Music lovers are rockin' the suburbs at MPAC in Morristown, NJ as they ready themselves for a sold out Paper Airplane Tour performance by singer/songwriter, Ben Folds.
Making his mark as frontman and pianist of the alternative rock group, Ben Folds Five, Folds’ first solo album was 2001’s Rockin’ the Suburbs, although his highest charting album was his 2008 solo recording, Way to Normal, which debuted at #11 on the Billboard 200. His most recent effort is Sleigher, a Christmas album which he released in October, 2024.
Many recognize Folds for his work as a judge on the TV singing competition, The Sing Off, in addition to appearances on the NBC sitcom, Community, and on the Showtime drama, Billions. Often performing live with an orchestra, Folds is currently traveling the country with his solo Paper Airplane Tour where, after intermission, he encourages audience members to throw paper airplanes with song requests onto the stage which he randomly selects and performs.
The lights dim and opening act, Lindsey Kraft, takes the stage. Recognized for her role on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie, the actor/singer/composer launches into a 30-minute version of her musical, love, me, a one-woman show she workshopped in Los Angeles.
Seated at the piano, Kraft begins her story with her gentle voice crooning, “Oh, I want to do something with you,” on the folk-rock ballad, “The Beginning.” Accompanying herself on the piano, she breaks out of the song to greet the crowd, saying, “I’m Lindsay — Lindsay Kraft — who are you guys?” before going on to explain that everyone in the audience tonight will be a part of her personal fantasy called love, me.
Incorporating songs and stories about relationships with family members and men in her love life, Kraft shares secrets about two main characters she refers to only as “O,” a man she has an open relationship with, and “Guitar Hero,” a musical hero of hers who plays the guitar. Drawing the audience into her world with charm and humor, the crowd responds with laughter and applause.
Music lovers cheer when headliner Ben Folds joins Kraft on stage, energetically accompanying her lead vocal on the piano as she performs a song about stalking Guitar Hero and his new girlfriend.
Kraft concludes her performance with her ballad, “Onces,” where she laments, “I must say goodbye to this happy/sad feeling all of our days” to enthusiastic audience applause.
Following a short intermission, the crowd cheers as Ben Folds enters the stage, takes a seat at the grand piano, and opens his set with “Capable of Anything.”
Singing in his smooth, clear voice, “What is this?/It doesn’t make much sense/They sing it like a pop song/You’re capable of anything,” on this upbeat two-step, his rhythmic piano playing whirls like a calliope. Segueing directly into “Sentimental Guy,” Folds pops into his falsetto voice holding out notes while playing a syncopated piano part on this delightfully jazzy tune.
The crowd applauds as he sails into his Ben Folds Five number, “Don’t Change Your Plans.” Crooning in his plaintive voice, “Sometimes I get the feeling that I won’t be on this planet very long,” the piece shifts to a slow and somber mood before rolling into a breezy piano interlude on this clever story song.
Folds greets the crowd before talking about teaching songwriting during the pandemic and revealing that the inspiration for his next selection came from a story in The Washington Post. Tiptoeing into “Fragile,” Folds shows his vocal range singing, “There’s something so fragile about you/It’s how you get away with what you do,” on this 6/8 number which he supports with a slow, arpeggiated piano accompaniment.
Announcing, “This song is kinda funny — I guess I put it in a minor key to make it sad,” Folds performs, “Kristine From the Seventh Grade.” The crowd chuckles as Folds sings, “Are you the same Kristine/I knew from seventh grade?/No, it’s definitely you/Just with a new last name,” on this humorous piece in waltz tempo.
Ben Folds fans join in singing “If there’s a God, he is laughing at us/And our football team,” on the rambunctious “Effington.” Quick-paced and moving rhythms, crashing chords, and dissonant runs constitute Folds’ orchestral piano accompaniment on this fast-paced selection from Way to Normal.
After talking about children and suggesting, “None of us are prepared for the challenges of life,” Folds concedes, “I put this song in a major key to reassure you.” On “Still Fighting It,” Folds plays strong chords as he stamps his foot and cries, “Everybody knows/It hurts to grow up/And everybody does,” on this compelling soft-rocker from Rockin’ the Suburbs.
Concertgoers cheer as Folds acknowledges, “I lived in New Jersey for a year — I lived in Montclair,” before inviting Lindsay Kraft back onto the stage to sing the pair’s new Christmas single from Sleigher, “We Could Have This.”
He follows up with “Annie Waits,” where the audience joins him in singing along on the “Annie waits for the last time/Just the same as the last time” refrain and claps in time to Folds’ cascading piano and rumbling chords on this rocking tune.
During intermission, audience members write down song requests on paper and fold them into paper airplanes. Following a countdown, there’s a party atmosphere inside the MPAC auditorium as music lovers launch their paper airplanes onto the stage.
Folds enters, selects an airplane, and begins to talk about the request for “Philosophy,” explaining that he wrote this Ben Folds Five song on the bass when he was 22. Tinkling piano opens the song and audience members join in singing the background part on the “Go ahead, you can laugh all you want/I got my philosophy (Keeps my feet on the ground”) lyric of this rhythmic tune before Folds plays a boogie-woogie piano solo to avid cheers and applause.
Moving on to a request for his Way to Normal duet with singer Regina Spektor, Folds instructs, “Anyone who might know Regina’s part, sing it loud and clear,” as he pops into “You Don’t Know Me.” Music lovers sing Spector’s “You don’t know me” background line and more on this bouncy crowd favorite, to which Folds responds, “Nice!”
Collecting more airplanes, Folds declares, “This is pretty crazy,” before picking one and saying “This next song is about a rich woman I know whose best friend was sleeping with her father,” and acknowledging, “I wrote a song about it in a different culture to take the edge off it.” Here, he performs a segment of “Hiro’s Song,” a humorous pop tune on which, as Hiro, he refers to leaving his family for his secretary, singing, “Her name is Yuko, she is twenty-two/She and my daughter were best friends in high school.”
After reading a request for his composition, “Not the Same,” Folds teaches the audience the song’s three-part harmony background vocal and music lovers follow his cue, singing “ah-ah” at the appropriate times and clapping in rhythm to his catchy story song, after which Folds responds, “Beautiful!”
Folds talks about the birth of his twins six hours apart before performing a request for “Gracie,” a sweet ballad he wrote for his daughter. Then, rich piano and Folds’ legato vocal characterize the slow and compelling story song, “The Luckiest,” where he croons, “And I know/That I am/I am/I am the luckiest.”
Folds says about his next request, “This song came to me in a storage facility in Nashville where I was going to write a song about throwing away stuff,” but after he learned that his best friend died unexpectedly, “the song turned around into not being about stuff anymore.” Stepping into “What Matters Most,” the audience is mesmerized as Folds cries, “With so little time/What mattеrs most?” on this lyrical waltz-like tune.
Picking up another airplane, Folds recalls, “This is one of the first songs I wrote when I thought I might be a rock and roll piano player one day.” Here, he performs “Jackson Cannery,” a tune he wrote when he was ten years old.
Rhythmically knocking on the mic and stamping his feet while playing crashing chords, music lovers call out the lyric, “Stop the bus!” in rhythm on this piano-based rocker.
For his next request, Folds jokes, “This is a sick song!” explaining, “I wrote it super quick because I never intended to play it outside the recording I made to get myself out of a publishing deal.” On this selection, “The Secret Life of Morgan Davis,” Folds tells a musical story about a middle-aged stockbroker who sells drugs at night on this upbeat Broadway-like showstopper.
Confessing, “I would never have made a set list like this. It’s odd, but it makes this a unique thing — I’m really loving this!” Folds plays his final request for his Ben Folds Five song, “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces,” where the audience claps in double time as Folds pounds on the keys and sings, “Kiss my ass/Goodbye,” on this rollicking rocker.
Concertgoers are on their feet as Folds exits the stage. Returning, he picks up a white model airplane and tosses it past the piano before concluding tonight’s show with “Army.” Folds’ ragtime piano playing has the audience clapping and whistling as he stands and leads the crowd in vocally imitating the “ba-ba-ba” horn part from the recording on this up-tempo Ben Folds Five story song. The performance ends in cheers and applause for Folds who waves goodnight while taking leave of the stage.
As music lovers exit the theater, several share their thoughts on Ben Folds’ performance tonight. Exclaims Kriss from Brookside, “I thought it was a fabulous show! I didn’t know the lyrics to every song like many in the audience did, but I knew a bunch of them and they sounded phenomenal; plus, his piano playing was amazing!”
Recalls Ian from Riverside, “I’ve been a fan for the past three years, and my parents were fans even longer. I’ve listened to all the Ben Folds Five albums and all of the solo albums and I even saw him in person a few years ago where he had a normal setlist — not the paper airplanes — and I feel that was a nice feature where we got to hear songs we might not normally have heard including deep cuts he doesn’t play very often.”
Ian’s friend, Lucas from Stanhope, acknowledges, “I had never really listened to Ben Folds but Ian gave me a ticket, and I thought it was a great concert! Ben Folds is a great musician who put on a show I really enjoyed. The whole experience was a lot of fun — especially the airplane concept which I thought was pretty cool!”
Declares Brad, a composer from New York City, “I bow to Ben Folds’ songwriting! I’m a lifelong Ben Folds fan starting with Ben Folds Five. He’s a true composer and the fact that he can write both words and music is awesome.” Insists Brad’s son, Leo, “Ben Folds is the greatest ever! He’s my favorite music artist and I love him even more after seeing him tonight,” revealing, “He picked up my paper airplane and did my request for ‘Not the Same’ where he did harmonies with the crowd and it was just awesome!” Leo’s mom, Jill, adds, “I especially loved it when he did ‘You Don’t Know Me’ — it was fantastic how he engaged the audience to do Regina’s part. Plus, it was amazing that he played Leo’s request, especially considering that the last time we came to one of his concerts it was here at MPAC and, that night, he picked our paper airplane!”
Asserts Kate from Saddle Brook, “It was a wonderful show, absolutely! I’ve been a Ben Folds fan for a very long time and it was wonderful after all these years to be able to come and enjoy his performance just as much as I did the first time. He still sounds amazing and the relevancy of his songwriting still carries through the years.”
Lastly, Tricia from Randolph recalls, “It’s been probably 20 years since I saw Ben and it was so refreshing to see him again! He’s just as brilliant as he always has been and the airplanes had a very fun interactive effect — I thought it was crazy when he sang a song he wrote when he was only ten years old! Plus, his voice is unbelievable, his songwriting stands strong, and he put on an incredible show I’d highly recommend to anyone and everyone!”
To learn more about Ben Folds, please go to benfolds.com. For information on great upcoming performances at MPAC — including Mannheim Steamroller Christmas on November 30, Samara Joy: A Joyful Holiday featuring the McLendon Family on December 4, and A Johnny Mathis Christmas on December 7 — please click on mayoarts.com.
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