Ben Folds
Sydney Opera House
Monday 31 August

A variation on that ‘desert island’ chestnut: if you had to choose just one musician, with only his primary instrument, for a gig at the Sydney Opera House, who would you pick?

You could make a pretty good case for the choice of Ben Folds and a Steinway. Folds is terrific to watch at a piano – sweeping up and down the length of the keyboard, thumping beats out of the low notes, kicking his stool out from under him like a man hanging himself and generally attacking the instrument with punk rock gusto (without ever resorting to thrashing the lid against its body a la Jerry Lee Lewis).

Whatever your predilection he’s also got a pretty decent songbook these days, with a wide range of moods and styles to draw from. The rollicking ‘Kate’ and ‘Army’ and the slow glide of ‘Jesusland’ and ‘Effington’ all shine in this arrangement (‘Effington’ particularly turns out to be a consummate piano number). The instrumental interlude of ‘Lullaby’ remains one of Folds’s finest moments, and even jokey numbers like ‘All U Can Eat’ and ‘One Down’ (about Folds' contractual obligations) feature some killer piano bits and gorgeous melodies.

It’s the surprises that make a concert like this though, and Folds has a pretty good supply of them. The singer brought on a bunch of percussionists for his white-boy parody of 'Graceland', running through the ‘fake’ version of ‘The Bitch Went Nuts’, ‘You Don’t Know Me’ and his Like A Version cover of ‘Such Great Heights’ (which, alas, comes off a tad half-arsed; running through the individual notes that make up a chord does not a solo make).

But the real drawcard tonight was three new songs with words by author Nick Hornby. ‘Picture Window’ didn’t quite get there – one tended to think of that ‘Substitute’ game from Spicks & Specks – but it’d be hard not to get a kick out of ‘Levi’s Blues’, told from the point of view of the boy who knocked up Sarah Palin’s daughter. Hornby’s contrived teen lingo can get a little obnoxious (see 'The Long Way Down'), but it fits right in with Folds’ growing fancy dress closet of satirical personas. Let’s just say though that I don’t see them becoming the new Elton John and Bernie Talpin.

Folds has pulled the rug from under his music like this before, of course – his solo piano tour for Rockin’ The Suburbs ended up as the Ben Folds Live album. It’s hard not to miss the rhythm section, or the state orchestra that joined him last time he was in this space. But judging by the reception of the packed Concert Hall tonight, Folds can pull it off.

Darryn King