Live Review: Ben Folds

Ben Folds is charming, this is well known, but it's hard to describe the level of his charm until you spend an evening with him.

Emerging on stage to Harry Nilsson's One, try as he might he couldn't stop beaming. Launching straight into Phone In A Pool, it was easy to tell that the crowd was in love with this man. If The Tivoli's overflowing audience didn't tip you off then the deafening hush that fell over the crowd as soon as Folds opened his mouth confirmed it.

That's not to say that he didn't love the crowd right back. Pausing before fan favourite Annie Waits, the singer took a moment to acknowledge the swarm of photographers in front of him, dismayed that because he was behind a piano they might not get the best shots. So, in a loveable gesture, he posed in three gregarious positions as the shooters snapped frantically and appreciatively.

Safe to say that Folds had the audience in the palm of his hand, every so often he'd take the time between songs to tell charming anecdotes about what inspired the tune he was about to play. Ever the showman, Folds played for laughs as often as he could and by gum, he got them.

A running theme throughout the night was the incredible amount of trust that Folds placed in his audience. Some artists might chuck a harmony for their crowd to tackle but Folds went above and beyond during Bastard, trusting 1000 strangers to hold a four-part harmony and even taking the role of conductor at the end to ensure we all finished on a beautiful note.

Folds did this several times throughout the evening, each time grinning and complimenting us with the pride of a music teacher who just taught his students a new note.

Of course, the audience lived up to his expectations, especially during Regina Spektor collaboration You Don't Know Me where we were literally given Spektor's part and allowed the opportunity to duet with Folds. It was a gorgeous moment of community that really exemplified how music can connect people.

Folds rounded off his first set with a spellbinding drum solo in which crew built a drum kit around him as he continued to play, not missing a beat.

After intermission is where things really got exciting. The 'Paper Aeroplanes' tour was named as such because the audience was invited to write their requests on paper airplanes, lob them on the stage and the ten that got picked up would form the second half of the set.

It was an immense amount of fun to do, which was lucky because just by sheer chance 90% of the songs that Folds picked up were ballads. Everyone swayed soulfully as Folds crooned through The Luckiest, Army, Underground and mega-hit Brick.

Folds didn't surrender to the angst though as he joyfully picked up a plane that had Walkin' In Memphis, playfully giving us a taste of what that cover would sound like.

Not wanting to leave us on a down note Folds bounded back on stage for a surprising encore of traditional Jewish folk song Hava Nagila before tearing down the house with One Angry Dwarf & 200 Solemn Faces.

The unbreakable smile that Folds had as he took his final bow was reflected in the face of every single person in the crowd that knew that what had just witnessed someone that had truly mastered their craft.