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I once caught a Ben Folds Five show in Washington, D.C., at the 9:30 Club years ago. The bass was so loud and deep I felt it was altering the beat of my heart and had to get out of the room. Quite unpleasant.
And they danced. They started slow and slight, but soon grew into a storm, hinting of thunder and heavier things. That first solid bass kick gripped me with only a touch of what it had to offer. Soon, the room was filled with enormous, rolling vibrations. They threatened to turn my beautiful wood floors into toothpicks and splinters.
Have I told you about that time, at Lollapalooza, when Cyprus Hill took the stage, when there was so much bass I thought my heart might explode? Now, in my apartment, it was something like that all over again. It was as if you and I were rolling along some neon boulevard in pink and purple Miami; the top is down, and we're letting loose all these tremors of sound from Anthony Hamilton's old Ford. Just take the ride. Read the signs. And hold on.
He sings. And I would have liked to have gone along with him, but it was getting late, and I do have neighbors, and they must have been hearing this they must have been feeling this, too so I pushed through the sound and turned the volume down and thought to myself:
"Wow.
That was some
crazy shit."
I blame it on the Moscode. I do.
Ben on his own has done some good things. I love Landed on Songs for Silverman. But speaking of bass and loudness, I remember an early Big Sugar show (you probably need to be Canadian to know who Big Sugar is) where they had their full complement of gear in a basement bar. Floor to ceiling speakers. Not exactly audiophile, but I could feel my pant legs vibrate against my legs!