CONCERT REVIEW | BEN FOLDS' PAPER AIRPLANE REQUEST TOUR I've always had the belief that Ben Folds could have chased any career in music if he wanted to. A rockstar, a composer, a parody act. But on Tuesday night, the talented songwriter behind alt-rock band Ben Folds Five, 1997 hit "Brick" and many, many songs on film and TV soundtracks, was the funniest guy in the Quad-Cities.
Folds performed Tuesday at Davenport's Capitol Theatre to a mostly full and entirely passionate crowd. The show had a unique twist: It was part of Folds' Paper Airplane Request Tour. Just as it sounds, the tour allowed fans to fold up sheets of printer paper — provided at the venue — into airplanes with written song requests on them.
This gimmick made the show feel less like a typical concert and more like a stage play. The theatrical feel started with opener Lindsey Kraft, who showed off songs from her forthcoming musical, "love, me." If audience members didn't know Kraft was developing a musical, they learned pretty quickly because of the way the singer-actress talk-sang through the whole set of seemingly improvisational piano tunes.
It wasn't always clear when she was or wasn't in character, but Kraft was always open, and always amusing. Her songs followed a narrative: her long-term relationship turned non-monogamous, leading to her falling for her musical hero, getting dumped by said hero, stalking him and going nuts. It was messy but engaging.
It made the 35-minute set feel like a three-minute.