As we walked down the slope into the cave it was only a few minutes until Ben Folds took the stage, solo, with his grand piano for his Paper Airplane Request Tour. That was it. In this large cavern, just a man, his piano, and 30 years of songs.
This was my second time at The Caverns, and third time seeing Ben Folds since being introduced to his music in 2001.
Ben sat down, and over the course of 40 ish minutes played a short set list of about 7 songs, one of which was a brand new song from his forthcoming Christmas album (Me and Maurice). After this, Ben left for a short intermission, while the rest of us went to retrieve pen and paper to write down song requests that would be launched to the stage.
After the official paper airplane launch, Ben walked back on stage, selected an airplane, and sat down to play the first request….a Ben Folds Five classic, “Missing the War”.
Once finished, he would place the airplane on his piano, stand up and stalk another part of the stage, snag another airplane and return to his bench to bang out another tune.
The night was an amazing mix of wonderful song after song, intermixed with fun stories, and Ben doing what Ben does best, entertain. He turned impromptu jams, or struggling through old cover songs, into charming sing-alongs where the crowd would loudly remind him of lyrics (to which he’d thank them) while soldering on.
At the end of his 11 requests Ben left the stage once more, to return for a single song encore, this night appropriately…”Underground” (another Ben Folds Five classic).
Ben mentioned that his opening act, Lindsey Kraft was the first person to play a grand piano in a cave….but….he was the last.
The Paper Airplane Request Tour continues through the rest of 2024. Be sure to check out this special and unique show for all. Check dates and tickets on Ben’s website.
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