Burn One Down

Went to the Ben Harper show last night at the Commodore. I was very fortunate to be in attendance as tickets were sold out within seconds, literally. Tom Freund was the opener for the night and put on a solid set. I had never heard of his material before, but thought he did a good job. It was also the first time I have seen a solo artist sing and play the string bass. He even played a cover of The Beatles' Revolution on the instrument. His acoustic songs were also well done. I'll have to take a listen to his album.

A friend of mine noticed that the crowd for the show was very mainstream compared to other Ben Harper shows. Being that most tickets available were purchased through scalpers, I can see why many hippies weren't in attendance.

On this evening, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals put on one hell of a show. Having a chance to watch them perform in such an intimate venue like the Commodore was truly once in a lifetime. They played for 2hrs 20mins with 3 encores. The vocals were amazing. Ben barely talked between songs, but his emotion was showed in his lyrics and delivery. The music sounded extremely tight for a six piece band that included a drummer, percussionist and keyboardist. I really liked how Ben included the fan's participation in a number of songs. The second encore that included 3 acoustic songs were a definite highlight. Tom Freund came out during this time to play Pleasure and Pain with Ben.

Experiencing this show has made me appreciate Ben Harper even more as an artist whose music transcends boundaries of being categorized as one genre. In fact, I would consider this show as one of my top three shows so far this year.

Setlist for the show:

set [1]:
• Don't Take That Attitude To Your Grave
• Glory & Consequence
• Brown Eyed Blues
• Breakin' Down
• Homeless Child
• One Road To Freedom
• Diamonds On The Inside
• People Lead
• Gather Round The Stone
• How Many Miles Must We March?
• Please Bleed
• The Will To Live
• Burn One Down
enc [1]:
• Take My Hand
• Where Could I Go
• There Will Be A Light
• Please Me Like You Want To
• Steal My Kisses/Pressure Drop
enc [2]:
• Another Lonely Day
• Walk Away
• Pleasure And Pain
enc [3]:
• Amen Omen
• With My Own Two Hands/War

An updated list of my top 10 shows seen so far in 2005:
1) U2
2) Ben Harper
3) The Tea Party
4) Collective Soul
5) Keane
6) Rilo Kiley
7) The Dears
8) Velvet Revolver
9) Wil
10) David Usher