Inspired by the "black artists who can rock" thread, I decided to
start a new thread on Ben Harper.

Not only can he play the blues like no tomorrow but the dude can
rock with the best of them.

I'd been a fan of his for years but never saw him live, until he
performed at Werchter in july 2004.

Here are some picks of that performance. It was the highlight of
Werchter for me.

I think a lot of people didn't even know who he was when he got
onto the stage early in the afternoon. But by the time he was
at his 3rd song, I saw people getting up and take notice. He was
one of the pleasant surprises for a lot of people.

And for me, apart from making my mouth water with his appearance
lol, his performance and guitar playing was awesome.

for Ben Harper


WERCHTER PIX:

My former guitar teacher told me about him. I really like the music very much but I cannot really get into his vocals. I don't know that much from him it seems like he won't sing a straight note. Kind of what I hate about Beyonce also.

He's cool

I really like "Forgiven" , "Please Bleed" , Waiting On An Angel" ,
"When She Believes" to name a few

I guess you have seen a better performance in Werchter than I did a few years earlier (2000 or 2001, don't remember). I liked him very much, until that performance. He was a Jimi rip-off, and all he did was make some noise on his guitar, that he had laid on his lap...

Very very sad, because I used to like him. But a bad performance can spoil it for me. Like Manu Chao did, the same year... That was even worse !

I have the entire Ben Harper catalogue (including the DVD, PLEASURE AND PAIN) and I've seen him a few times, and he was VERY boring. Though the diehards in the audience were salivating. Have a lot of appreciation, but something's missing. Can't really put my finger on it. Don't know what it is. Hoping that one day, I'll "get it," like I did with Jeff Buckley (who is now one of my all-time faves.)

I've never had the pleasure of seeing Ben live in person,but I purchase everything he releases,including the Blind Boys album. He is one of my favorite artists.He is a musician that mainly sits ands you listen.He is not explosive in a way that a Prince or Michael or someoone is. His personality isn't that. He doesn't shine that way. He just is flat out bad.