The Daily Reel yesterday posted this video of John Mayer, who will be out at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Tuesday, with Ben Folds. He's a better blues guitarist than he is a comedian. Plus you can hear his camera man in the background, guffawing at the insipid bit.
As for Ben Folds, apparently he wasn't good to other people's daughters at a show in San Jose early this month. His cover of a pornographic and profane Dr. Dre rap drew the handwritten wrath of some in the family-oriented audience. Thanks to the Argument Machine for this bit of comedy. You can find a video of Folds' cover on YouTube. It's vile, in a Lenny Bruce kind of way.
Family-oriented?
Parents...please do more research before you take your kids to a show.
Ben Folds is a great musician and yeah, that song is edgy. But the failure here was in YOUR parenting...nothing else.
Posted by: 3 dot guy... | June 19, 2007 at 01:59 PM
wrong. If he was headlining his own show then do what he wants, but other artists draw different fan base and as an opening act he should have some discretion.
Posted by: jaysi | June 19, 2007 at 04:04 PM
wrong. If he was headlining his own show then do what he wants, but other artists draw different fan base and as an opening act he should have some discretion.
Posted by: jaysi | June 19, 2007 at 04:05 PM
I'll defend the First Amendment absolutely and I'm all for teaching kids about irony, satire and sarcasm. But I gotta side with the parents of 10-year-old girls, who came to scream and sigh at John Mayer. Not cool.
Posted by: Tim Finn | June 19, 2007 at 04:52 PM
This must be some kind of joke. Look... it's a concert! If you don't want your children to be subject to profanity then its really quite simple... no concerts until they're 18!
Posted by: Jacob Cottrell | June 20, 2007 at 01:37 PM
Ben Folds' response to parents outrage.
"We have kids too but we don't take them to rock shows that keep them up until 11PM"
Posted by: Jacob Cottrell | June 20, 2007 at 01:51 PM
Joke? No. It's like taking your 10 year old to a PG movie and she gets hit with a few graphic R-rated previews. 93.3 plays John Mayer; a substantial part of his crowd is younger than 18. Should they not see him because Ben Folds wants to get porno? I really liked the bit but he should save it for his own crowd.
Posted by: Tim Finn | June 20, 2007 at 01:51 PM
I understand everyone’s input on this, but regardless of how much I may agree or disagree, the fact remains that it is a concert, not a PG movie.
Mayer hand picked Folds to open his show, and he knew exactly what Folds was playing to his crowd.
If anything, you guys should be pointing the finger at Mayer for choosing such a "vulgar opening act" instead of blaming it on Ben for playing what his fans want to hear.
Posted by: Jacob Cottrell | June 21, 2007 at 09:34 AM
Without the Dre bit, Folds' show on Tuesday was still very entertaining. I'm guessing Mayer's people told him to 86 the bit until he's out on his own. During his set, Mayer joked about having a swearing jar on stage --where he could drop in a fine every time he cussed, which never happened. Granted, I've been at shows were bands rain f-bombs on crowds filled with pre-teens. I'm OK with that; it comes with the turf. The Dre rap, however, is X-rated and offensive even to some adults.
Posted by: | June 21, 2007 at 10:32 AM
are you kidding me? I have to agree that it's up to the parents to know what kind of music they are taking their kids to listen to. I was very surprised to see younger than teen age children at this concert to which the parents knew would last longer than 10pm. Plus if you research Ben Folds you know what kind of entertainer he is. Get over it. Regardless of who opened, I was there to see John Mayer and focused my attention on his music and entertaining, not the opening acts. Parents, if you are so worried about your kids hearing bad things at concerts, take a listen to what they've put on their ipods, check out their myspace page. You will probably be surprised. It's more likely your kids have heard more than what you "think" they have.
Posted by: Kelly | June 21, 2007 at 02:44 PM
How many children do you have?
Posted by: Tim Finn | June 21, 2007 at 05:21 PM
Doens't matter if she has kids or not. Parents, be more responsible and dont take your PRE TEEN kids to concerts. I dont have a damn if its john mayer, if you dont want them exposed to curse words, then be responsible and dont take them somewhere. Perhaps a PG movie would be more fitting, right?
Posted by: Jacob Cottrell | June 22, 2007 at 08:15 AM
Ok- i've had enough on this issue. It's obvious that parents wont give up blaming other people for their own faults. Take this as a lesson next time you want to take them to a rock concert!!!! Peace!
Posted by: Jacob Cottrell | June 22, 2007 at 08:17 AM
That's pretty funny: So the promoters ought to tell Mayer that about 25 percent of his audience should stay home so his opening act can do Dr. Dre. As if the live-music industry weren't hurting enough, you want to exclude the demographic with tons of discretionary income -- the kids who buy all the T-shirts and CDs? Also, why is everyone more concerned about kids staying up past 10 p.m. -- during summer vacation -- than with hearing Ben Folds rap graphically about oral sex and use the n-word? Places like Verizon and Kemper are mainstream venues, not nightclubs. Performers need to respect that. Obviously, if you go see Ludacris, you know you're going to get some R-rated material stuffed in your ear. When you pay $60 to see John Mayer, you shouldn't have to Google his opening bands to decide whether or not to bring the 13 year old who owns all his albums.
Posted by: Tim Finn | June 22, 2007 at 03:28 PM
Give it up man, it's a concert. Quit taking your babies to rock shows.
Posted by: Jacob Cottrell | June 27, 2007 at 07:57 AM
If you think your 13 year old who has all of John Mayer's record isn't hearing things that are a lot worse than Ben's cover of Bitches Ain't Shit, then you really don't know your kid. Trust me, he/she has heard a lot worse already and will be hearing more-its part of teen culture now. Remember, they're just words-no need to assign them more importance than they deserve. Its that kind of attitude that prevents people saying things that aught to be said-fear of reprisals from people who can't see the big picture.
Posted by: LJH | June 27, 2007 at 11:52 AM
bitches can't hang with the streets
Posted by: jason | June 29, 2007 at 05:21 PM
Here's what the fuss is about. Yee. http://youtube.com/watch?v=2_N3CK-6CHk
Posted by: Karl Hungus | June 29, 2007 at 10:01 PM
I wonder how they explained to their ten year old daughter what John Mayer means by "Bubblegum Tongue" and how ones body could be "a wonderland", etc. Ben Folds rules, don't take your 10 year old daughter to concerts without letting them know that art can be controversial.
Posted by: joe | July 18, 2007 at 03:39 PM