Thebarton Theatre. Frontier Touring. 24 Feb 2026
This is the seventh time that Ben Folds has played the Thebarton Theatre, the first being almost 20 years back in 1997. For a short period in the late 90s–early 2000s he and his (then) wife called Adelaide home, and the ease with which he played, sang and wooed the capacity ‘Thebby’ crowd tonight would indicate he still feels very much at home in Adelaide. But he seems to be the sort of person who can feel ‘at home’ anywhere—life is what you make of it—and his concert was very much an exploration of key moments in his life.
The concert begins with his support act Lindsey Kraft taking to the stage. She is unassuming and with self-deprecating humour. She was originally an actor (including playing Allison in the hit Netflix series Grace and Frankie) and eventually turned her hand to song and music making. As a pianist, she has modest abilities—simple melody in the right hand, chordal accompaniment in the left—but she has a straight-tone soprano voice that pitches true and creates a sweet and pure tone. Her song lyrics are meaningful, and she sings a song about her dad and one about her mum in her program. They are straight from the heart, and the audience warms to her very quickly.
Interestingly, she has written a musical We’ve Been Here Before that will be playing at the Holden Street Theatres during Fringe, and Ben Folds will be there as musical director. The relationship between Folds and Kraft helped create a structure to tonight’s concert – all the best concerts have one.
Solo popular concerts are very revealing. The solo artist is vulnerable and has nowhere to hide; there’s no backing group to disguise performance errors or lack of musical prowess; there’s no real opportunity to rest; the success (or otherwise) of the concert falls wholly on the prowess and skill of the soloist. Kraft succeeds as an opener, and Folds almost overwhelms the audience with his pianistic skill, song selection, and sequencing, high energy vocals, and entertaining conversation and smattering of irreverent patter.
As Folds walked on stage, One by Harry Nilsson was playing on the theatre’s sound system. Interesting choice. Gone are the days of Ben Folds Five. Gone are his marriages. He is unaccompanied, and alone on stage, with no flashy light show; just him with a grand piano. Exposed.
His first song is the poignant So There, which he follows with Don’t Change Your Plans. The deep melancholy and pathos of each song ripples through his whole body as he plays the piano with muscularity and purpose. The detailed passage work at the piano is impressive (but overamplified, arguably).
And then the audience erupted with heartfelt applause. He must have known they were with him.
It had never occurred to me that Ben Folds’ songs are rarely covered. In some ways, this is a testimony to the deeply personal nature of his material and consequently means so much more when they are sung by him. However, his next song, Boxing, was covered in 1998 by the iconic Bette Midler. It is an imaginary interview between famous American sports journalist, broadcaster and author Howard Cosell and boxer Muhammad Ali, in which the singer takes the perspective of Ali. Folds gives the final repeated phrase ‘Has boxing been good?’ a bravura treatment at the piano as he almost lifts himself off the piano bench. Again, over amplified to the point of distortion.
Then follows a range of songs interspersed with humorous anecdotes and comments about their genesis, ranging from how he approached song writing and music composition as a boy, through to the birth of his children, break-up of relationships, his musical responses during the COVID pandemic, sorting out junk, and through to the unexpected passing of a dear friend. His performance of What Matters Most becomes a moment of personal reflection for every member of the audience as they ponder the final lyric ‘Tell me, what matters most? Mmm.’ There follows a momentary silence. Then heartfelt and generous applause.
But the biggest thrill of the night is his inclusion of the song Adelaide, and Folds explains that the city of Adelaide and its inhabitants have surely outgrown the cultural cringe with which the city (and South Australia more generally) has been associated. To whoops of cheers and laughter, Folds states he no longer feels the need to be the “defence attorney for Adelaide” and offer apologies on our behalf. An admirable trait of Aussies is our ability to laugh at ourselves, and we do so as he sings every irreverent phrase from the song!
His program also included You Don’t Know Me first released on his 2008 album Way to Normal. It includes the repeated lyric ‘you don’t know me at all’ and the audience responds with ‘at all’ with full throated voice. But, to the contrary, after this deeply personal concert we do feel we know Ben Folds, at least a little bit better, and we want even more.
Kym Clayton
When: 24 Feb
Where: Thebarton Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Tour Continuing through Melbourne, Bendigo, Perth, Newcastle, Geelong, and Hobart.
More info: frontiertouring.com/benfolds
