Recently I attended the second of two Ben Folds shows at the Music Box. As an ardent Ben Folds fan I was pleasantly surprised with the laid back and humorous atmosphere he was able to create, even though his entire set was done (or at least it seemed) without any setlist or structure other then the fact he did not want to duplicate any songs from the show the night before (according to the 1/4 to 1/3 of the crowd that went to both shows).

He started out the show with “Effington” from his Way to Normal album and was able to transition from his upbeat and dancy songs to his more dramatic songs seemlessly. He even performed “You Don’t Know Me” (orginially featuring Regina Spektor) with the opening act Kate Miller-Heidke (who also was able to put on a fun yet musically sound show). After leaving the stage momentarily, the crowd would not stop cheering and Folds was quick to perform his encore, ending with “Not The Same” where he was able to turn the entire crowd into his own chior; leading them to harmonize at his will. Overall the concert was a very fun expierence and was thrilled with the amount of old stuff (including Ben Folds Five material) and new stuff he was able to fuse together into his show.