Ben Folds! And Kenton Chen!

For Tim's Father's Day present, Mike and Connie helped me surprise him with tickets to see Ben Folds in concert. (He's one of the judges on The Sing Off.) I enjoy his music, but Tim loves it. He spent the last few weeks listening to every Ben Folds song on his computer so he could be ready. The concert was last night and we were not disappointed!

Connie met me at Brenden's t-ball practice to take over kid-watching duties, which I heard later was a crazy practice full of very little listening on the kids' part and a lot of tackling. Sorry, Connie! Tim and I headed to Hey Mambo for dinner (super yummy!) and then to The Cain's Ballroom. I was excited because I've never been in there.

The opening act was Kenton Chen, who was on The Sing Off with his group The Backbeats. He played a short set and did all of the music and vocals by himself, utilizing a recording device of some sort. (We weren't close to the stage so I'm not sure exactly how it all worked.) He was fantastic! I especially liked his song Believe In (I may be wrong about the title...sorry!) which he wrote about how popular music is so sexualized and young girls are interested in becoming famous at the cost of their childhood. So catchy and meaningful!

We were able to meet him during the break between his set and Ben Folds and he was just the nicest guy. I mentioned posting to his fan page on Facebook and he remembered that he had replied back to me! He's definitely worth a listen. Thanks again, Kenton!

Unlike most concerts, Ben Folds actually took the stage at 9 pm like they said he would. For the next two hours we were treated to an absolutely fabulous concert! Whether you were a hardcore fan that knew all the songs (Tim) or someone that only knew three songs (me) I can promise you would have enjoyed this. Tim and I had a list of songs that we wanted to hear him play and we got our wish! All four songs, "Still Fighting It", "Luckiest", "Hiroshima" and "In the Army" were all on his set list. I haven't seen Tim that excited in a long time. It was awesome.

It was a wonderful night and I cannot wait to see him in concert again. I better start listening to his cds now so I can know all the songs!