review
November 13, 2005
Ben Lee
Who: Ben Lee with New Buffalo
When: November 12, 2005
Where: Chop Suey, Seattle, WA
This was my third time seeing Ben Lee this year, and while it may not have been the best performance I've ever seen from Ben, it may have been the most memorable. Featuring two excellent covers, a bar-top acoustic encore performance of "Naked," and a fan's onstage proposal to his girlfriend, this was one show I won't soon forget.
I took a couple of friends for their 1st wedding anniversary, and it proved to be an excellent choice. Move over Virginia, Ben Lee is for lovers. With the stage decked out in the now-familiar floral arrangements, Ben, Lara & co. shuffled on stage after an excruciatingly long set by New Buffalo. Sorry, Ben, I know you love Sally's music and all, but I didn't, and it was clear the rest of the crowd felt the same. By the time the show started, fittingly, with "Begin," the packed house was ready to embrace the impish Lee.
The set relied heavily on the excellent Awake is the New Sleep, Ben's most personal album to date. While I thought the album was a minor disappointment, the songs always shine through in a live performance. Maybe the communal nature of his live show just couldn't be translated onto record, but in person the songs from this album rank among the best of his (gasp!) 10-year career. The high point of the album came three songs into the set with the quietly hopeful "Gamble Everything for Love." After a great "Running With Scissors," Ben reintroduced Sally for a special cover. The audience was obviously not looking forward to seeing her again so soon, but she and Ben performed a lovely duet of Lucinda Williams's "Metal Firecracker."
Ben followed that up with two welcome oldies, one of which he introduced as a song he wrote when he "was 14 or 15." There aren't many artists that can still perform their early songs with a straight face, but Ben always wrote with such a naive honesty that lyrically and sonically simple pop songs like "My Guitar" and "Back In Your Life" still hold up 10 years later.
The rest of the set gave new life to some old and new tunes, thanks to Ben's excellent touring band. I've seen him perform in many, many incarnations with varying accompaniment, but not until this year have I had the fortune of seeing a proper touring band up there behind him, and it really adds depth and vitality to the show. The set closed with Ben's first true hit, "Catch My Disease," which for better or for worse will be the song people come to see from now on. But it got them in the building to see a great artist, so I can't complain.
Afterwards, everyone left stage but Ben, who said he would forego the usual formalities of the "encore," instead opting to simply turn his back to the audience as they clapped and cheered ferociously for their star. When he "returned" to the stage, he asked "Is there a Steve in the house? I think he has an announcement." At this point, I turned to see a guy walk past me up to the stage. Once there, he professed his love for Ben's music, and stated it was very important to he and his girlfriend. At that point, everyone in the audience knew what was coming, especially the girl standing behind me, crying tears of joy.
Steve asked her up on stage, and got down on one knee and everything. It was very sweet. To commemorate this wonderful moment, Ben performed a special song just for Steve and Christine, an Old 97s tune that ranks as one of my favorites in their catalog. "Some day somebody's gonna ask you a question that you should say yes to, once in your life" the song goes.
After the song, Steve & Christine floated away on feet of bliss, while Lara rejoined Ben for a now even more appropriate rendition of "Whatever It Is," which compels the listener much like a Nike ad--"wake up and do it, whatever it is." The show closed with a rousing sing-a-long of "We're All In This Together," but Ben decided that wasn't quite the end yet. After asking the crowd if they wanted just one more song, he weaved his way through the crowd to the bar, where he jumped up to perform one last song with just his voice and guitar. All in all, a near perfect evening once again thanks to Mr. Ben Lee.
Setlist:
Begin
Into The Dark
Gamble Everything For Love
Running With Scissors
Metal Firecracker (Lucinda Williams cover / Ben & Sally from New Buffalo)
Back In Your Life (Ben solo)
My Guitar (Ben solo)
No Right Angles
No Room To Bleed
Apple Candy
Cigarettes Will Kill You
Close I've Come
Catch My Disease
Encore:
(Steve's proposal)
Question (Old 97s cover, Ben Solo)
Whatever It Is (Ben & Lara)
We're All In This Together
Encore II:
Naked (Ben Solo acoustic on the bar)
Posted by Queuetipp at November 13, 2005 12:24 PM
