Stalkin' the suburbs

Last week Ben Folds, of Ben Folds Five fame came to the Twin Cities. In his previous concerts here, he had played at First Ave, where Prince got his start. This time, true to Ben's persona, he played at the Myth, out in the Suburbs. There are only a few places to get food out by Myth, and most of them are chains. We went to the least chain-line of the places, and whom is there having dinner, Mr. Ben Folds himself!

We wanted to get his photo, but we didn't want to bug when he was eating. My friend Anne had the good idea to make a deal. We would pick up the bill, if he would come by so we could meet him and get his photo. It was all arranged by the wait staff, and came out without a hitch. His bill was very modest, but the rest of us at the table didn't even pick it up. Anne took charge. We could get in the photo, but there was no way we were going to be paying for the bill.

When Ben came by, he could not have been nicer or more appreciative for such a simple gesture. Despite his sarcastic songs and persona, he was very polite and appreciative. We got a few photos of him, thanked him for coming to town and said goodbye. Joe asked if he was going to play "Kate" tonight. It was fairly obvious from his reaction, that he was not, although he did not say so in so many words.

We got to Myth (my first time there - it was really nice!), and the show was good. He played a lot of newer songs that I had not heard, but he told the audience not to worry, and that he would be playing older songs later. As the show went on, he took a pause, talked to the band and said, "I met some nice folks tonight and they asked for this song. Thanks again" and he busts into Kate.

Five people squeezed into a spot on the floor went wild.