This is Ben Folds Five’s first live album, and if ever a band was going to shine on a live release, it would have to be Ben Folds Five. The band reunited in 2012 after a more-than ten year hiatus, and judging by this release they are ecstatic to be playing together again. This recording brims with positive energy, as the enthusiastic crowd celebrates a band playing at the peak of their powers.
Opening with ‘Jackson Cannery’, the confidence of those close, three-part harmonies over jazzy bass and drums, with Folds’ piano tinkling above it all, reminded me of just how talented this band really is. ‘Selfless, Cold and Composed’, a song I listened to repetitively throughout Years 9 and 10 (don’t judge me), is played to perfection. Folds’ voice is strong and clear, the band is perfectly in sync, and each member plays with real skill and feeling.
As a fan mostly familiar with their huge album Whatever and Ever Amen, I particularly enjoyed the older songs, but the band plays a few tracks from last year’s reunion album The Sound of the Life of the Mind and ‘Blue Sky’ was a standout for me. Written by drummer Darren Jessee, this gentle and sad song is a perfect example of the other, less rambunctious side of Ben Folds Five. The emotional honesty they can project as band is one of their great strengths, making deeply personal songs like ‘Brick’ relatable and popular. ‘Brick’ of course makes an appearance on Live, breezed through by a band that I’m sure is sick of playing it to an audience that doesn’t seem that excited to hear it.
Nevertheless, the audience is great – appreciative and excited and with a good sense of humour. When the band launches into ‘One Note Song’, the crowd does its job egging on the performers who are simultaneously having a dig at their own musical style whilst showing off their impressive skills (Folds sings in a parodying blues voice “Sometimes I like to play my pentatonic scales in another keeeeeey” and proceeds to do so, ending a complicated piano run with “We’d like you to try the veal”).
Alternately serious and silly, daggy and carefree, and always extremely talented, Ben Folds Five shine on Live. They seamlessly span the distance between sombre tracks like ‘Narcolepsy’, and ridiculous, fun tunes like ‘Song for the Dumped’ and ‘Underground’, and their reputation as a fantastic live act translates really well on this album.
Live ends abruptly in the middle of the encore, with Ben Folds saying “I’m not fishing, but would you like us to play one. more. song?!” You get the feeling that the party continued far beyond the recording, and that you’d better get yourself to a Ben Folds Five concert as soon as possible.
9/10
Reviewer: Frances Bulley