Multitalented rock musician Ben Folds will perform at this spring's Jumbo Jam concert, an annual show that will take place this year on March 24.
Concert Board plans the annual Jumbo Jam show, which is only open to Tufts students. It features popular artists who are not as well-known as those that play at Spring Fling and whose music does not necessarily fit into the fall semester's rock and hip-hop shows, also arranged by Concert Board.
"We had looked at possibly getting Ben Folds to play at Spring Fling, but we thought that he might actually make a better Jumbo Jam artist," Concert Board co-chair Alan Munkacsy, a junior, said. Concert Board confirmed on Wednesday that the rapper Ludacris will headline this year's Spring Fling concert, which will occur on April 25. Jukebox the Ghost, a power-pop trio from Washington, D.C., will open Jumbo Jam.
The show will take place this year in Davis Square's Somerville Theatre, a change from the traditional venue of Dewick-MacPhie Dining Hall.
The decision to change sites for this year's show occurred because of concerns about the Dewick building that precluded any further concerts in the space.
"I think there were some structural integrity issues with the floor," Munkacsy said. "But Ben Folds will be a great way to kick off the Somerville Theatre era of Jumbo Jam shows."
"Usually we try to bring someone who makes slightly different music, someone who doesn't really fit into a genre," he continued. "Usually it's a smaller act, too … Ben Folds is pretty big for a Jumbo Jam show, and I'm very excited."
Previous Jumbo Jam acts have included the funk trio Soulive, folk-rock singer-songwriter Matt Nathanson and violin-infused reggae-rock quartet Zox. Most of these groups are not as well-known as Ben Folds; this year's concert marks the first Jumbo Jam to feature an artist whose work has charted both nationally and internationally.
Ben Folds has played piano, bass and drums for a number of bands, but first achieved fame playing piano and singing lead vocals for the piano-rock trio Ben Folds Five, formed in 1994 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Since the band's breakup in 2000, Folds has successfully pursued a solo career, releasing "Rockin' the Suburbs" (2001), "Songs for Silverman" (2005) and "Way to Normal" (2008), as well as several live albums and EPs.
The multi-instrumentalist has also collaborated with Ben Kweller and Ben Lee in a band that the three singer-songwriters called The Bens. He currently tours with drummer Sam Smith and bassist Jared Reynolds, a group that has the same piano-driven, power-trio format that previously worked so well for Ben Folds Five.
In live settings, Folds is known for his energetic performances, which apply a punk-rock aesthetic to playing the piano.
The concert will start at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24. Tickets cost $15, including a $1 donation to the Somerville Theatre's restoration fund, and will go on sale Monday at the campus center information booth when it opens at 10:30 a.m.
Tickets will not be sold to the public. Students can purchase two tickets per Tufts ID, and each student may bring two Tufts IDs to the info booth.
