On Thursday night my buddy Buzzard and I went to the Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals concert at the Jubilee Auditorium here in Edmonton. This was my second time seeing Ben Harper in concert, the first time being in 2003 in Montreal.
The night started with meeting for a few beers before the show at a local watering hole in the neighbourhood. When it was time to make our way to the show, a wicked storm blew through the city turning the city dark as the clouds turned an ugly green black, wind picked up and the rain came down hard. So we decided to wait the storm out, although we really wanted to catch the opening act Michael Bernard Fitzgerald. But there was no way we were walking in this storm, I guess there are worse places to be stuck then a bar. Well after a half hour wait or so, the storm passed and we made our way. And wouldn't you know it, we got there just in time to catch the opening act. Perfect timing!
The seats we had this show were 20 dollar Summer Seat Sale tickets which meant our seats were way up, and when I say way up, I mean way, last row of the Jubilee Auditorium. Hard to complain though with tickets that cheap.
Calgary folk musician Michael Bernard Fitzgerald did a good set, I had never heard his music before but had heard good things about him, and have to say he put on a good show. It's folk style music, he was on acoustic and had another gentleman with him on electric guitar. There set was about 30-40 minutes, which was just long enough.
Michael Bernard Fitzgerald.
Next up was Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals. Ben's music is a mix of rock, reggae, blues and soul, and the man can play a mean guitar too. I haven't really followed Ben Harper for a while, the last album of his I bought was the one he did with Charlie Musselwhite called Get Up! which is a great blues album. What I found during this show is that I'm just not the fan of him that I used to be. About half way through the show I found myself bored and feeling like the music was all starting to sound the same. I held out hoping to hear my favorite Harper song "Burn One Down" but much to my disappointment he never did that song. Fucking bummer! They did do a couple of songs I was happy to hear, like "Diamonds On The Inside", "The Will To Live" and "Burn To Shine". The show looked to be sold out, and from where we were sitting, we could see everything, when you are in the last row, all you can see is in front of you and there didn't look to be any empty seats. Overall I wasn't all that impressed with the concert. But for 20 dollars I can't complain to much. Good times!!!
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals setlist.
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals at the Jubilee.
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