Odd Men Out Tour, KCMO 8/13/2005

I will begin by saying that the rain this weekend sucked. My sister and I drove three hours from Wichita to Kansas City in the rain. I had hopes that it would have let up by the time we arrived to wait in line for the show. It did not. Thank goodness for all the people there for Benvention, otherwise the whole experience waiting in line for the show would have been unbearable. We (my sister and I) only waited in the rain for 3 1/2 hours to get into the show. The people there for Benvention waited in the rain longer. One guy came all the way from Pennsylvania to see the show. Another came from New Mexico. What a welcome.



Though the show was scheduled to begin at 7:30pm, the gates did not open until after 8:20pm. When they finally let us in, they didn't even let us keep our ticket stubs. After enduring the soundcheck, Rufus Wainwright finally came out on stage. No band. The show began nearly an hour and fifteen minutes late. Rufus sang a couple of songs and then mentioned that "they" almost cut out his set. This would explain why he came out first and not the scheduled opener, Ben Lee. Ben Lee's set was cut out entirely (I was sad about this). Rufus played his solo set for under an hour. Though the set was unusually short, it was awesome. I'm not a huge fan of Rufus', but he's got an amazing voice. He seemed to be in a pretty good mood considering the weather (Somehow, I knew that if he came out on stage, so would the rainbows). One of the highlights from his set was when he screwed up "Hallelujah". Hilarious. People laughed at him. He's such a good sport. He talked about the weather throughout the set and made several references to The Wizard of Oz (okay, so he's a Judy Garland fan. We get it already). I don't recall anyone complaining about his performance. Interesting side note: When he made mention that the flashes from people's cameras were scaring him because of the lightening, people began taking more pictures.



Ben Folds' performance was probably the best I've seen (This would be my fourth time seeing him in concert). It was good to hear songs like "Philosophy", "One Angry Dwarf," "Zak & Sara" and "Rockin' The Suburbs" with a full band. I can't even begin to describe how much "Rockin' The Suburbs" kicked trash with a live band. I really like the "new" guys. They seemed to be having a blast on stage. The crowd wasn't too bad either. Unfortunately, no one seemed to know the older material as much as the new. I'm glad Ben recognized that we wanted an awesome show, because he delivered-- the pirate joke ("A pirate walks into a bar..."). That and the longest set list ever. He played for over an hour and a half. Joe DeLorenzo (Ben's road manager)smoked the entire time. "Careless Whisper" (with Rufus & full band) was one of the highlights. He also (predictibly) played "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" because it was raining (get it?). It was cool. I also enjoyed one of Ben's usually hidden personas, "Gangsta Ben," during the Dre. Dre cover. Superb acting. Ben rocks, seriously. I really don't know if any other Ben show will be as great (by great, I mean long) as this one. I wish that he could have played longer (I guess he would have if Rufus hadn't played), but Kansas City has an 11:30pm curfew for outdoor concerts.

My only real complaint about the show was that someone, who bumped into him at Starbucks earlier that day, requested "The Luckiest". I've been to four shows. Every show someone has requested "The Luckiest". For the love of all that is good and right in the world, PLEASE STOP REQUESTING "THE LUCKIEST"! I IMPLORE YOU! If you're going to request a song, please request one that no one's heard in a while or one that he rarely plays. PLEASE! I only mention this because Ben had "Underground," "Alice Childress," "Eddie Walker," "Carrying Cathy," and "Losing Lisa" on the planned set list, but he ran out of time to play them. Thanks a lot.

The rain prevented Ben from actually coming out after the show and seeing people. He sat in the van and signed stuff for a few minutes until a huge semi truck started honking at him from behind. Unfortunately, it was pretty crowded, so I was unable to meet The Man... again. Close call. I won't be going to any other shows on this tour, so I guess I'll have to wait another year to meet The Man.

Some .Orgers found out by talking to Joe (Ben's tour manager) that the show was nearly cancelled because of the rain (though our tickets read "Rain or Shine"). They thought there might have been lightening and they no one would have been able to play. Shortly before the show, the rain did let up and Ben and Rufus were still able to play, thankfully. Close call.

In summary, the rain was a blessing and a curse. We waited forever in the rain for the venue to open up and for the show to begin. Also because of the rain, Ben Lee was cut and Rufus' set was cut short. However, Ben's set was super long and it was amazing. Thanks Ben!

It was awesome meeting the mods, Rubber Sled, Barb, Soybomb, HarmonizedMoFo, DrewMG and everyone else from the .Org. I hope we call alll do this again sometime. I hope you find a job Dave. Zach Friendly, I'll see you at Ben Kweller's next show.

For more commentary about the show, read the thread on the .Org.

Set Lists: (NOTE: BEN LEE DID NOT PLAY)

Rufus (Solo, in no particular order):

The Art Teacher
This Love Affair
Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk
Vibrate
California
11:11
Hallelujah
Grey Gardens
Foolish Love

Ben (With full band, unless noted.):

In Between Days
Bastard
Gone
Zak & Sara
Jesusland
All U Can Eat
Still Fighting It
Careless Whisper [with Rufus]
Landed
B****es Ain't Sh** [Dr. Dre cover]
Brick (Solo)
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head (Solo)
Army (Solo)
Emaline (Solo)
The Luckiest (Solo)
You To Thank
Gracie [Rock Version]
Rockin' the Suburbs
Philosophy
One Angry Dwarf
"Thank You Kansas City" (Improv)

**Encore**
Not the Same