Ben Harper and Relentless7 nearly brought the house down.
Except for the guy who kept on screaming "Voodoo Chile" and "Burn One Down," the show couldn't have gone any better.
I don't want to write a review form post today. I just simply want to share that if you're not a fan of Ben Harper already, then fine. You're missing out on the best new music out there. There's a reason why I get to stand two feet away from the stage at every show. He's not mainstream. No complaints here.
At the end of the two-hour show, while finishing the second encore, with "Serve Your Soul" capping the night's performance, Ben Harper let his steel just rock back and forth on top of his Asher lap steel guitar. That rocking of the steel was the best outro to any concert I've ever seen, leaving a lasting imprint of brilliance and total recognition that he's playing a show for him and us.
It's these rock moments that separate Ben Harper from the rest of the modern pack. I've seen him sing a cappella and without the mic on "Where Could I Go." I've seen him play a three and a half hour set at The Music Box in Hollywood. And, now I've seen Relentless7 welcome us into the club in the most rock way possible.
By the way, my favorite R7 song right now is "Spanish Red Wine." This is what I said about the song when I first listened to it, before the show:
"'Spanish Red Wine' is a soundtrack song. It's mood music... right now. It'll sneak up on me and end up being one of my favs. Very needed on an album like this for balance and pace."
Well, it's my favorite, by far. And, I love the rest of the songs. This song just went from 'balance and pace' to the best... and it's all because of the live performance.
So good... So good.
