Musical interlude

Oh my goodness. I've just found out that Ben Folds is playing here on January 30th. Cue much excitement.

I blame my ex-boyfriend for introducing me to Mr. Folds (then part of a Fivesome who were actually a threesome, but whatever). He lent me his signed copy of Whatever And Ever Amen back in 1998 and I was instantly hooked. We had a race with our friends at the time to see who could learn to play the most songs on piano by ear. I managed Evaporated, a little of Missing The War and the riff from Kate; our friend Conor had the whole thing down pat within about a week so he accompanied us on our tipsy evening singalongs around the chaplaincy piano. The next couple of months were universally soundtracked by these songs, so when we split up just after the Christmas break I had to give the album a rest for a while. (I considered keeping the signed copy, but I'm not that mean.)

Since then (seven years, has it been that long?) I've dipped in and out of Reinhold Messner and Ben's solo albums. I've also reacquainted myself with Whatever And Ever Amen, in the process proving Nick Hornby's theory that if you really love a song, it won't remind you of anything specific when you hear it. Now I just hear the songs. But I've never had the opportunity to hear them live... in a little over two months, I will. One to cross off my list of Acts To See Live Before I Die.