New Geeks on the Block: Ben Folds Five at Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC

SOMETIMES PERSEVERANCE really does pay off. Take, for example, the rags-to-not-quite-riches rise of Ben Folds, who, along with Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee, make up the band Ben Folds Five. For close to a decade, Folds has been chasing an elusive pop dream, with unsuccessful pit stops in Nashville, Michigan, London and New York.