(sorry I forgot my camera and SD card in Berkeley, will upload photos later, for now, you all can enjoy a picture of Dwayne)
Local Artist Goh Nakamura opened up for Ben Sollee last Monday night, starting off his funny set by singing about being hipless in a hipster world. With each song, he gained confidence and the audience’s approval, well articulated with laughter and applause. He has a soft tenor voice which is good but has much room for improvement. His lyrics were sharp and funny, using plenty of puns and explaining his disgust at one night in his life when he had gotten off of a busboy shift where he had earned 30 dollars only to come out to a 35 dollar parking ticket. “I essentially paid 5 dollars to work”, he told the audience. My favourite lyric by him however, was off of a song called “Red Balloons”: “boys chase girls who chase butterflies who chase red balloons who chase better skies”, sung in a heartfelt manner that showcased his range as an artist: he could easily fluctuate between being humourous and sincere. He thanked the audience, saying that this had been his best show ever; we enjoyed it too.
2.5/5
visit Goh on MYSPACE
Ben Sollee surprised me. I expected (and quite honestly, hoped) that he would accurately emulate the songs off of his record. I thought that the quality of his music didn’t really give him much leeway in experimentation with his live sound. I was wrong. Whereas he upped the tempo on almost every song, his voice for the most part was still slow, creating an excellent contrast (which paralleled the whole “I am going to use a cello to play non-classical music” thing). His voice was scratchier, deeper, and more organic live. He remarked that he was still getting used to a “cheering section”, still recovering from playing in the background of an orchestra. He was scattered when he tried to tell the audience stories, but this characteristic was very endearing on the twenty something. He explained that the dinosaur in the background (whom Goh referred to as Garfunkel before worrying “oh no, wait, maybe I am Garfunkel”) was named Dwayne, painted by the modern Kentucky based artist Phillip March Jones, who also designed the merchandise for Ben’s very first solo tour. He played a handful of new songs, including “Meet With a Bullhorn”, which moved me to tears. He told the audience that “I Can’t” took seven years to write, revealing how meticulous he can be. A poignant moment was when he explained what had inspired the song “Panning for Gold”: apparently, Ben has two grandparents who are affected with dementia, and their memory loss caused him to ponder memory and time, and how the new generations must keep the older generation’s memories alive for both of their sakes. He covered Fiona Apple and Jay-Z, remarking after the latter that it had seemed like a good idea at the time. He also sang part of “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley, before falling off of his chair and creating an uproar of concern and laughter. That moment defined the show: while we all adored Ben, we were still able to laugh with him. He then covered a Prince song with Goh, which was cute. He also talked to us fans after the show ended. I had a bunch of questions lined up for him, which I unfortunately didn’t get to ask because it was getting late and I didn’t want to miss the last train back to Berkeley (for the record, I barely caught the very last train), but it didn’t matter because he wrote “Happy Birthday” on my copy of Learning to Bend after I told him that it had arrived on my birthday and made my day oh so much brighter.
3.75/5
visit Ben on MYSPACE
1. Try
2. How to See the Sun Rise
3. A Few Honest Words
4. Prettiest Tree on the Mountain
5. Meet with a Bullhorn/A Change is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke cover) [mp3 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED]
6. I Can’t
7. It’s Not Impossible
8. This is Only a Song
9. Extraordinary Machine (Fiona Apple cover) [mp3]
10. Panning for Gold
11. 99 Problems (Jay-Z cover) [mp3]
12. Bury Me with my Car/Crazy (Gnarls Barkley cover) [mp3]
13. When Doves Cry (Prince cover with Goh) [mp3]
14. Turn a light on
sorry for the crappy sound quality, I only had my mp3 player on me to record but it's not too bad, I've been listening to my own recordings =)
here is a proper mp3 off of his record:
Ben Sollee - How to See the Sun Rise [mp3]
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