Ben Folds Five is getting back together, and Austin made the cut. The alternative-rock trio behind the self-titled 1995 debut and the 1997 breakthrough Whatever and Ever Amen will play ACL Live at The Moody Theater on April 20, 2027, as part of a newly announced run of U.S. dates stretching across the South.
The band formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1993, and the current lineup still includes all three original members: Ben Folds on piano, Robert Sledge on bass and Darren Jessee on drums, according to the Ben Folds Five official website. The group has described itself as led by its “piano-pounding maestro” alongside Sledge and Jessee, a configuration fans haven't seen on the road together in years. As CultureMap Austin notes, the band is billing the run as its return to the stage for the first time in 15 years.
That framing isn't universal, though. Stereogum described the reunion as the band's first tour in 14 years, while Pitchfork called it the first tour in 13 years, and Pollstar separately pegged it at 15. The discrepancy likely traces back to how each outlet counts the band's last full-fledged outing versus a 2023 one-off.
A Winding Path Back to the Road
Ben Folds Five's history has been anything but linear. The trio split in 2000, reunited to release The Sound of the Life of the Mind and a live album in 2012, then parted ways again in 2013, per the band's official site. The group's last true tour included two December 2012 shows at O2 Academy Brixton in London that sold 7,421 tickets and grossed $411,675, according to Pollstar News.
In the years since, there's been just one flicker of activity: a show at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina, on August 28, 2023, per JamBase's reporting. Stereogum similarly noted the band got together for a one-off hometown show at the storied venue that year, but hadn't hit the road together since the 2013 reunion tour wrapped.
Routing Through Tennessee, Florida, Texas and Alabama
The newly announced dates kick off April 12, 2027, in Knoxville, Tennessee, at the Tennessee Theatre, with a stop the next night at Chattanooga's Tivoli Theatre. From there the tour heads into Florida, with shows booked at the Florida Theatre in Jacksonville on April 15, Pompano Beach Amphitheater on April 16 and The BayCare Sound in Clearwater on April 17.
Texas gets two stops: Austin's April 20 date at ACL Live at The Moody Theater, followed by Houston's 713 Music Hall on April 21 and The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving on April 22. The run currently closes out April 24 at Avondale Brewing Company in Birmingham, Alabama. Pollstar News reports that more U.S. shows are expected to be announced across 2027, suggesting this routing is just the opening wave.
Accounts differ on exactly how many shows make up that opening wave. Stereogum listed nine dates in its rundown of the tour, while JamBase described the initial announcement as a batch of nine April 2027 concerts.
Tickets and a Milestone Reissue
Tickets for the announced dates go on sale Friday, October 23, at 10 a.m. local time, according to Pollstar News, with sales handled through the band's official website. That site also lists a presale beginning at 10 a.m. local time on October 22, ahead of Friday's general on-sale.
The tour arrives alongside what Pollstar News describes as a 30th-anniversary edition of the band's self-titled 1995 debut. For a group whose catalog spans from early alt-rock cult favorites to the piano-driven hit “Brick,” the timing lines up with three decades since Ben Folds Five first landed on the scene out of Chapel Hill's alternative-rock circuit.
