Pitchfork

Not all BFFs are for life. Ben Folds Five disbanded in 2000, and since then it's been all solo stuff all the time for Mr. Folds. This month, though, the trio will reunite to perform its 1999 album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, in full. Strange, considering Whatever and Ever Amen has three of the band's most beloved songs ("Kate", "Song for the Dumped", and, of course, "Brick"). Can anyone say "encore"?

Ben Folds Five's performance will be the inaugural concert in MySpace and NowWhat.com's "Front to Back" series, in which artists perform complete albums from their back catalogs in sequential order. Hmmm...sounds familiar (right down to the "Back" in the name).

The BFF "Front to Back" show will take place at the UNC Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on September 18.

Going back to all that solo stuff, Ben Folds has a lot of it coming up. Sony BMG is releasing his third solo album, Way to Normal, on September 30 in the U.S., and Columbia will release it in the UK on September 29. The album's first single, "You Don't Know Me", features a guest vocal spot from Regina Spektor and is out now.

Folds has shows into December in support of Way to Normal, including a few performances with local symphony orchestras and a UK tour with Counting Crows.

Way to Normal:

01 Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head)
02 Dr. Yang
03 The Frown Song
04 You Don't Know Me [ft. Regina Spektor]
05 Before Cologne
06 Cologne
07 Errant Dog
08 Free Coffee
09 Bitch Went Nuts
10 Brainwascht
11 Effington
12 Kylie From Connecticut

Ben Folds:

09-06 Philadelphia, PA - Mann Center (with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia)
09-07 Nashville, TN - Schermerhorn Symphony Center (with the Nashville Symphony)
09-24 Washington, DC - Constitution Hall
09-26 Boston, MA - Orpheum
09-27 Storrs, CT - University of Connecticut
09-30 New York, NY - Terminal 5
10-01 New York, NY - Terminal 5
10-03 Fort Wayne, IN - Embassy Theatre (with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic)
10-04 Louisville, KY - Kentucky Center (with the Louisville Orchestra)
10-08 Athens, OH - Ohio University
10-09 Detroit, MI - State Theatre
10-10 Chicago, IL - Congress
10-11 Green Bay, WI - Resch Center (Okobos Music Festival)
10-16 St. Louis, MO - Pageant
10-17 Minneapolis, MN - Myth
10-22 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater
10-23 Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
10-24 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
10-25 Austin, TX - Stubb's
11-13 San Francisco, CA - The Warfield
11-14 Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern Theater
11-21 The Hague, Netherlands - Schouwburg
11-30 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire
12-02 Newcastle, England - Arena *
12-04 Nottingham, England - Notts Arena *
12-05 London, England - Wembley Arena *
12-07 Manchester, England - Arena *
12-08 Cardiff, Wales - Arena *
12-10 Bournemouth, England - BIC *
12-11 Brighton, England - Brighton Centre *
12-13 Birmingham, England - NEC *
12-14 Sheffield, England - Arena *

* with Counting Crows