aaamusic | On 29, Apr 2012

This winter, original members of Ben Folds Five (Ben Folds, Darren Jessee, Robert Sledge) will return to the UK for the first time since Christmas 1999. They will be playing at least 9 shows across the UK and Ireland. The tour is scheduled to begin in Bournemouth on November 23rd 2012.

Ben, Robert and Darren first got back together last summer to record three new songs for a career retrospective 3-CD set ‘The Best Imitation Of Myself: A Retrospective’ released in October of last year. Finding it to be fun and feeling that old magic, the three original members decided to go the distance and record a full new album at Ben’s Nashville studio earlier this year. The new album will be first since 1999’s ‘The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner’,

The reunited band will debut this summer in the States playing just 4 major gigs in June at Mountain Jam in upstate New York, Chastain Park in Atlanta, the Bonnaroo festival, and wrapping up at Milwaukee SummerFest. Following the upcoming August release of the album, Ben Folds Five will play a full North American tour in September-October, drop down to Australia and then begin the UK/Ireland run of dates.

Ben Folds Five dates –

November:

23rd – O2 Academy Bournemouth

24th – Nottingham Rock City

26th – Dublin Vicar Street

29th – Apollo Manchester

30th – Academy Glasgow

December:

1st – O2 Academy Leeds

2nd – O2 Academy Birmingham

4th – O2 Academy Brixton