Fancy-Shmancy Music... Kind of

I love music. Coming from a musical family like mine, it's pretty impossible not to. Aside from a short time period in sixth grade when I told my mom I would never like the horrible stuff she played in her car, I've pretty much listened to anything and everything my entire life. From show tunes (thanks, Mom) to classic rock (thanks, Dad) to new indie and R&B, I dig it all. So it's especially exciting to me when different musical styles are combined to create something new and awesome.

Early this month, we went to a concert of one of our favorite musicians, Ben Folds. What made this interesting was that he was performing with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.

Heading to the show. Looking much fancier than we usually do for concerts.

Ben Folds is a piano player and vocalist who has had a long career of performing piano rock music in the band Ben Folds Five and as a soloist. Like many pianists, Ben has a background in art music, so he really has a passion for supporting the art form, and he often includes symphonic elements in his music. In fact, I was surprised to see how well some of his songs worked with a 100-piece orchestra behind him. Of course, there were a few of his "harder" songs that, while still awesome, were a little more forced in that setting. But I must reiterate that they were still completely awesome; it was so interesting to hear some of my favorite music in a completely different context.

To give you an idea of the change the orchestra had on his music, here are a couple of clips of the song "Annie Waits." The first is the studio recording (with a pretty lame fan video - but the music is still Ben's), and the second is a recording of the same song performed with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.






Interesting, no? I encourage you to explore some of Ben's other symphonic performances - and check out your local symphony, too!

Anyway, the night was tons of fun! Ben really knew how to put on a good show, and the orchestra was awesome! Plus, I got to sing harmonies on one song!

Ben Folds, conducting his "choir," which was the entire audience.

After the main show was over, Ben continued to play as the orchestra cleaned up and left. He played a long encore by himself, which was great for all of the fans who didn't want the show to end (like me).

Ben continuing to play as the orchestra leaves.

Ben in his famous rock-out stance on the empty stage.

After the show, I was pretty giddy. It was just so cool!

So excited after the show.

Now I have an even deeper appreciation and love for Ben's music. Awesome.