crossposted at b.org

[holli]

So, I saw Rufus Wainwright and Ben Folds at Wolf Trap last night. Also Guster, but they weren't that good.

Rufus is adorable-- like if Danny Strong were gay, Canadian and a singer. So, not very much like Danny Strong at all, then, but still very cute in that way that makes you want to put him in your pocket and take him home with you. He did a lovely cover of "Hallelujah," and a bunch of his own stuff, which I'm not too familiar with. And then he brought his mom out to play the piano, while he sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and I died of cute.

Guster was, as I said, meh. It was fun to watch the crowd for all six of the really big Guster fans, though-- there were two girls a few rows ahead of us who'd made matching, glitter-painted Guster T-shirts. And they only sang along with their two most popular songs.

Ben Folds was amazing, as usual, though it was a shorter set than we'd expected. He didn't play "Best Imitation of Myself," or even "Brick" or "Rockin' the Suburbs," and he didn't really tell stories in between songs, but *damn* can he play. He did a bunch of new material, plus "Army," "Evaporated" (which I love) and a few of others. Then he brought Rufus out for a duet, and I died, yet again, of cute. He closed with "Not the Same," which I also love, though not as much as "Still Fighting It," dammit.

In conclusion: soulful boys with pianos: hot. Vaguely fratty guys with emo hair? Not so much. Shut up, Guster, and let Ben have the longer set.

Comments

[tvsadam.livejournal.com]

You know, I never liked "Best Imitation of Myself." It's probably my least favorite Ben Folds Five song. He's written ones I like less since then...but not all that many.

Don't really like "Not The Same" either, but that he played "Evaporated" is cool as hell. That's a beautiful song. Did he do "All You Can Eat"? The one where the chorus has "they give no fuck" in it? I love that song.

And you know...I think back on the time when Guster was actually pretty good. Man, those were the days...they'd play Airport Song and we'd laugh and laugh...and then Keep It Together came out and things took a harsh turn. That there's one good song on that whole album and it's two minutes long is troubling to say the least.

I saw Ben Folds with Tori Amos and that was cool. It was her birthday and they gave her a cake. And the whole audience sang happy birthday. That must be a fuckin' rush.

[lysana.livejournal.com]

Guster's losing it? Damn. I saw them open for the Barenaked Ladies a few years ago, and I thought they were fantastic back then.

[tvsadam.livejournal.com]

Well...I guess it depends on your point of view. I saw them like...two years ago or so, they came to our school and played a show. They were debuting some new stuff for their (then not released or even recorded) new album. That was a good show and actually made me anticipate the new stuff...but alas...and, also, alack...

The problem with the new Guster (I'm speaking just about the album since I haven't seen them in two years) is that it doesn't sound like Guster; it sounds like any given disposable radio pop. The material might hold up better live; it's kind of weak to begin with, but take out all the drum set parts (!) and unnecessary studio magic, and it might improve considerably.

But I might be exaggerating anyway...I get really mean about music sometimes. Especially when I like a band and they start slipping.

[holli.livejournal.com]

Yup, he played "All You Can Eat." Played "There's Always Someone Cooler Than You," too, and a new song he wrote for his daughter.

It's not that Guster was bad-- actually, I liked them a lot better live than I usually do. I just... don't like Guster very much, to begin with. And all the Guster fans we saw looked really dumb.