Rating: 
Summary: BFF Sessions
Review: I'm a big fan of the now-defunct group but hadn't seen them perform live before viewing this show. I was very impressed with the group's sound (as their fans know, they are a 3 piece band, not a fivesome), particularly the harmonies. They have a lot of fun playing and a lot of that comes through in this show. I would highly recommend this to anyone!
Rating:
Summary: A Must See For Anyone With A Musical Bone In Their Body
Review: I'm at a loss for words. I'm beside myself after watching this video now for the first time. I am a huge fan of Ben Folds Five and am one of the unfortunate souls who never got to see them perform live. Nontheless, I am extremely pleased with this purchase and mad at the same time for not going out of my way to see them live when the were together. After watching this DVD, it made me ponder one important question. Why did they break up? Obviously there's a reason, but the magic that is present in this performance makes you think they would be together for much longer than they were. Who knows? Maybe we'll see them back together soon. I really wanted to catch the full effect of this show. Since I don't have Dolby 5.1 surround on my DVD player/TV, I decided to watch it on my computer with my headphones. I can honestly say I had goosebumps through the majority of the show. The camera angles and sound quality are, for lack of a better word, perfect. I might enjoy a widescreen version, though. No matter. It's still incredible. I could hear every little snare hit, finger slide, and breath of the concert. I don't believe one miniscule detail was left out of this performance. It is top notch in my book. One thing I've come to expect from good bands is that they sound as good live as they do on record. How many bands make incredible albums, but just don't cut it when it comes to performing on stage? I can think of plenty. Not Ben Folds Five. They are as accurate as a band can get. There are several times when the guys go off track and experiment a bit. On the final track, "Song For the Dumped," Robert Sledge actually makes a trip hop beat with his bass. Pretty impressive if you ask me. There is not one track on this entire disk that should be skipped over. If there were a couple of songs on the 54th Street portion from "The Unauthorized Biography," I believe this would be a perfect Ben Folds Five Greatest Hits album. I know that I'll be watching this performance for many years to come. I better buy a back up copy while I can to replace this one when it wears out. Please do yourself a favor and get this dvd. Any fan of the band would be extremely happy. I think it captures them at their best. If you don't like Ben Folds Five, you soon will. Especially if you happen to catch a glimpse of this performance.
Rating:
Summary: A performance that no Ben Folds Five fan should miss
Review: I've been to a few concerts in my life, and have seen countless numbers on television and VHS alike. But if I had to assemble a list of performances that I thought were the best, you can bet "The Complete Sessions at West 54th" would be on there. Taped on the now defunct PBS show "Sessions at West 54th" Ben Folds Five put on a brilliant peformance that was up until now not available in it's entirety. The band spares no expense and performs songs that will be familiar to many Ben Folds Five fan's. From their debut album there is "The Last Polka", "Underground" and "Philosophy". Most of the songs however come from their best album "Whatever And Ever Amen", such as "Missing The War", "Brick", "Kate", "Battle Of Who Could Care Less" and "Song for the dumped". Their cover of The Flaming Lips "She Don't Use Jelly" was another welcome change of pace in a great performance. The DVD itself is right up there with the performance, with extra features that are sure to satisfy. By checking out the Spare Reels footage you are treated to scenes of the band on tour performing several songs, and a look at them in the studio recording for "The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner". I strongly recommend that every Ben Folds Five fan at least try to see this performance in it's entirety just once. And if you feel so inclined go ahead and pick it up, you wont regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: A really good DVD - it's like seeing the band live!
Review: I've watched this DVD a few times now and every time I watch it I catch myself marvelling at how excellent Ben Folds is on the piano. It's like a natural extension of his body. And I also marvel at the things he's also doing when playing the piano - keeping a beat with his body whilst standing up and playing, then playing a harmonium simultaneously! For me, a budding pianist, just to watch Ben Folds perform is worth the price of admission. But. There's so much more than that on this DVD. Perfect sound quality, picture quality and camerawork for one thing. They play all of their classics too. Folds lets the piano have it in 'The Last Polka' and 'Philosophy', and uses a microphone on the actual piano strings whilst bassist Robert Sledge attacks his bass guitar to elicit feedback in 'Song For the Dumped'. Amongst other things, you get the trademark wild behaviour we've come to expect from Ben Folds Five: Folds stands on his stool, bashes the keys with his shoe throws his stool at the piano; the band launch into seemingly spontaneous tangents; and they fool around in 'Underground'. Put simply, this DVD is about as close as you could come to actually seeing them live if you never got the chance. I didn't, and now I'm satisfied! You also get 45 minutes of extra 'spare-reels' footage on this DVD after the concert. This is where the DVD kind of falls down. The picture quality isn't very good, the sound is adequate, and the camera technique is quite poor. You seldom get to see Folds actually hitting the keys (that's where I get the chills up my spine). Also, about 6 out of the 9 songs played in this section were played in the West 54th bit, but it's great to hear a live version of Jackson Cannery, as well as some studio shots of BF5 recording 'Don't Change Your Plans' and 'Army'. Interspersed between the songs on the spare-reels section is little nonsense clips of the band fooling around. In one clip they are riding small German motorcycles whilst Sledge claims "I wanna be free to ride my machine without getting hassled by the man!" In another they encounter a psychopathic stuntman who beats them all up, breaks Ben Folds' finger and snaps Sledge's arm. Very funny stuff. Ultimately though this DVD is really well worth the purchase price just for the concert at West 54th. It's so perfectly executed and well done, and the band play so well and with such gusto that it's like you're part of the audience. In fact you get a much better view than the audience! The spare reels section adds some laughs another dose of the band going nuts again, which is great, but it pales in comparison with the first section of the DVD. Nevertheless, I'd give it four stars easily, probably four and a half.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: If you are a fan of Ben Folds Five and you have a DVD player, then you need to buy this right now. Incrediable concert, and if you haven't been able to see him Live in concert, then you need to get this and see it at home.
Rating:
Summary: BEN FOLDS FIVE RULES
Review: If you are like me, or aren't like me at all (that's ok too), you never had the privlege of seeing these guys kick... live. YOU HAVE TO GET THIS THEN!! And to all that got to see them live, BUY THIS, it's great. A great show, sounds a lot like the recordings. it's early BFF too, so they play almost all of WEAEA, which is by far one of the best cds of the 90s. Spare reels is good for a laugh. and the studio clips of don't change your plans and army are nice too. i just wished the put the Potty Mouth promo thing on here, that is hilarious. OK, enough said.....GET IT cause it's great
Rating:
Summary: You need this.
Review: If you've got everything Ben Folds has ever done on CD, you've heard almost all these songs. But you need them like this. The most striking thing about the West 54th show is that the band is totally on. They had a *good* night. Really good. This show is tight, tight, tight (in a loose kind of BFF way, of course). Also notable that the extra DVD material is actually worth having -- it's not the usual DVD-extra stuff, which is usually just shots of bands riding around in a bus making jokes. It's all good extra live and studio footage with different takes on a number of songs.
Rating:
Summary: You need this.
Review: If you've got everything Ben Folds has ever done on CD, you've heard almost all these songs. But you need them like this. The most striking thing about the West 54th show is that the band is totally on. They had a *good* night. Really good. This show is tight, tight, tight (in a loose kind of BFF way, of course). Also notable that the extra DVD material is actually worth having -- it's not the usual DVD-extra stuff, which is usually just shots of bands riding around in a bus making jokes. It's all good extra live and studio footage with different takes on a number of songs.
Rating:
Summary: A Gem
Review: ihave loved Ben olds Five for a long time, and when i saw this DVD, i lost control, and bought it immediately, and watched it almst immedately. It is unbelievable. i never saw them live, but this isn't bad. The performances are tight and energetic. They re-work their songs just enough, but they still sound great. Highlights: "The Last Polka", "Song for the Dumped", "One Angrey Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces", "She Don't USe Jelly". It is great. The "Spare Reel" is also quite good, andqute funny. Then, there's studio footage of them at their most brilliant, recording "Don't Change Your Plans", and "Army". i chersih this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A great performance...a great DVD...not there best songs...
Review: Im a big Ben Folds Five fan. When i seen this DVD it was a dream come true. While its a great DVD, i feel there best albums are "Ben Folds Five" and "Autobiography of Reinhold Messner". Unfortunately this performance is before "Autobiography of..." was even recorded, so there's no songs performed from it (obviously), and only a few from there first album "Ben Folds 5". That means the majority of the performance is made up from there 2nd and in my opinion, worst album "Whatever and Ever Amen". But even there worst album is actually a good album. As far as the DVD, the picture is really crisp and nice. Theres subtitles so u can sing along (incase you ddont know the words), and the Dolby Digital is pretty good. The bonus 45 minute "film" is pretty good, but it actually contains 2 performances from the beginning of the DVD which is kinda lame but oh well. I might be going a little far with a 5 star rating, but theres a good chance this will be the only Ben Folds 5 DVD ever released, so fans must get it.
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