Ben and yMusic will be crossing the pond to treat UK fans to an earful of concerto and more next June. They’ll be making eight stops: Cardiff, Wales; Edinburgh, Scotland; Birmingham, Liverpool, Gateshead, London (2 shows), Brighton and Cambridge, England. Dates are up on the tour dates page, with VIP ticket sales starting today (December 3) and general sales December 4.
Tour
Augusta show moved to new venue
Due to the possibility of bad weather, the Ben Folds show with the Symphony Orchestra Augusta is being moved from the riverfront Jessye Norman Amphitheatre to the nearby Bell Auditorium, an indoor venue.Doors open at 7:30 pm for the 8:30 pm concert.
Westobou Festival organizers were concerned because the orchestral instruments couldn’t tolerate being out in bad weather. Rain has been in the forecast for several days in Augusta including a 40 percent chance during Ben’s performance.
Tickets for the Norman Amphitheatre will be honored at Bell Auditorium using the same seat numbers. In addition, $20 balcony general admission tickets are now available through the festival’s website.
Major collaboration, album & tour this spring
Ben has teamed up with yMusic, an ensemble of six exciting instrumental musicians in their 20s and 30s with impressive credentials on both the pop and classical side. Ben’s “new band”, as he puts it, are putting the finishing touches on an album, to be titled So There (which will include at least parts of his concerto) and will be touring the US and elsewhere as Ben Folds & yMusic starting in mid-April; dates are still being arranged, though they’ve been booked to play the 2015 Bonnaroo Festival on June 12.
The sextet, comprised of violinist and guitarist Rob Moose, trumpet and French horn player C. J. Camerieri, cellist Gabe Cabezas, flutist Alex Sopp, clarinetist and multi-instrumentalist Hideaki Aomori, and violinist Nadia Sirota released their second album, Balance Problems, late last year. Each has also recorded solo or with others in every genre from classical to jazz and pop.
Ben heard about yMusic last summer and contacted them about a collaboration. (more…)
2014 Symphonic Performances Announced
Ben has started announcing his schedule of performances with symphony orchestras for 2014. The first two, in Virginia Beach and Kansas City, go on sale later this week for fan club members. Details and links are posted on the tour dates page and will be updated as additional shows are announced.
Ben Folds Five announces summer tour with Guster & BNL
The summer tour season is approaching and Ben, Darren and Robert have teamed up with Guster and Barenaked Ladies for a real crowd-pleasing North American tour covering thirty large venues in twenty-three states plus Ontario.
The “Last Summer On Earth” tour takes the guys from coast to coast, including shows in places that have never had a visit from Ben, such as Boise, Missoula and Bangor along with major metropolitan areas.
The six-week whirlwind tour kicks off in Dallas on June 17, heads west, then north, zig-zagging across the country, takes a dip into the South  and ends up in Brooklyn, New York on July 30. Ben Folds Five play all but one of the initial thirty dates. Additional dates and venues are due to be announced in the coming weeks. (more…)
