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Folds to “superjam” at Bonnaroo

May 7th, 2014
by Frank.
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superjam2014_200The annual Manchester, Tennessee Bonnaroo Festival has announced its schedule for the 2014 gathering, and included are two Superjam sessions, always favorites of the festival. This year the Friday night Superjam is being headed up by guitar great Derek Trucks and will feature special guest Ben Folds. Superjams include a variety of jam-band and related artists and the Friday night session includes Trucks’ wife and blues-band musical partner Susan Tedeschi, Chaka Khan, Taj Mahal and a host of other prominent players. The Bonnaroo Festival’s website describes the Superjam as

“…the most highly anticipated Bonnaroo concert tradition and the festival’s signature event. A diverse set of superstar musicians unite for a one-time-only collaborative performance. The Superjam is always a wild show full of surprises where neither the fans nor the artists really know where it’s headed.”

and if there’s anyone who can craft a wild show full of surprises, it’s Folds. Superjam takes place at That Tent on Friday night, June 13 at midnight (early morning hours of Saturday). Full information on the festival, including tickets and details on the dozens of performances, can be found at the Bonnaroo website.

Related show

  • Artist: Ben Folds
  • Date: 14 Jun '14
  • Time: 12:00am
  • Venue: Bonnaroo Festival
  • City: Manchester, Tenn.
  • Country: United States
  • Admission: $284.50 (four day pass)
  • Age restrictions: All Ages
  • More information
  • Notes: Special guest in “Superjam” Friday night at midnight (early mornng hours of Saturday, June 14).

Posted in: Announcements.

The Magical Archive

Apr 27th, 2014
by Frank.
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Ben gave the Armchair a nice shout-out during his show at the Gilmore Piano Festival in Kalamazoo, Mich., Saturday night (April 26) and talked about how the Magical Armchair mailing list was instrumental in charting the course of Ben Folds Five in the early days. They first became aware of the existence of the mailing list at one of their earliest shows when I brought them stacks of printed-out copies of the list messages (since none of them had e-mail or were even on the Internet at the time). Soon thereafter, they did get online, as did their manager, and started subscribing and reading posts from fans. The band members didn’t post, though their road manager at the time did once in a while. Eventually, other methods of fan communication augmented and diminished the importance of the Armchair mailing list, though it is still in service today. Better yet, the archives of the mailing list still exist and can provide a lot of insight into the development and early success of Ben Folds Five.

You can access the first several years of the Magical Armchair at the archive page of the old Ben Folds Five site. These archives run from 1995 through 1999, when the list was migrated to Topica. Topica maintains its own archive, which is only accessible to list members. Note that many of the links and e-mail addresses contained in the archival material have changed or gone offline.

Posted in: Interesting or weird stuff.
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Full “Community” song surfaces

Feb 7th, 2014
by Frank.
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Community_200You probably recall either seeing Ben Folds pop up in a cameo role on the January 9 episode of the NBC-TV show Community, or you heard about it afterwards and are waiting for the rerun. There was also something about dropping money down people’s pants to the tune of – what was that? - Ass Crack Bandit??? Nothing out of place for Folds, whose repertoire includes such off-color lyrics as “Well, f*** you too!” as well as his cover of Dr. Dre’s classic B****** ain’t S***”. But the aforementioned song about currency and peoples’ derrieres ran during a network TV show, much to the astonishment and delight of viewers and critics alike. And although video clips have been posted online of the minute or so snippet of the song that aired in the episode, the full-length version remained in the vaults – until today, when the full version of ASSCRACK Bandit appeared on YouTube. Here, in all its three minutes and 56 seconds of glory, is the song you’ve been waiting to hear. So get your MP3 players ready for some intragluteal numismatics and a few chuckles besides.

Posted in: Check your papers and the TV.
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Kennedy Center Arts Leadership Forum

Jan 31st, 2014
by Frank.
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Ben Folds will be one of the panelists for the first annual Kennedy Center International Arts Leaders Forum, to be held at the Washington, DC complex the weekend of January 31 through February 2.

The program is aimed at board members, managers and other leaders of institutions of the arts to explore the challenges and creative solutions present in the arts community today. Folds will participate in a session Sunday, Feb. 2 at 2:00 pm addressing issues affecting the careers of performing artists: pursuing artistic interests in the face of changing audience demands, building new audiences, embracing new technology, coping with changes at arts organizations, and building a meaningful career. Moderated by Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me and CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Mo Rocca, the guests will include jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard and Monty Python cast member John Lithgow.

Posted in: Announcements.
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Gilmore International Keyboard Festival

Jan 24th, 2014
by Frank.
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logo_2014festBen will be back in Kalamazoo this spring as one of the headliners at the 25th annual Irving S. Gilmore International Piano Festival, widely regarded as America’s most prestigious keyboard festival. Nearly 100 performances in venues around southwest Michigan will be featured during the three-week festival, ranging from jazz to classical and solo to musical theater. The list of artists in performance reads like a keyboard who’s who, with jazz musicians Barry Harris and Jacky Terrasson, classical masters Andre Watts and Emanuel Ax and nine-time winner John Legend on the schedule. Tickets for Ben’s April 26 performance go on sale February 1 through the festival’s website; see our tour dates page for more information.

Posted in: News.
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