Ben Folds Five Delivers The Goods At Bonnaroo

When a band gets back together there are two questions in everyone’s mind: “Are they going to play the old stuff?” and “Is it going to be as good as it was back then?” In the case of the Ben Folds Five, the answers are yes and yes. Despite the fact that the band are preparing to release a new album later in 2012, the band members stuck to songs off their first three albums.

But BFF wasn’t just a case of nostalgia. Some of the songs had been reworked and the musicianship is of an even higher caliber. Sure, Ben had some trouble remembering some lyrics, and there were a few less than smooth transitions, but overall the trio delivered one of the best sets of the weekend. My only complaint is that Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee’s beautiful vocal harmonies were mixed low, but that only put a slight damper on the show.

The band seemed excited to be playing to such a huge crowd. Folds continued his Bonnaroo tradition where he stands on top of his piano and takes a picture of the audience flipping him off, and later recorded a video of fans singing along while he played piano and sang.

By the end of the show there was a different question on everyone’s mind: “When are they going to announce a U.S. tour?”