Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals - Maison de la Radio (Studio 104), Paris, France (2 Discs)


Man, I really wanted to hate Ben Harper. When I first began downloading music online my first searches were for hard-to-find reggae albums I needed for my collection. Mainly Peter Tosh songs were what I was looking for and I have a long-standing aversion to folks (especially newcomers) covering classics - it seems like something you have to earn before it's okay with me. Pretty arrogant, I know but that is how it goes with Daddy. Whenever I did a search for Tosh's music I would always see Harper's name on there because he did a cover of 'You Can't Blame The Youth' - The nerve of this guy! So, I dutifully ignored all his music at that point (1998) and scoffed when told he was actually a real talented cat who did no diservice to the original jam. As the years passed by I heard bits and pieces and eventually grew to dig Jack Johnson's music - you can see where this is going, right? One thing lead to another and here we are today. This is one of my all-time favorite live albums, period. The crown, the sound and the sheer musicainship displayed is overwhelmingly amazing. Really, not enough praising superlatives can be applied to this - listen for yourselves and my most humble apologies to Mr. Harper and the rest of the Innocent Criminals - I judged you wrong.

Set I:
1. She's Only Happy In The Sun
2. Excuse Me Mr.
3. Brown Eyed Blues
4. Temporary Remedy
5. Gold To Me
6. Please Me Like You Want To
7. The Woman In You
8. Show Me A Little Shame
9. Steal My Kisses
10. Diamonds On The Inside
11. Amen Omen
12. Burn One Down

Encore I:
13. Power Of The Gospel
14. Walk Away
15. I Shall Not Walk Alone
16. When It's Good

Encore II:
17. Don't Take That Attitude To Your Grave
18. Everything
19. When She Believes
20. With My Own Two Hands/War

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