meeting
sharon and katie wherever you are....  sorry to all the other armchair
folk i didnt see, id a loved to meet ya'!!!  you prolly saw me, i was
center section around row 7 and standing up the whole time...

so thats my little song and dance for the day, hope ya'll enjoyed it.... 
and for those of ya'll that are going to upcoming shows, HAVE A GREAT
TIME!!

over and out
- -philip

ben introducing selfless cold and composed ....  "this ones a real
stadium rocker.."   i laughed  :) 

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

Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1998 17:22:10 EDT
From: Zyah@aol.com
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1035

Hey, anyone who gets y100 hear that little thing Ben says?  Something like
"Hi, this is ben from ben folds five...and i'm wearing a fez."  he sounds
funny (in a good way)

and yeah, i saw him throw his seat at the piano during sftd... :)

hey you know what?  all you people just rock...i love it when people keep me
entertained...i'm in a good mood, take advantage of it, although I'm not
really sure what I'm talking about, I guess you guys aren't either.

bye
Lauren

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

Date: Wed, 03 Jun 1998 15:05:26 PDT 
From: "christy hawkins" <christylhawkins@hotmail.com>
Subject: [none]

Did anyone leaving the Shindig on Sun hear the awful dance version of 
Brick they played when the guys went off? terrible, terrible, terrible. 
Who in the band authorized that crap!? Brick is a very touching sad song 
of love gone bad due to... who the fuck needs a dance version? I hate 
dance versions! Anyway enough ranting. The show kicked ass as usual. It 
so cool to see the guys go from playing to only 15 people at the Brewery 
many years ago to a crowd of thousands at an amphitheater. I'm not mad 
at all that everyone 'discovered' them and the shows aren't as intimate. 
The more the merrier. I'm glad I can mention them now in conversation 
and not have people go 'WHO?'. Christy:)

"check the papers and the TV, look who's telling who what to do, KISS MY 
ASS, GOODBYE"

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

Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1998 18:14:27 -0500
From: quinnt@scc.net
Subject: "Air" is on the Fear Of Music album

Of course I'm refering to the Talking Heads song "Air", which appears on their album Fear Of Music, coincidentally enough.

<<Ok, so about the meaning behind AIR...Ben told a humorous
fireside nighttime story about 12 guys.  he said something to the effect of the following:

"There was once these 12 really hairy, fat men who got together for meetings
or something and one time they decided to go swimming in this lake one night..."

So I'm guessing that's what "Air" is about.  Hence the "I pulled him
in, he wasn't breathing", 

I know some of you guys thought it was about Godzilla!>>

Ever since I first heard the song two weeks ago, I've been assuming it was inspired by Jeff Buckley's death.  Stupid me, huh?

<< I can't think of one song to compare ["Air"] to really. Maybe Eddie Walker.>>

<<I dunno, it kinda reminds me of "Lonely" off of the demos, if you've heard
it.>>

...and somebody else compared it to "Fair", and one or two others said it doesn't sound like anything BFF's done before.  I haven't heard "Lonely", but to me, the chorus harmony of "Air" is really similar to "Philosophy" ("...and I love you you're my *friennnnnnnd*...") and the groove is a lot like "Best Imitation". But I still think "Air" sounds really - er - *fresh*.  I dig it.  

<<it is a dark dark day, when people want to restrict someone because of 
their age, not only is it a prejudice, it is also irrational.  i'm 16, 
and i went to a bff show feb 5th, and was fairly unobtrusive.  i sang the 
whole time, but no one could hear me...>>

Rrrrright... I could hear you in the next state!   
 
<<2 months later i had no school and no girl and my father is
bitching about me going back to the shitty job.

tommy....(dont mean to depress anyone)>>

Depression _can_ be overcome, tommy.  For starters, stop calling yourself tommy.  

=)   

um, I really mean:  8P



Bye,

Sparkles LeShoodabop

**************

Earlier this year, Ben Folds spoke out on the recording of Whatever:

"Business was dictating our schedule and we only had a month to work," Folds said in an interview with The Rocket. "Some good things came up and I don't think any bad things came up necessarily, but there are some things about the album that are just frustrating enough to know
that we are going to put out a great third album."

**************

Before that, Ben spoke out on possible single choices to follow "Brick":

[he was asked about his thoughts on "Eddie Walker" as a possible single]

Ben:  "I mean I'd consider releasing anything as a single. It sounds like such an Oasis quote but 'I write singles and thats all'. You know what I mean? I don't have them playing it on the radio in mind when I'm writing a song. It's just I write pop songs basically, anything I write is game to me. And the record company makes the decision on that."

Dan:  So they choose what the single is as opposed to you?

Ben:  "Well coming up we're gonna have a few opinions on what they release in the US.
I'm not sure I want Song for the Dumped as a single right now."

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

Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1998 19:50:10 -0400
From: cambot@juno.com
Subject: the Pine Knob gig

Last night I had the fortune to go to Pine Knob show in Michigan with
some friends. Not exactly the best place for a concert, especially Ben
Folds Five. We got there late just as they started playing & missed Sean
Lennon. Needless to say, I was pissed. We got some real crappy lawn seats
behind the handicapped area. Instead of watching Ben Folds Five, I got to
see peoples asses standing at the railing trying to see them. We ended up
going around for the rest of the set looking for better seats, but with
no success. I missed watching them almost entirely. This was almost
definately one of the worst concert experiences of my life until Beck
came on. I happened to find a friend from the Armchair who helped me into
the pavilion to see Beck, though (Thanks, Kara), who was great. He played
some new stuff, most of Odelay, Loser & Beercan from Mellow Gold, & (!)
One Foot in the Grave from Stereopathetic Soul Manure!! BTW, DJ Swamp
kicks anal pore! The Beck part of the concert was extremely cool, for an
otherwise crappy night. The setlist for Ben Folds Five, as far as I can
remember, was:
Theme from Dr.Pyser
Battle of Who Could Care Less
One Angry Dwarf
Underground (minus the intro)
Selfless, Cold, & Composed
Philosophy
Steven's Last Night in Town
Fair
Song for the Dumped

For those of you that don't really know me, my posts usually aren't this
disjointed & unentertaining. I am overly-tired becuase the parking lot
was packed when we tried to leave& I got home at around 2 AM & I had to
get up in 4 hours. Sorry & I promise when I post again (in
God-knows-how-long), it will be filled with better & more complete
thoughts.

Fond but not in love...
Steve!

PS, Try calling someone you know a sex machine. It's fun & catchy!

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

End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1039
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