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Ben Folds Five Reunion Births Band’s First-Ever Live Album

ben folds five, live album

When Ben Folds Five returned from a 13-year gap between studio albums with 2012’s The Sound of the Life of the Mind, SPIN’s David Peisner noted that “Folds sounds invigorated to have a rock band behind him again, making him play harder, sing harder, be harder.” Now the North Carolina piano man is looking to extend that hot streak with Ben Folds Five’s first-ever official live album.

The collection, appropriately dubbed Ben Folds Five Live, will arrive on June 4 via ImaVeePee Records/Sony Music Entertainment in CD and double vinyl formats. Folds has previously issued live records as a solo artist — 2002’s Ben Folds Live and 2009’s The Sound of Last Night… This Morning — but this upcoming 15-track compilation will be the first concert document to feature Ben Folds Five bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee. Recorded over the course of the trio’s 2012-2013 tour in support of their latest LP, Ben Folds Five Live pulls stand-outs from all four of the band’s full-lengths: 1995’s self-titled debut, 1997’s Whatever and Ever Amen, 1999’s The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, and last year’s The Sound of the Life of the Mind. (Yes, that includes “Brick.”)

Fans hoping to see Ben Folds Five firsthand will have the chance again this summer, when the three-piece hits the road for the Last Summer on Earth 2013 tour. Like other traveling, alt-pop-excavating showcases, Last Summer on Earth packages together a crop of seasoned ’90s rock stars; in this case, Ben Folds Five will be teaming up with Barenaked Ladies and Guster. Find the track listing for Ben Folds Five Live and tour dates for Last Summer on Earth 2013 down below.

Ben Folds Five Live track list:

1. “Jackson Cannery” (The Warfield, San Francisco CA, 1/31/13)
2. “Erase Me” (The Warfield, San Francisco CA, 1/31/13)
3. “Selfless, Cold and Composed” (House of Blues, Boston MA, 10/13/12)
4. “Uncle Walter” (Kool Haus, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 10/5/12)
5. “Landed” (The Warfield, San Francisco CA, 1/31/13)
6. “Sky High” (The Barton Theatre, Adelaide AU, 11/16/12)
7. “One Chord Blues/Billie’s Bounce” (The Wiltern, Los Angeles CA 1/26/13)
8. “Do It Anyway/Overture – Heaven on Their Minds” (O2 Academy, Brixton UK, 12/4/12)
9. “Brick” (The Warfield, San Francisco CA, 1/31/13)
10. “Draw a Crowd” (Capitol, Port Chester NY, 10/9/12)
11. “Narcolepsy” (Hitomi Kinen Hall, Tokyo JP, 2/16/13)
12. “Underground” (Mielparque Hall, Osaka JP, 2/22/13)
13. “Tom and Mary” (O2 Academy, Brixton UK, 12/4/12)
14. “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces” (The Warfield, San Francisco CA, 1/31/13)
15. “Song for the Dumped” (The Barton Theatre, Adelaide AU, 11/16/12)

Ben Folds Five’s Last Summer on Earth 2013 tour dates:

June 17 – Dallas, TX @ Verizon Theatre *#
June 19 – Denver, CO @ Red Rocks *#
June 20 – Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amp *#
June 22 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl *#
June 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre *#
June 25 – Saratoga, CA @ Mountain Winery *
June 26 – Saratoga, CA @ Mountain Winery *
June 28 – Boise, ID @ Botanical Gardens *#
June 29 – Seattle, WA @ White River Amp *#
June 30 – Missoula, MT @ Big Sky Brewing Company *#
July 5 – Columbus, OH @ LC Pavilion *#
July 6 – Cincinnati, OH @ TBA *#
July 8 – Lansing, MI @ Commonground Festival *#
July 9 – Chicago, IL @ Charter One Pavilion *
July 11 – Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre *#
July 12 – Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre *#
July 13 – Nashville, TN @ The Woods at Fontanel *#
July 15 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion *#
July 16 – Boston, MA @ Bank of America Pavilion *
July 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Mann Music Ctr *#
July 19 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena *#
July 20 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center *#
July 21 – Bangor, ME @ Waterfront Park *#
July 23 – Lenox, MA @ Tanglewood *#
July 25 – Charlotte, NC @ T W Cable Uptown Amp *#
July 26 – Alpharetta, GA @ Verizon Wireless Amp *#
July 27 – Charleston, SC @ Family Circle Stadium *#
July 28 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheatre *#
July 30 – Brooklyn, NY @ Celebrate Brooklyn! at the Prospect Park Bandshell *#

* = with Barenaked Ladies
# = with Guster