Pontiac - It had been almost two years since Ben Folds Five played at a Michigan venue.

On Sunday night at Clutch Cargo’s in Pontiac, Ben Folds returned, minus the five.

It was the same sold-out place, the same Baldwin SF-10 piano, mostly the same fans.

The Folds faithful started showing up about 2 p.m. with lawn chairs, even though they couldn’t get in until six hours later. Tour Manager Doug Goodman said as of 3 p.m. there were six tickets left, and with a line two blocks long wrapping around the building and adjacent parking lots, even the anticipation and excitement felt the same.

But at 10 p.m., Ben Folds and his new trio of back-up musicians took to the stage, starting with a properly named song that put it all into perspective.

That first song was “Not the Same.”

For Folds to lead off with that song sent a powerful statement. This concert was different from the piano man’s previous Michigan stops.

New material, a more pop-intensive style of music, a guitar, four men on stage, not three.

And Folds seemed happier as he joked with the crowd, gave “props” to Bob Seger and Ted Nugent, ripped on his publishing company and stomped and thrashed his piano like the good old days. Folds has attributed his new attitude to playing new material and a fresh start following the dismantling of Ben Folds Five in October 2000.

Folds’ first solo album since Ben Folds Five’s demise, “Rockin’ The Suburbs,” fell to No. 73 on the Billboard Top 200 album charts in its second week of release. It was a fall of more than 30 spots since it debuted at No. 42 during the week of Sept. 10, but it was evident that all the 1,500 plus in attendance couldn’t care less about the disc’s commercial success.

It seemed Folds didn’t either, enthusiastically playing all but one song off of the album and two of its B-sides, “Hiro’s Song” and “Make Me Mommy.”

But as previously mentioned, things were “not the same.” When he was with Ben Folds Five, the piano was the centerpiece of every song. Without a guitar in the band, Folds had to really let his ivory tickling shine. Now, thanks to a guitar accompaniment, the piano didn’t seem as dominant in some of the songs.

Enter the five-song encore.

After closing out his set with the title track of “Rockin’ the Suburbs,” Folds re-emerged on stage - alone.

In a scene that was as ghostly as it was beautiful, Folds churned out four classic Ben Folds Five tunes, “Kate,” “Philosophy,” “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces” and “Evaporated,” the sister song to Ben Folds Five’s blockbuster single, “Brick.” To hear his former band’s songs done solo on piano, without any bass or drum accompaniment, was a real treat and showcased the skills that made him one of the most successful pianists in popular music since Billy Joel and Elton John.

And the crowd showed its appreciation for Folds’ playing of “some old (expletive)” by filling in for his departed former bandmates and singing all background vocals on the older tunes.

After playing the slow and somber “Evaporated,” Folds’ back-up band rejoined him on stage, and the foursome did an impressive rendition of the Ben Folds Five tune, “Song for the Dumped,” a tale of heartbreak and rejection that was one of the band’s more popular songs among its fans.

Frank Maynard, a friend of Folds, runs “The Magical Armchair” mailing list, a listserve for Ben Folds Five and Ben Folds-related discussion. The Novi resident and MSU alumnus said he is excited by Folds’ new material and talked with him at the show.

“He seemed a lot happier, he’s playing all his stuff, he’s back on the road, he’s out of his publishing contract with Sony and he’s playing with good musicians,” Maynard said. “They’re like a small circle of friends.

“The last time they came to town, (Folds’ former bandmates Darren Jessee and Robert Sledge) seemed bored, so this is a whole new tour, a whole new band and a whole new start.”

Paul Krauss, an English sophomore who has been a fan of Ben Folds Five since 1997, said it was different seeing other musicians playing the older material with Folds, but agreed the tour represents a landmark in Folds’ career.

“I thought Ben’s new material had a different feel to it, a different vibe,” Krauss said. “I don’t think people were quite as used to it yet. But it’s good he’s going in a different direction, and the more he tours, the more people will get into it, the more people will be more interested in his new stuff instead of the older stuff.”