A lot has changed since Ben Kweller’s second album hit music stores in 2004.
He and his wife had a baby boy, Kweller ditched his band and learned to play several other instruments and refined his sound to make it his own instead of like every other young singer-songwriter.
Kweller was back in Columbus on Thursday, promoting his new self-titled album, this time playing to a paying crowd at the Newport on N. High Street.
Following a long set change after the two opening acts, Hymns and Sam Roberts Band, Kweller came out with his tour band and, without even greeting the audience, began playing “Penny on the Train Track” and “Run,” both from his new album.
Both songs, with their reflective lyrics, showed Kweller’s ability to get a crowd excited while remaining grounded in the meaning of the song. The audience sang along to Kweller’s “I’m just a penny on the train track waitin’ for my judgment day.”
Audience participation picked up with “My Apartment,” which elicited over-the-head claps from the crowd. Taking a little time to introduce himself and the band, Kweller continued into “Family Tree,” “Walk on Me” and newbie “I Don’t Know Why.”
Kweller then shed his electric guitar and his band for an acoustic set. He came out singing a song that sounded familiar, but many members of the crowd – who had looks of bewilderment on their faces – couldn’t quite put a finger on it.
A collective light bulb went off when Kweller let out the line “check out the hook while my DJ revolves it,” from ’90s rapper Vanilla Ice.
Following a beautifully sarcastic rendition of “Ice, Ice, Baby,” a typical cover at his concerts, Kweller continued his acoustic set with “Commerce Texas” and “On My Way,” a sad ballad of growing up and moving on. He took the piano and, before playing new song “Thirteen,” clarified why it took him two years to put out a new album. The deal, he explained, is that he had a son, Dorian.
“I’m going to dedicate this song to him and his mommy,” said Kweller. “And your mommys too.”
The song was a clear reflection of what Kweller diwith his album: Grow up. The tune is simple, just a few notes on a piano, which serve as a background for Kweller’s insightful lyrics: “We’ve seen the sunrise with new eyes. We’ve seen the damage of gossip and true lies. We’ve seen the sun go down.”
Kweller put away the harmonica, the crowd their lighters. He brought back his band but stayed at the piano for “Falling” and “Hospital Bed.” Kweller was back on the guitar for the first single off his new album, “Sundress,” a sweet love song, a style not heard on his first two albums.
The crowd perked up with popular radio tunes “The Rules” and “Wasted Away,” and then Kweller played an encore of “I Want You Back.” Kweller introduced the song by saying “Columbus, I need you back” referencing his long stay away from the city. He put down the guitar in exchange for intense microphone work and heightened balancing while standing on the piano. The show ended with a solid rock-out, group huddle and bow.
On the last song of his 2004 album, “On My Way,” he told his fans how they should “be different but the same,” and at Thursday’s concert he showed the audience exactly what that looks, or rather, sounds like: Crazy antics and silly covers combined with mature lyrics and a strong sound. Oh how different, but the same, Kweller has become.
