Wednesday night, Shara and I got to see Mr. Ben Folds at The Great Saltair. Shara had heard on the radio a couple of months ago that he was coming and immediately called me to buy tickets. Ben doesn't come to Utah very often, so when he does you have to jump on it. The venure wasn't my first of choices, but it was better than The McKay Events, The E Center or The Energy Solutions Arena. We arrived at approximately 5:45 (doors were supposed to be at 6:00) We didn't enter the building until 7:05. I was ANG-RY. We got to see my good friend Aubrey Sorensen in town from AZ. She is a huge Ben fan as well. When we finally got in there were 4 opening bands, 2 were even local. Chris Merit (thumbs up) Mesa Drive (thumbs down) Allred (thumbs up) and Ben Lee from Australia (two thumbs up). they were pretty short sets except for Ben Lee who has technical difficulties throughout most of his set, but he made it work with what he had. Ben folds finally came on and played an amazing set for almost 2 hours. Ben Folds has been an idol and inspiration to me ever since I decided to start playing piano again. His theory and style are his own, and he has some of the best music written in my lifetime. If it wasn't for Ben Folds I'm not sure Shara would have married me. His song "The Luckiest" was one that the first time I ever heard it, was one I knew I would know and play for my wife at our wedding. I practiced and practiced that song while Shara and I were dating, but it was the only song I wouldn't play her until the day of our wedding. That song solidified everything, and the best thing was he ended up playing that exact song solo with no band at this concert. He was incredible. I have a list of bands I have to see live before I die, and now I can check another one of those off. He is one of those rare bands that actually sound better live than on disc, and he is a great improvisationalist. I'm so glad that Shara and I got to see him. He also announced that his new album was finished, and probably should be released later this fall. So we're really looking forward to hearing that. He played some new stuff of of that album but mainly focused on his old stuff. I was impressed he played at least one song from every album and most of his EP's as well.It's funny that every time I go to a concert and I stand in GA there is always a 5 foot nothing Asian girl behind me that can't see, and I feel bad for just a second. Then I look up and see that I'm one of about 5 people in the whole audience that has an unobstructed view of the show, and I don't feel so bad anymore. I am very grateful for the height gene. This was a great show, definitely in my top ten of all time.
