On the Road Again
Live Reviews:

Ben Harper And The Innocent Criminals
October 28, 1999
The Warehouse, Toronto

Without any surprise whatsoever, tonight's sold-out performance proved why Ben Harper's popularity has continued to soar over the course of his recording career. Harper and The Innocent Criminals' musical prowess tonight showcased a fair representation of songs from his musical catalogue, as well as some new songs from his latest release, Burn To Shine. A quiet, extremely soft-spoken and gifted musician, his awe-inspiring guitar and slide playing exemplified his growing status as one brilliant live performer. It is without a doubt that his backing band has had a hand in contributing greatly to said success and there seems to be no signs of the momentum slowing.

As Harper took the stage, he had not even played a note before all adoring fans present erupted into a show of great appreciation. "Thank You, thank you, thank you," a gracious Harper said from the stage, showing signs of peace and at times, locking his hands in a sign of solidarity between him and his growing number of fans. His set opened with an extended version of "Oppression," the lead-off track from his second album, "Fight For Your Mind" complete with a tribute to Bob Marley, adding verses of "Get Up Stand Up" to the bare-bones track consisting of guitar and percussion. This was followed by a charged rendition of "Faded" from The Will to Live and his slide solo held most in awe as he brought the band back in from its slow, mellow interlude. Only two songs into the set and it had already felt like the band had been performing for some time. Harper had to pause between songs to acknowledge his fans with a hearty "What's up?" and he had requested the lights to stay on for a bit longer so he could see all who where there to give him the love and adoration he was receiving.

"Forgiven," a new track, gave way to Harper introducing his bandmates Juan Nelson on bass, Dean Butterworth on the drums and David Leach on percussion, followed by his touring crew and his management team and ultimately the opening-act, Joseph Arthur. After the following songs, "Please Bleed," "Excuse Me Mr." and the pot-smoking anthem, "Burn One Down," the ever-adoring audience sang (in impressive unison) "Happy Birthday" to a newly-turned 30-year-old Ben Harper who could do nothing but sit in his guitar-chair, smile and thank the audience repeatedly.

A fan had handed Harper a giant birthday card and he had quoted some parts of it to the audience including a passage from the Led Zeppelin classic "Since I've Been Loving You" — "I'm about to lose my worried mind."

After the sing-along, older songs like "By My Side," "One Road to Freedom" and "Ground on Down" lead into the latest single, "Burn to Shine." This track was a slight departure from previous material but it still managed to get the crowd bopping. The mood of the show had been light and playful, a beach ball surfaced from the crowd and was bounced around during "Gold To Me" and Harper had transformed his distorted lap-slide guitar into a hip-hop demonstration of his scratching abilities and it had sounded extremely authentic. "Fight For Your Mind" ended up being a showcase for the bass-playing talent of Juan Nelson where he lead both the band and audience into an extended funk-jam with many heavy grooves as well as a nod to Sly And The Family Stone's "Thank You..." It was time to highlight both Butterworth and Leach as they had to improvise a drum-percussion duel after a rendition of "Stop Breaking Down" - Harper rose from his seat and promptly left the stage for a few minutes. Upon his return, the band resumed the song where they had left off and was met with mass applause. The set had ended with a searing version of "The Woman In You" and "Steal My Kisses", two selections from the latest record and on the latter tune, a further nod to hip-hop displayed Nick Rich as a Human Beatbox. After the last couple of songs, one could see and hear how important The Innocent Criminals are to the Ben Harper live experience and it was at this point that they all bid the audience goodnight after playing for close to two hours.

For the encore, Harper had treated his fans to a quiet, solo acoustic performance of the following songs: "Beloved One," "Another Lonely Day," "Walk Away" and "I Shall Not Walk Alone" before bidding the audience a final goodnight. Earlier in the set, Harper had commented on how he liked the Warehouse. Perhaps he wasn't used to playing in a warehouse-type environment and even though the venue is conducive to louder, more energetic performances, it didn't do justice to Harper's acoustic set as there was a lack of intimacy which was required for these songs.

As Ben Harper's popularity continues to rise, it will not come as much of a surprise as his shows continue to sell-out, probably forcing him to play either more shows or bigger venues. Regardless of what happens, most in attendance of tonight's show will probably agree that it has been some time since they have experienced a show of this calibre and it will probably be a long time before a similar opportunity arises. One thing is for sure — this band smokes and it is highly recommended not to miss Ben Harper And The Innocent Criminals the next time they are coming to your city.