Ben Folds + Jukebox the Ghost

April 7th, 2009

Monday night I attended a concert at the Saenger Theater.

I was blown away by the opening act, a little band called Jukebox the Ghost. Before they began to play, one of them joked that while eating at Denny’s, they got schooled on the correct pronunciation of Mobile (Moh-BEE-uhl. It’s French.) It is a well known fact around these part that how one pronounces the name of my hometown is a valid litmus test for whether they are a native of the area. Dude, Ben Thornewill, killed it on the keyboards. The drummer was excellent. Of course one would reason that any band with the privilege of opening for Ben Folds was probably be pretty good. Listening to the album now, I much prefer the live version of “Hold It In” better live.

Then came the main act. I remember that he opened with “Annie Waits” and ended with…a song whose title has many asterisks, as listed in the iTunes store.

A list of what he played in between in the best approximation of the song order:

Bastard
B*tch Went Nuts
Cologne
Dr. Yang
Free Coffee
Jesusland
Sentimental Guy
Still Fighting It
Zak and Sara
The Luckiest
Lullaby
Jesusland
Brick – I believe this is one of his “retired” songs, but he said he would play it because he only visits Mobile, AL once every 40 years. Heh.
Emaline – Never heard this one, but I must get it.
You Don’t Know Me
Frown Song – He walked all around the stage, standing on the piano at one point.
Army – The audience sang the chorus part at one point (bah-dah-daaah), and did an impressive job.
Rockin’ the Suburbs

Ben Folds “explores the space” around the orchestra pit.

After the show, I passed by the table set up by Jukebox the Ghost to sell their merchandise. I decided to buy their album and, as I approached the table, was quite surprised to see one of the band members standing on the other side. There wasn’t a very big crowd around, besides a few squeeing teenage girls. So, after making my purchase I asked if he would sign it. I asked him his name (Tommy, vocals/guitar), and he asked me mine and shook my hand. In that time, another member from the band—the drummer—came out, and I did likewise, getting his signature on the album. His name’s Jesse, and he killed it on the drums (and had really smooth hands, as did Tommy). Ben (vocals, keyboards) came out shortly after and I got him to sign. Yay!

Ben talks to a fan(girl). This is my favorite shot of the night. (squee!)

Drummer Jesse Kristin (if that’s his real name).

Guitarist Tommy Siegel signs stuff.

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