Like a King
30 Jun 2006 03:42 PM / Filed in: Music
I'm in Heaven since yesterday. I've been to the BEST concert of my whole life. After the excellent Marcus Miller concert two days ago, the extremely prolific, multi-genre "surfer" Ben Harper has made one hell of a performance I will never ever forget.
The event took place at L'Olympia, my favorite Paris scene by far. I arrived there with Mitch, a DocIsland fellow and a very close friend of mine, about half an hour before the beginning of the concert. A little bit later, wy wife and a couple of intimate friends joined us. It was very important to me to share this event with very close and special people. And believe it or not, these are the same people I've been with to Ben Harper's 2003 concert in Bercy, a huge Paris scene. That previous concert of an artist that I've learned to love and respect since 1997 and his hit song Jah Work was my best one. And now it's my second best.
A little bit after we took our seats, After a quite boring opening, we were left to wait for Ben Harper. I must admit that I was quite worried that this gig might be bad since Both Sides Of The Gun, Ben's latest album, isn't very good in comparison to his excellent previous records such as Diamonds On The Inside, Welcome To The Cruel World and Burn To Shine, my favorite Ben's studio album to date. However, given his 2003 performance in Bercy and the cheerful tone of Mitch, I let go of my worries and I was right about doing so.
40 minutes later Ben Harper and his Innocent Criminals supplemented with a very good guitar player entered the scene and started with a sublime Live version of Oppression. Instantly, they went into perfect communion with the public. And for more that 150 minutes, Ben Harper took us to Heaven playing Folk, Funk, Pop, Rock, and Reggae songs. Everything was top of the notch. Best among the best were the Live versions of Black Rain, Jah Work (with a perfectly fitting reprise of Bob Marley's Exodus right in the middle), Like a King, I'll Rise and Woman In You. These last three songs made me cry warm tears and feel gooseflesh. On a few songs Ben called in a wonderful strings section that added an appreciable touch. And the accordion used on When She Believes took this song to unknown heights. On a couple of songs (including I'll Rise), Ben sang without a microphone. I told you! It was a communion.
The "hit" song Better Way ended the concert beautifully. I hate the studio version save for a couple dozen seconds where Ben plays an incredible lap steel solo. But the Live version is completely different. I really start to think that Both Sides of The Gun has some serious production/arrangement flaws because the songs played Live during the concert has nothing to do with their flat-sounding studio counterparts.
All in all, it was a memorable gig and certainly the best concert I've been to so far. That's why I bought tickets for Ben's October 2006 concert in Bercy first thing this morning.
Thank you so much Ben Harper! You are truly one hell of an artist.
The event took place at L'Olympia, my favorite Paris scene by far. I arrived there with Mitch, a DocIsland fellow and a very close friend of mine, about half an hour before the beginning of the concert. A little bit later, wy wife and a couple of intimate friends joined us. It was very important to me to share this event with very close and special people. And believe it or not, these are the same people I've been with to Ben Harper's 2003 concert in Bercy, a huge Paris scene. That previous concert of an artist that I've learned to love and respect since 1997 and his hit song Jah Work was my best one. And now it's my second best.
40 minutes later Ben Harper and his Innocent Criminals supplemented with a very good guitar player entered the scene and started with a sublime Live version of Oppression. Instantly, they went into perfect communion with the public. And for more that 150 minutes, Ben Harper took us to Heaven playing Folk, Funk, Pop, Rock, and Reggae songs. Everything was top of the notch. Best among the best were the Live versions of Black Rain, Jah Work (with a perfectly fitting reprise of Bob Marley's Exodus right in the middle), Like a King, I'll Rise and Woman In You. These last three songs made me cry warm tears and feel gooseflesh. On a few songs Ben called in a wonderful strings section that added an appreciable touch. And the accordion used on When She Believes took this song to unknown heights. On a couple of songs (including I'll Rise), Ben sang without a microphone. I told you! It was a communion.
The "hit" song Better Way ended the concert beautifully. I hate the studio version save for a couple dozen seconds where Ben plays an incredible lap steel solo. But the Live version is completely different. I really start to think that Both Sides of The Gun has some serious production/arrangement flaws because the songs played Live during the concert has nothing to do with their flat-sounding studio counterparts.
All in all, it was a memorable gig and certainly the best concert I've been to so far. That's why I bought tickets for Ben's October 2006 concert in Bercy first thing this morning.
Thank you so much Ben Harper! You are truly one hell of an artist.
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