A Night at the Ryman

Oh my goodness, readers. I have big news.

Tonight is the night that I saw Ben Folds, for free, at the Ryman! And let me tell you, it was incredible.

It was an hour-long show that consisted of Ben and his grand piano. I was only like fifteen rows back, so it was like I was sitting right next to him.

To say the show was amazing would be an understatement. He started with a bang: the song, “Effington.” It then it became a concert that consisted entirely of audience requests. Between songs, the audience would scream song titles and he would play the first one he heard. So we got to hear some classics: Zak and Sara, Landed, Still Fighting It, and Jesusland. He also played my favorite Ben Folds Five song, Philosophy, and my favorite solo song, The Luckiest. 

I sang, clapped along with Annie Waits,  and was a hot mess the whole time. After he left the stage, we MADE SURE that he came back out for an encore. And we were not disappointed. 

Not only did he come back out, but made the whole audience harmonize to the song, “Not the Same.” Because I live in Music City, you can imagine how good the audience sounded. He actually added a fourth harmony to the mix that he doesn’t normally do. It was beautiful and so much fun!

Afterwards, my friends and I waited behind the Ryman to meet him. After like half an hour, a security guy came out and told us that because Ben was running late to a meeting at his studio, that he wouldn’t have time to sign autographs. Considering I was one of approximately ten people waiting there, I was a little peeved. I mean, I was this close to getting my picture taken with my hero. 

However, the security guy made us a deal. If we were willing to move over a few feet so that Ben’s car could pull up, we were allowed to hang out and say hi to Ben as he walked out. So a few minutes later, Ben Folds walked out of the building and we got to tell him what a great show he played. He was incredibly sweet and grateful and then a few minutes later he was gone. I am still recovering from the greatness of that moment. 

Well, that was my evening. I have to go get my Halloween costume ready, so I am out of time to write. Halloween costumes take a lot of time to put together, y’all. 

Here’s the quote of the day, coming to you from the wonderful lyrics of the great Ben Folds. 

“Life is wonderful
Life is beautiful
We’re all children of
One big universe
So you don’t have to be
A chump”

– Ben Folds

Love your neighbor as yourself and never forget to have a great day!

Love,

Allie