Ben Folds & The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Festival Theatre
Fri 29 September


Somewhere in the hefty back issues of this paper, I believe I've mentioned my conviction that Ben Folds will go down as the most accomplished songwriter of his time. That's not to say he's absolutely the best - that's a subjective matter for everyone individually to decide - but is there anyone else in the world able to put together pop music of such technical proficiency, intellect and character, while embracing and often parodying the boundaries of the genre? Even a symphony orchestra can't drown out the wonder and the songwriting perfection of Ben Folds.

Not willing to compromise on his maverick, class clown character, Folds toyed with his accompanists - "Do you like my new band?" - with respect and admiration. His well-known penchant for intimate conversation worked well with the seated theatre audience and on this night enjoyed something of a parochial character. Upon playing his heroic serenade to our fair town, Adelaide, Folds began to list every Adelaide street he'd ever lived on, the house in Norwood where a large number of his songs were written and the hospital (Ashford) in which his twins were born.

Most of the surprises in the orchestra arrangements had already been exposed to me from the 'Ben Folds And The WASO' DVD, but were all the more exciting in the room - the true-to-record performance of Steven's Last Night In Town and the enormity of Narcolepsy being personal favourites. Then there were the inevitable, and brilliant, audience participation moments - having spent the last seven years having the audience provide the brass bridge in Army, Folds was hardly going to let the orchestra take it away - as well as the hilarious occasions on which Folds tried to have his impressive piano chops compete with those of his conservatorium-trained bandmates.

But most impressive of all are, of course, Folds' songs. No-one else makes me shiver quite as much as Ben Folds. Zak And Sara is amazing; Smoke is revelatory. With an orchestra, a band, or just a piano, Folds sets a benchmark for pop songwriting which, at least in my generation, goes unmatched. This show was characteristically brilliant. Folds is a true champion of my lifetime.

Ben Revi