DENVER – A majority of the time when picking concerts to review, I try and stay within my own musical preferences, primarily so I have a little bit of a background knowledge about the band and their songs, which helps out immensely in writing these concert opinions of mine.  Occasionally though, I like to step out of the box and my comfort zone to do a review, remember those Hippie bands I’ve covered in the past, and tonight was one of those nights.

 Not knowing much about Ben Harper prior to this evening and only having heard a handful of his songs in the past, I really wasn’t sure what exactly to expect going into the first of two sold-out nights at the Ogden, but I think that by itself actually spoke volumes about the artist even prior to the show starting.  Let alone the fact that’s he’s got a couple of Grammy’s sitting at home!  However, before commenting on the main event, I should take a moment and give my two cents on the opening act, The Orbans. 

Hailing from Fort Worth, TX., The Orbans are a five-piece blues/bluegrass/rock quintet who’s musical abilities far outdistanced their performance presence.  Again, the talents of Vocalist/Guitarist Peter Black, Bassist Cliff Wright, Drummer Blaine Crews, Keyboardist Justin Pate, and Guitarist Kenny Wayne would be very hard to overlook, but also again, that’s all you get to see. Disappointing, mainly due to the fact that the crowd was already so energized for the evenings entertainment that even a slightly animated performance could have brought the house down.  No worries though, Ben Harper had it covered from the moment he walked on stage!

As the house lights went down, giving the universal signal that the band was about to begin, and the audience went into the normal instinctual screaming mode. A single spotlight hit the stage and out walked Mr. Harper with his guitar, but before he could do literally anything, a hysterical, almost fanatical roar came from the crowd, and I did honestly wonder if the house just might come down at that point.  But it was in that second that I also immediately understood the why of that enthusiasm, for it was then that I looked up at Ben and saw ten times the gratitude and love pouring right back toward the crowd. 

All I can say is, “Wow”.

Photo by PHOTOS BY JEFF KEARNEY

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