Ben Folds's Lonely Avenue tour of Europe got off to a smashing good start in Ireland and the UK this past week. The Independent gives a perfect five stars to the "monumental" London show, with Folds "amazing the audience time and again ... It's an absolute joy to watch someone so gifted perform." MusicOMH gives the concert five stars as well, calling it "a performance that doesn't set a foot wrong, from an artist who systematically matches storytelling with perfect orchestration and harmony. Impeccable." The Evening Standard says Folds's "musicianship shone through with jazzy interludes from his band and beautiful harmonies."
Ben Folds's European tour got off to a smashing good start in Ireland and the UK this past week. There are two more UK concerts ahead this weekend at O2 Academy venues in Glasgow and Sheffield before the tour, featuring songs from his Nonesuch debut album, Lonely Avenue, heads to the Continent next week. The Independent gives a perfect five stars to Folds's concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, the hometown of his Lonely Avenue writing partner Nick Hornby, who was in the audience for the occasion.
Independent reviewer Luke Grundy calls it "a monumental" set that "brings the house down." After lauding Folds's band for their "totally captivating" performances of Folds's songs, Grundy recognizes that it was Folds at center stage for good reason, with "his communicative voice and deft ear for composition amazing the audience time and again." He writes:
Add to this his effortlessly brilliant, note-perfect virtuosity at the piano and you get a frontman whose talent defies description. It's an absolute joy to watch someone so gifted perform, and Folds can be persuasive, poignant or punk depending on his mood. The stunning encore "Not the Same" epitomises the show, Folds making a choir of the rapt crowd; they'll follow his lead anywhere, you sense. Tonight it's easy to see why.
Read the complete five-star review at independent.co.uk.
---
MusicOMH gives the concert five stars as well. Folds's "mastery is indisputable," says reviewer Jon Falcone, who calls the London show "a performance that doesn't set a foot wrong, from an artist who systematically matches storytelling with perfect orchestration and harmony. Impeccable." Read more at musicomh.com.
---
The Evening Standard gives the concert four stars, saying Folds's "musicianship shone through with jazzy interludes from his band and beautiful harmonies." Read more at thisislondon.co.uk.
---
To pick up a copy of Lonely Avenue on vinyl, CD, or in the special deluxe edition, head to the Nonesuch Store now, where orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album at checkout.
For more on Folds's upcoming tour, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
- Log in to post comments
