Ben Harper 07/25/2005

Monday night I had the pleasure of seeing Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals for the 3^rd time. It was the first time he has played in the DC area in 2 years (last time at Bull Run Park in June 2003).

This show was one for the record books. Ben played for over 3 hours with 31 songs. It was definitely cool to see some of the new songs from There Will Be A Light (minus the Blind Boys) mixed in with some of my favorite older tunes. The band even threw in some new tunes that they have been playing for a few months now.

My favorites of the night were Ground on Down, Temporary Remedy, Where Could I Go, Roses From My Friends, and a new arrangement of Steal My Kisses that went into Toots' Pressure Drop.

For those that missed the show, it was a good one. Just look at the setlist.

• God Fearing Man
• Ground On Down
• Jah Work
• Brown Eyed Blues
• Wicked Man
• Everything
• Burn One Down
• She's Only Happy In The Sun
• Breakin' Down
• Temporary Remedy
• Please Bleed
• Amen Omen
• Where Could I Go
• How Many Miles Must We March?

encore 1 (solo)
• Another Lonely Day
• Widow Of A Living Man
• Number Three
• Roses From My Friends
• I Shall Not Walk Alone
• Walk Away
• There Will Be A Light
• When It's Good
• Pleasure And Pain %

encore 2
• Steal My Kisses -> Pressure Drop
• Get It Like You Like It
• Homeless Child *
• Dressed In Black *
• Gather Round The Stone *
• The Woman In You
• Ain't Too Proud To Beg
• With My Own Two Hands -> War

* w/ Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica
% w/ Tom Freund on guitar

Cause a pressure drop,
oh pressure Oh yeah pressure drop a drop on you
I say a pressure drop, oh pressure
Oh yeah pressure drop a drop on you

The OBB III (awww yeah)

That's right, the OBB 3 is around 3 weeks away. This year's event should be even better than the previous two. An extra keg has been added this year so this should lead to even more girls making out.

Lots of keg beer, flip cup and live music should keep this one entertaining. If you have never been before, I highly recommend attending this one. This says it all:

You gotta treat yo momma with respect

Sharing in the Roo

I've been back from Bonnaroo III for almost a month now and feel like its time to reflect on such a great experience.

One band and one pedal-steel player highlighted my Bonnaroo 2005 experience. The John Butler Trio and Robert Randolph.

JBT, Australia's own roots rock band, reminds me a lot of Ben Harper. Apparently, he is half Aussie and half American. I finally picked up his CD last weekend and it is badass. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys good music.

Then there's Mr. Randloph, who played with almost every act (with the exception of Warren Haynes who actually did play with everyone). The man can seriously get down on any song. He rocked out with his side project The Word. He highlighted DMB's Lousiana Bayou and Watchtower performances. He even took the stage with Widespread Panic to close Sunday's action.

Actually, I really enjoyed a third band that weekend. It was Saturday afternoon and we were just walking around when I saw Karl Denson's Tiny Universe on this small stage. They completely jammed out. I need to scoop up some of their CDs. They have a great jazz groove feel to them.

The weather was actually pretty accommadating as well. It was really hot Thursday morning when we pulled up to the campground. Its hard to beat the Summer Tennessee heat. Friday ended up being partly cloudy, which by all means suited me just fine. I'm not a big fan of sweating balls all day long. Saturday was overcast before it turned to rain and basically it just drizzled all day. This of course means one thing, lots of dirty wet hippies and mud. And we all know how much hippies love mud. However, a bit of rain didn't stop the grooves, so I rocked the poncho and continued the jamming.

Since the weather was so moderate, I actually got to do some pretty decent drinking, either sitting at camp throwing down the frostys or at the shows/beer tents. It was a lot different from the Roo in '03, where it was so ungodly hot every day. That year, you could drink like 3-5 beers and start to feel good but then you would so damn hot you had to suck down like 3 bottles of water to kept from dehydrating.

The only debacle of the weekend was my excursion to Walmart to get a contact case on Friday morning. I apparently forgot mine and decided to walk to Walmart rather than have my eyes burn for the next few days. The walk should have been OK because it was around a mile away and basically the other side of the campground. I thought, no big deal right. Wrong. I decided to take the long way around. I walked 4 miles before a sheriff pulled over and gave me a lift. I have never been so happy to see a police officer in my life. That morning totally sucked ass.

For Posterity's sake, here's the breakdown of what acts I saw at Bonnaroo 2005:

Friday

• Alison Krauss & Union Station


• Allman Bros


• DMB

Saturday

• Parts of Gov't Mule/Yonder Mountain String Band


• Karl Denson's Tiny Universe


• Parts of the Black Crowes/Jack Johnson


• Parts of Keller Williams/O.A.R.


• Will Hoge

Sunday

• Toots & the Maytals


• Part of Citizen Cope


• Bob Weir and Ratdog


• John Butler Trio


• The Word


• Will Hoge

So that was my Bonnaroo experience. Lots of relaxing, eating carnie food and listening to great tunes.

On a side note, my friend Jill sent me this link and I think its great that a Thank You has finally been said to all the Happy Hour Heroes.

I can be loud man, I can be silent
I could be young or I could be old.
I can be a gentleman, I can be violent.
I could turn hot or I can be cold.
I could be just like the calm before the storm
Waiting for all hell yeah to break loose.
I could be innocent or I could be guilty
Doesn't mean that I man believe in no noose