Add this up: One, “Rockin’ the Suburbs” with his playful and, at times, somber piano tunes for more than 25 years... and two, cult favorites and a band of explicit folk punks who created the ol’ “Kiss Off.”
Pairing Ben Folds and the Violent Femmes together might not make a ton of sense on paper, but if you consider each artist, their fan bases, and their respective affinity for jangly tongue-in-cheek jams (many of which include hand-claps), we can totally see why these two low-key legends are sharing a bill. Violent Femmes have endured some interpersonal drama — notably, a lawsuit over band credit and the use of “Blister in the Sun” in a Wendy’s commercial and, most recently, adding Hotel Last Resort to their discography. Meanwhile, since the dissolution of Ben Folds Five, a solo Folds has gone on to do everything from a sonic collaboration with writer Nick Hornby, an a cappella record, a symphonic chamber rock album, and served as a judge on NBC’s The Sing-Off. Oh! And he wrote a memoir, this year’s A Dream about Lightning Bugs, which he will be reading and signing at Ann Arbor’s the Blind Pig on Monday following the concert.
Doors open at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 11, at Meadow Brook Amphitheatre; 3554 Walton Blvd., Rochester Hills; 248-377-0100; 313presents.com. Tickets are $29.50+.
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