05.15.05 Berkeley, CA
07:00PM Surprise » Concert @ Berkeley Community Theater with Phil Lesh & Friends, Hot Buttered Rum String Band, Emory Joseph, Corinne West
Set 1
- 01When It's Good
- (Video)02Diamonds On The Inside
- (Video)03There Will Be A Light
- 0411th Commandment>
- 05Well Well Well
- 06Burn One Down
- 07Gather 'Round The Stone
- 08Pleasure And Pain(feat. Tom Freund)
Guest Set
- 01Turn On Your Love Light(Phil Lesh & Friends feat. Ben Harper)
Ben made a surprise appearance at Wavy Gravy's 69th Birthday benefit for Seva and played a 30-min acoustic set. Tom Freund sat in on "Pleasure and Pain" on round neck acoustic guitar and sang backing vocals. Later during Phil Lesh & Friends' set, Ben and an ensemble of the night's performers played on Van Morrison's "Turn On Your Lovelight."
Comments/Reviews
Outside of celebrating Wavy Gravy's birthday, Ben's surprise performance at Seva was the highlight of the evening. It was my first opportunity to hear him and I was more than pleasantly surprised. From the first lines of When It's Good to the last of Pleasure and Pain the audience was captivated. There Will be a Light was so beautiful I wasn't sure if the lights were shining on him or rising from him. Perhaps both. His unique style - (playing a beautiful-sounding Weissenborn slide) and soulful lyrics touched me so deeply that I feel blessed to have been there.