CAKE and Ben Folds aren’t the most obvious touring partners out there but it makes sense when you realize just how long both of them have been “going the distance,” so to speak. Both have had long celebrated and well-established careers and are at the point where they can tour giant places like Forest Hills Stadium without having any new music to tour in support of.
Kicking things off was Boston-natives Tall Heights who were also serving double duty as Ben Folds backing band. Their blend of folk-rock mixes elements of electronic in such a way that has dubbed them as “electrofolk.” They were a great way to warm up the crowd and allow us to enjoy the rest of the beautiful summer weather that we had just before the sunset.
Up next was Mr. Folds, who began the set solo beginning with “Phone in a Pool,” before dipping into “The Ascent of Stan.” He went through a good chunk of “Annie Waits,” solo but it was during this third song where Tall Heights joined him to close out the track in fitting fashion. Along with his oldies, he dipped into the Ben Folds Five well with “Battle of Who Could Care Less,” “Brick,” and “Do It Anyway.” With less time than his normal headlining shows he stuck to the big guns and played pretty much all the standard Ben Folds classics that one would expect: “Landed,” “Zak and Sara,” and “Rockin’ The Suburbs.”
Before he played “Still Fighting It,” he informed the crowd that his son who is the subject of the song is now in 18, reminding us of just how old we all are. There was plenty of typical levity from Folds in-between songs and even a song that he and Tall Heights made up about “Forest Hills,” that got a well deserved great response from the crowd. Even though so much of the Ben Folds show is familiar from other shows I’ve caught from him in the past, I can’t help but be won over every time as if it was my very first.
After all these years it was good to finally check CAKE off of my list. It’s been a good seven years since they last released an album, but of course, the longstanding rockers have enough material to do circles around most acts. Sadly, due to the threat of some thunderstorms the band were forced to cut their set short and rush through the mega one-two punch of their main staples “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” and “The Distance,” before they hurried to give fans a one-song encore featuring their cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.”
Find a full gallery of photos from all three performances along with Ben Folds and Cake’s setlists.
Tall Heights:
Ben Folds:
Ben Folds setlist:
1. Phone in a Pool
2. The Ascent of Stan
3. Annie Waits
4. Battle of Who Could Care Less (Ben Folds Five song)
5. Forest Hills
6. Levi Johnston’s Blues
7, So There
8. Brick (Ben Folds Five song)
9. You Don’t Know Me
10. Jesusland
11. Still Fighting It
12. Do It Anyway (Ben Folds Five song)
13. Landed
14. Zak and Sara
15. Rockin’ the Suburbs
16. Not the Same
CAKE:
CAKE setlist:
1. Frank Sinatra
2. Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps (Osvaldo Farrés cover)
3. Long Time
4. Sinking Ship
5. Stickshifts and Safetybelts
6. Sad Songs and Waltzes (Willie Nelson cover)
7. Opera Singer
8. Sick of You
9. Never There
10. Short Skirt/Long Jacket
11. The Distance
Encore:
12. War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)
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