Ben Folds Five! One night only? Why oh why can’t I be in Chapel Hill?

Posted by Kate A. in Music.

Eight long years ago, I was sitting at my computer working on a Ben Folds Five fan site. (Yes. I was the dork that taught myself HTML because I didn’t have enough books to read.)

The site was nothing special. It was really a way for me to play around with bad design and waste time. But Ben Folds Five? That was my band. I loved them then and I still love them now. And I remember sitting there with my various intraweb and AIM windows open as someone broke the news that the group had split.

I was completely bummed. I had the pleasure of seeing Ben Folds Five live two times, and it was some of the most fun I’d ever had at a concert–even if one time I had to sit through Train in order to get to the good stuff. I knew they hadn’t split on bad terms, and of course Ben Folds kept up the dorktacular piano music (and smashingly fun concerts), but it was a shame that I’d never see them rocking out on stage together again.

Imagine my surprise when, a few days ago, my inbox lights up with a glorious message from the Ben Folds mailing list: “Ben Folds Five To Reunite!”

I nearly did a backflip. But I figured it was also a little too good to be true, so I read on.

Turns out, it IS true, but only for one night.

MySpace is kicking off its new music program, Front to Back, with the Five reuniting for one night only to play The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, their last studio album together, in its entirety.

The concert will take place in the band’s hometown, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on September 18, 2008 at the UNC Memorial Hall. Happily, for the many poor unfortunate souls who cannot be in Chapel Hill on that particular day, the show will be taped and rebroadcast on the MySpace Front to Back profile in October.

Tickets are sold out, and it looks like they went pretty fast, but I’m not surprised. If the show is half as awesome as the two that I saw, it will be worth every penny and then some. These guys really know how to entertain a crowd. I don’t doubt that there will be some improv and hijinks going on even if the point is to play just one album. Ben Folds Five do not disappoint.

For more information about the show and the Front to Back project, check out the profile at http://myspace.com/fronttoback

Proceeds from the concert will be going to the Operation Smile charity, and more Front to Back events featuring other artists will follow.

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