I hadn’t seen Ben Harper since just before he and the Innocent Criminals took off in 2003, when he was touring and making albums like Diamonds on the Inside. This past Saturday, Harper and his current band, Relentless7, kicked off the first day of May at the Ritz Ybor, rocking his fans and melting our faces with a completely evolved sound. [All photos by Fernando Garcia.]
I'm a huge Harper fan and have followed him for years. He drew me in with 1999's Burn to Shine, spurred me to seek out 1992's Pleasure and Pain, 1994's Welcome to the Cruel World and 1997's The Will to Live, and eventually, I found myself waiting in anxious anticipation for the release of 2003's Diamonds On the Inside. By the time There Will Be Light (2004) and Both Sides of the Gun (2006) came out, I was completely smitten. But despite my devotion, I’d only heard bits and pieces of his music with Relentless 7. Regardless, I knew I was in for an amazing night.
Alberta Cross opened up the evening. On disc, they seemed a bit too whiny; live, they were really entertaining and brought a certain level of stage presence that the audience ate up. As a Ben Harper fan put it, they were “like Black Crowes and Kings of Leon met and had a baby.”
On the way into the Ritz, I'd heard it was going to be a three-hour set. I figured this included the opening act, but I wouldn’t put it past Harper to play himself, his band, and his audience into beautiful exhaustion.
Around 10 p.m., Harper and the Relentless7 took the stage. The crowd went wild and everyone began dancing, hooting, hollering or (in some cases) staring hypnotically in awe at the stage. Harper switched out guitars with almost every new song – he had acoustic, electric, and lap guitars galore. Every time he transitioned from one instrument to another his fans seemed to get more and more excited to see what he would do next.
He played every note and sang every tune with great intensity, keeping his eyes mostly closed while he performed as if staying completely centered with the music. He also rocked so hard that a mere three songs into the set, he was already drenched in sweat, which prompted the ladies of the crowd to yell for him to “take it off!” He mentioned in his Creative Loafing interview with Leilani that the chemistry and dynamic with the Relentless 7 was so “organic.” This was something that was made very clear as the show progressed through the night. Harper also mentioned that the album and the music made the band and that the band didn’t just create the music. This was evident as well.
