The engaging singer-guitarist brought his band The Innocent Criminals with him in his return to Meijer Gardens. The sold-out crowd warmly embraced them and opener Molly and Scott from Vox Vidorra.
Genre-Bending Charm: Ben Harper played an exhaustive but upbeat set. (Photo/Anna Sink)
SCROLL DOWN FOR FULL PHOTO GALLERY
Support our coverage of
West Michigan's music scene
In his 24-year career as a folk/funk/blues/rock singer/multi-instrumentalist, Ben Harper has paid steady homage to his own particular “holy trinity” of songwriting topics: love, social justice and weed.
Burning It Up on Guitar: Ben Harper on stage at Meijer Gardens. (Photo/Anna Sink)
That seems to remain true whether the 46-year-old artist (boyish and handsome as ever) is flying solo, or if he’s joined by his band, The Innocent Criminals, as he was Wednesday evening for a sold-out show at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
During his third visit to the popular outdoor venue, Harper and company delivered an exhaustive but upbeat 20-plus-song set that clocked in at nearly two-and-a-half hours and spanned his catalog of more than a dozen genre-bending albums.
The set naturally touched on numerous examples of the above-mentioned subject trio including “In the Colors” (from 2007’s “Lifeline”), “Call It What It Is” (from this year’s album of the same name) and — of course — “Burn One Down” (from 1995’s “Fight For Your Mind”). Solid numbers, each of them, and that much richer for having the benefit of a full live band.
A leisurely paced “Better Way” (from disc two of 2006’s split “Both Sides of the Gun”) can be counted as a musical highlight of the evening, starting slowly and blossoming with a warm, venue-melting energy as Harper and company stretched the roughly four-minute album track to a nearly 10-minute live performance.
Vox GR: Molly Bouwsma Schultz and Scott Schultz from Vox Vidorra opened Wednesday’s show. (Photo/Anna Sink)
Harper’s two-song solo slide guitar break midway through the evening struck a chord. But energy levels took a palpable upward swing when the five-piece band rejoined Harper for the remainder of the show. They’re just better together – what can you say?
Juan Nelson, with his smooth-as-silk bass lines and genial stage demeanor (“You guys are a lot of fun”), was a particular crowd favorite, entertaining the eager masses when a minor technical glitch at the top of the show delayed the start time by a few minutes.
Molly Bouwsma Schultz and Scott Schultz (from local faves Vox Vidorra) charmed the audience with a 35-minute stripped-down opening set, earning not one, but two, shout-outs from Harper later in the evening. As Bouwsma Schultz said of the experience; “This is one of my life’s great honors. Thank you for letting us open up for Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Ben Harper, Molly & Scott from Vox Vidorra at Meijer Gardens
Photos by Anna Sink
