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Life & Arts

Ben Folds brings indie to symphony

by CHRISTIAN OCHOA
The Daily Cougar

Rocking out at the Houston Symphony won't be limited to dead musical geniuses Wednesday night. Fans of indie rock star Ben Folds will prove that rock music and cellos go together like indie boys and their chucks. 

As part of the American Expressions concert series, which teams up the Houston Symphony with contemporary music stars, Jones Hall will be filled with Folds' funny lyrics such as "ya'll don't know what it's like / being male, middle class and white" from "Rockin' the Suburbs" and fan favorites such as "Brick" and "The Luckiest."

Folds is currently touring to promote his new album supersunnyspeedgraphic, the lp, a collection of EP releases, b-sides and covers which include The Cure's "In Between Days," The Darkness' "Get Your Hands Off My Woman" and a Dr. Dre song that can't be printed because of too many expletives. 

With a new album under his belt, Folds is more than likely to pull out all the stops to entertain the entire crowd, and with a full orchestra serving as a backup, audience involvement will be a different story. 

Sure, symphomaniac elitists might be filling up the seats, but there are few times where anyone can brag that they attended a show where string quartets were essential to a rock show. 

This isn't the first time the Houston Symphony has tried to expand its fan base: Video Games Live, a concert tour featuring the bleeps and bloops of classic games to full symphonic scores, and The Baseball Concert, an evening where baseball music along with video highlights from America's past time, were both a stop in July.

Tickets begin at $35. For more information on Ben Folds, visit his Web site at www.benfolds.com or on the Houston Symphony, www.houstonsymphony.org. 
 

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