Concert in your area for Rock, Pop, and Indie & Alt.
Beginning his music career at the tender age of 14, it's safe to say that Ben Lee is something of a veteran in the music industry. His first band Noise Addict stormed out of their native Sydney in the early 90's, catching the attention of everyone from Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore to The Beastie Boys' Mike D with their brand of lacerating alt-rock. Despite the success that the band found, the band couldn't avoid the fate of most teenage rock bands and split just over two years after they formed, even after touring with grunge icons Sebadoh. However, during the dying days of Noise Addict, the 16 year old Lee was already writing his first solo album “Grandpaw World”, which was released in 1995, mere months after Noise Addicts' demise.
It wasn't until his song “How To Survive A Broken Heart” was featured on the soundtrack for the Ben Stiller movie There's Something About Mary in 1998 that Lee began to hit the big time, however, and his follow up album “Breathing Tornados” was a huge critical and commercial hit, netting the 20 year old lee nominations for Best Male Artist and Album Of The Year at the following year's ARIA awards. Ever since then, Lee has remained one of the most beloved cult acts in Australian Rock, releasing a dependable stream of solo album's and collaborating with everyone from Mandy Moore to Benji Madden to his hero, Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando. He's a true artist with the creative freedom to do whatever he wants and the sheer talent and skill to make everything he does worth listening to, and for that, he comes highly recommended.
Spontaneity and simplicity are always the best things in life, and such is the story of my live show experience with Benjamin Michael “Ben” Lee.
I had decided to go to a coffee shop with my friend because she had told me that they have a lot of small live shows of singer/songwriters. When we got there, the stage had been set with three stools, two mics and two guitars, one of which was painted eccentrically. My friend hadn’t known who exactly was performing so you can imagine my surprise when Ben Lee was introduced to take the stage. As he and another guy (Nick Johns) walked to their spots they also picked up their guitars, while a girl (Jessica Chapnik) took her seat with a mic in front of her.
They played a fairly short three-song set (“What’s So Good Bad About Feeling Good,” , but in between songs would talk a little. They each introduced themselves, and also talked about how they came about playing together. The fact that they interacted with not only the audience but with each other really gave insight of how their dynamic was. Their friendship and shared love for music came through as a harmonization, both in their music and personalities.