Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter and serial collaborator Ben Folds will tour Australia in March 2020. While he has performed concerts around the country on numerous occasions – he was last here in February 2018 – this time he will be backed by symphony orchestras from each state. He’ll also be in the country later this week to tour his recently released memoir, A Dream About Lightning Bugs, which debuted on the New York Times best-sellers list.
Folds will be playing his greatest hits (which include Brick, Rockin’ the Suburbs and Still Fighting It) with support from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Symphony, West Australian Symphony, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. It’s not the first time he’s collaborated with an Aussie orchestra; in 2014 the artist was joined by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for a performance that included a live improvisation on stage.
“I grew up playing in orchestras, so being on stage with one feels like home to me,” Folds said in a statement. “In these concerts, the orchestra is my band. When I perform with an orchestra, I tell audiences that I’m expressing myself through a different form than what they have come to expect in a rock show, a form that happens to be done by people who are among the best musicians on the planet and who do it all the time.”
Folds is also the first-ever artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Throughout his career he’s released pop albums with his former band Ben Folds Five, as well as solo albums, and has collaborated with big names including Regina Spektor, Weird Al Yankovic and William Shatner.
Tickets are now on sale.
Tour dates:
Sydney
Fri March 6 and Sat March 7 – Sydney Town Hall with Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Tickets here.
Brisbane
Wed March 11 and Thu March 12 – QPAC Concert Hall with Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Tickets here.
Perth
Mon March 16 and Tue March 17 – Perth Concert Hall with West Australian Symphony Orchestra
Tickets here.
Adelaide
Thu March 19 – Thebarton Theatre with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Tickets here.
Melbourne
Sun March 22 – The Plenary, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Tickets here.
