Ben Folds has become a prominent voice in Australian music, with his hits over the 1990s and 2000s filling Australian lounge rooms with joy and connection. As part of his Ben Folds and a Piano tour, he is touring Australia with a sold out gig at the State Theatre being the lynchpin of the tour. This is a somewhat unique tour for Folds as for the entire concert it quite literally is just him and his piano, with no support from any band throughout the whole show. Ed Sheeran the week prior proved that holding an audience with just yourself and your instrument is a challenging feat, but Folds managed this well throughout the set, mixing up tempo and genre to create a cohesive but consistently exciting performance.

He mixed up his solo work and songs from Ben Folds Five, with “Don’t Change Your Plans” being an early highlight that had the crowd singing along. This was followed by “The Last Polka” as Folds wowed the audience with his virtuosic piano playing and vocals that accompanied his piano wizardry particularly well. Folds is a unique artist in the sense that the vocals really did play second fiddle to the incredible musicality on display. But this is not to discount his lyrical skill, with his songs conveying very emotionally complex and lyrically complex themes, counterbalanced by equally complex musical arrangements.

The genres that Folds explored throughout the set really were quite varied, with some jazzier songs, some light pop piano, as well as some very heavy pulsating works where the piano bass line really drove the concert. This provided quite a unique experience for the audience, most of whom were clearly very ardent Ben Folds fans, holding on to every word and note in each song and often singing along. This was first really apparent on “Effington”, with the heavy keys in the bass resonating through the State Theatre.

Folds was also quite hilarious throughout the show, often interjecting with remarks about everything from his children to love, to breakups, to his divorces. This kept the audience entertained and prevented the set from having any degree of monotony, which was an impressive feat given how stripped back the show actually was. One hilarious moment came when Folds asked for a glass of water after one of his songs but no glass was forthcoming so after the next song, Folds had to go off stage himself and pick up a glass of water. It was in part reflective of the night, which very much felt like an intimate moment between Folds and his fans.

While his solo works were much appreciated, it was the Ben Folds Five songs that were really the standouts of this show. “Philosophy” was quite beautiful and showed off the depth of Folds’ musicality, while “Army” was a great closer to the main set. As Folds returned for the encore, he performed a beautiful rendition of “The Luckiest”, which really was a gorgeous song and showed off the best of Folds’ lyrical songwriting. It was a magic moment to end what was a fantastic night of music.

Overall, this was a great set, very much a love letter from Folds to his fans. He showed off the breadth of his discography, crossing a range of genres and displayed incredible musicality with some of the best piano I have seen at a pop music concert. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the night out and it seemed that Folds did as well. A great night for all at the State Theatre.

Rating: ★★★★1/2

Ben Folds – State Theatre – 20 February 2026

Photo credit: Rashid AlKamraokhi