Rockin' the Suburbs

Last night Mister and I went out on a date for the first time since Little L was born - and what a date it was. Our kind neighbors volunteered to sit for us (they are heavenly those Kaufmans) and we trekked down to the Tabernacle to listen to the acoustic stylings of the one, the only Ben Folds (and a piano).


It takes a special kind of talent to entertain thousands of people solely with your voice, your personality and a piano, and Ben is one talented man. He played through a whole catalog of his songs, from the time he was in Ben Folds Five, to some unreleased tracks on his upcoming album (Levi Johnston's Blues, anyone?), to a ditty he crafted on the spot melding Free Bird with Sweet Home Alabama and eventually turning it into a ditty about his experience in Atlanta, including a trip to the container store and L5P. I really didn't want the show to end, and it seems, neither did anyone else.

He came back for an encore and played the one song that the crowd had been begging for- why they were begging for this song, I don't really know because although it is quite kitchy to turn a rap song into a piano ballad, it really isn't his best. But, he play B*tches ain't Sh*t anyway, and left partway through the song after coaching the audience to keep repeating a part of the chorus in unison until he came back. Happily he did return, otherwise I am certain that some of the audience member would still be there this morning, still singing the same refrain, just waiting.

During the concert, there was a woman in front of me trying to take pictures of Ben with her wee point and shoot camera. Now, seeing as we were sitting in the attic, there was no way her flash was going to reach Ben, so setting her camera to Auto was a really bad move. She then switched it to night portrait mode, which is even worse for a concert setting, unless you are trying to take a picture of your fellow concert goers. I tried to tell her that her pictures would be better if she turned off the automatic flash, but I think I spooked her... she tried to figure out how to do that and then gave up, choosing to finish taking pictures on Auto somewhere else. I so badly wanted to snatch that camera out of her hand, set the settings for her properly, and give it back, so she would be able to get some great shots, but that would have really freaked her out I think, so I am going to tell you all what to try in a concert/theater situation instead.

First, set your camera to portrait mode, then bump your ISO to as high as you can - 800 will probably be good, if you have a newer camera try 1600. Then, turn of your auto flash. Then, if you are up for it, set your Aperture to as low as you can get it - if you aren't up for it, don't sweat it. If doesn't that do it for you, and the shots are blurry because the people on stage are moving to fast, try action/sport mode with a high ISO and with the auto flash turned off.