Ben Folds Does Holiday Music Right, Offering Fans a Very Ho-Ho-Holistic Christmas: Concert Review

For many critically acclaimed musicians, releasing a Christmas album carries a certain stigma. Artists often face a dual challenge: overcoming perceptions that such projects are mere commercial cash grabs or overly sentimental, while also finding a fresh angle on well-worn seasonal themes. When a respected artist like Ben Folds commits to a full Christmas tour, it could easily raise eyebrows. However, his recently concluded "Tis the Season" tour, promoting his 2024 album "Sleigher," demonstrated a masterful and authentic approach to holiday music, proving the endeavor could be a genuine artistic pursuit rather than opportunistic.

Folds, the acclaimed singer-songwriter and pianist known for his witty, narrative-driven alt-rock with the Ben Folds Five and his solo work, was uniquely positioned for this task. His existing catalog already contained several songs referencing the holidays, most notably the 1997 hit "Brick"—a poignant ballad about a couple's abortion the day after Christmas. This established an expansive, unconventional parameter for what a "Christmas song" could be. At two sold-out shows at Los Angeles's new Blue Note Cafe—a venue primarily dedicated to jazz—Folds and his band performed "Brick" alongside other earlier, edgier holiday-themed tracks like "Bizarre Christmas Incident" and "Bitch Went Nutz." Yet, as music critic Elena Shaw noted in a recent analysis, "Folds uses the familiar framework of the holidays not for cheap subversion, but as a potent lens to examine human continuity and change. His Christmas work is less about tinsel and more about time."

The heart of the show, however, lay in the material from "Sleigher." Despite its playful title, the album leans toward earnest songwriting that thoughtfully engages with sentiment, often exploring loneliness and reflection. Folds opened the concert by explaining his fascination with the season's cyclical nature. "Christmas is this massive, pervasive marker in time," he told the audience. "Everything looks and sounds the same each year—the same songs, the same decorations—but the only thing that's changed is you. That contrast creates a natural rhyme for life's changes, which is why it's such rich ground for songwriting." He then performed "Christmas Time Rhyme," a track that beautifully encapsulates this theme, balancing poetic observation with his characteristic blunt warmth: "Listen, you’re all fuckin’ freaks, but we’re family."

The setlist showcased Folds's curatorial depth, blending originals with carefully chosen covers. He revived the obscure 1955 Mills Brothers song "You Don't Have to Be a Santa Claus (When Christmas Comes Around)," highlighting its enduring message about year-round compassion. His own "Maurice" painted a vivid picture of solitary holiday life in a generic suburban setting, seen through the eyes of a dog antagonized by identical inflatable yard decorations. The stories behind the songs added rich context: "Bizarre Christmas Incident" was a rejected, overly dark submission for the "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" soundtrack, while the co-write with author Nick Hornby, "Picture Window," offered a devastatingly sober portrait of hope during a hospital-bound New Year's Eve.

Folds closed the emotional spectrum by seamlessly transitioning into classic covers like Mel Tormé's "The Christmas Song" and Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time Is Here," the latter sung by duet partner Lindsey Craft. The encore featured non-seasonal favorites like "Philosophy," reminding the audience of his broader catalog. By treating the Christmas genre with the same intellectual and emotional rigor he applies to all his work, Folds has crafted a seasonal tour that feels both refreshing and timeless. His success argues that the audience's appetite for substantive holiday music is vast and worthy of attention—after all, the season represents a significant portion of our lived experience. Here's hoping for a "Sleigher 2" and the establishment of this tour as a perennial tradition.