When I saw Ben Harper & R7 back in May one of my fears was that The Relentless 7 would not be revisiting Ben’s back catalog with The Innocent Criminals. Granted he was promoting the then new release “Give ‘til It’s Gone” at what was essentially an industry show. My fears were allayed as he took stage and went right into frequent opener “Glory & Consequence.” While I personally prefer the seated version of the song they added a chorus and verse from Pearl Jam's “Jeremy” before closing out the song with the ending with the last verse. “Faded” featured a classic intro that sounded like a jet about to take off and some furious playing at the end. Ben introed “Rock N Roll Is Free” by mentioning that people stop him and say, “you say rock n roll is free but I had to pay for your show.” He also mentioned that he wished more people bought the album but he didn’t really care how you got it, he just that he hoped you had it. In actuality that song was a Starbucks iTunes Pick of the week, so it was free technically. Someone was taping or filming to the side of the stage and Ben waved off his crew from stopping saying, “It’s cool, we’re in Philly, man.” The new song “Masterpiece” was well received. The standing lar guitar returned fro “Suzie Blue,” although I was anticipating “Better Way” as it is the only song I’d seen him perform that way. He acknowledged the crowd in the skybox high above the satge and played that one for them. He also acknowledged WXPN saying he doesn’t get a lot of radio play but he definitely gets played on XPN. It got a little tense going into the next song as Ben acknowledged after the song, “well, I had a little tantrum there…” Some fans had been yelling for “Burn One Down constantly and he finally snapped and said “If I play a short version will you please stop?” They went into a slow electric version that seemed to be played with contempt. He warmed to playing it though and finished the entire song picking up the pace as they went. Ben acknowledged them “well, I didn’t want to play it but I stated liking it again, so thanks for reintroducing me to my music.” “Lay There and Hate Me” featured solos from everyone, including their keyboard player, who has been added on this tour (I forgot his name, sorry!). He closed out the set mentioning how he did this one with The Blind Boys of Alabama and it didn’t matter what you believed before going into “Where Could I Go.” He sang the first verse with the mic but then sang without it showcasing the power of his voice.
Taking the stage solo for the encore he played “Mutt,” another new instrumental piece. During "Walk Away" he flubbed the "you" going into the second verse and after trying to cover for it said, "you guys paid too much money for me to miss a note." He then went back to the beginning and played the entire song over. Acknowledging some shouts for “Forever,” he said, “you know, “Forever” is one of my “hits,” if I have hits, and you guys made it that way. It’s not a single or anything but thank you for that.” He them played it with the band returning to the stage. Kyle Crusham, from opener Grace Woodroofe’s band played on another new one “Better Than I Deserve.” Ben mentioned that he produced her debut album and although it won’t be released until next year, it was available there. Her set was good and she closed with a killer cover of Iggy and the Stooges' “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” She was seen in the back of the crowd enjoying a few of Ben’s songs too. He sang the chorus for the crowd and they sang along and continued doing so even after the band had left stage. Another great Ben show with Ben talkative and enjoying himself, for the most part. I feel like the R7 have found a comfort zone playing the older songs as well as constantly turning out new material. It will be interesting to see what the comes next.
Selist (from benharper.com)
· Glory & Consequence>Jeremy
· Number With No Name
· Faded
· Rock N Roll Is Free
· Diamonds On The Inside
· Masterpiece
· She’s Only Happy In The Sun
· Suzie Blue
· Burn One Down
· Lay There And Hate Me
· Amen Omen
· Where Could I Go
· Encore (solo)
· Mutt
· Lifeline
Walk Away
· Another Lonely Day
· Encore (band)
· Forever
· Better Than I Deserve (w/Kyle Crusham)
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