Ben Harper tells White Lies for Dark Times in Ottawa

For all that Ben Harper does well, both musically and as someone with a strong social conscious, it’s probably safe to say his math skills, well, suck.

His latest band, a four-piece number called Relentless 7, headlined at Ottawa Bluesfest Thursday night -- and in doing so, set the new standard for what’s expected at blues-rock shows in the nation’s capital.

The performance was a staggering display of sonic invention and soul-satisfying grooves that left the crowd of over 20,000 shocked at who Ben Harper has become. Funny thing is, no one complained and no one left.

Gone for now is the super-funky laid-back sound of his backing band, The Innocent Criminals… the sound millions of fans first fell in love with. And in its place…a ridiculously tight, raunchy sound that screams pure rock and roll. Think Led Zeppelin meets The Stones and you might be on to something.

No acoustic vibe in this show, as one can expect when you see Ben with the Innocent Criminals.

No – this was 90 minutes of full-speed, ultra hard-hitting blues-rock that left even the staunchest Innocent Criminals fan forgetting about the past and focusing only on the present.

Channelling his inner Hendrix, and to a degree, inner Robert Plant, Harper was in fine form as he and his Texas band-mates Jason Mozersky, Jesse Ingalls and Jordan Richardson opened the show with ‘Coming Up Easy’, a fiery, bluesy number that would have fit perfectly on the Stone’s Exile On Main Street or even Zeppelin 2.

The smoke was still rising from his lap guitar when the band broke into its second song, ‘Number With No Name’. If you were somehow still standing after that first audio assault, you were without question down on the ground after the second tune.

‘Number With No Name’ is a bullying, driving force that takes you along for the ride whether you’re a willing passenger or not; a true sign of a great tune.

‘Shimmer and Shine’, was up next with its Keith ‘Moon-like’ drum intro and hard, chunky guitar licks. It’s easy to understand why this song is so popular on Youtube.

What happened next in the show however… may have changed me forever.

In 1995, I had the pleasure of seeing Jimmy Page and Robert Plant perform together in Toronto. For me, that was Led Zeppelin, and watching them perform ‘Good Times, Bad Times’ remains one of my favorite ‘life moments’. That was, until last night. Until Mr.Harper and Relentless 7 decided to cover that tune.

If Elvis is alive and living in Tweed, Ontario – John Bonham is very much alive and now goes by the name Jordan Richardson. Richardson’s thundering bass drum was shockingly equal to Bonham’s and the one-two guitar punch of Harper and Mozersky would have left Jimmy Page smiling in appreciation. It was one of those ‘had to be there moments’ , and if you were, you're better today because of it.

Up next was one of my favorite tunes on the new album, Lay There and Hate Me, a smoldering bluesy number that either The Stones or Sam and Dave could have recorded. Thick, hard-driving basslines and dirty guitar licks filled the spaces between Richardson's flawless drumming.' Never Trust A Woman Who Loves The Blues' Harper screamed before recklessly launching into an all-out attack on his guitar.

If you weren't sold on Ben's new sound by this point --you had no right being there-- and hopefully... you were identified and quickly escorted off the grounds.

From there however, the show took a brief momentum dip as Harper played a couple of slower, albeit lyrically brilliant tunes. Fly One Time and Faithfully Remain are great songs, but they just couldn’t match the energy of the first set.

The energy level changed quickly when the familiar bass line of Queen’s ‘Under Pressure’ could be heard. And with that the crowd went crazy. Harper being the showman he is, seized the opportunity to once again remind everyone why they paid their good, hard-earned money to see this show. He is without question, one of the greatest live acts today.

If you’re like me and you dig jam-bands, their next number, ‘Keep It Together’ was almost a tribute to Jerry Garcia in the way the song morphed into 4 or 5 different tunes from start to end. Seriously, I was standing next to an old dead-head and he couldn’t believe the similarities between Relentless 7 and the Grateful Dead on that song.

Ottawa’s rigid (err draconian) bylaw restrictions meant Mr.Harper had to be off the stage by 11. And with some songs lasting upwards of 8 to 10 minutes each, that meant a shorter than usual song list.

I have seen Ben four times now –the three previous shows all ran over three hours –this show –about an hour 20 to an hour 30. Not his fault by any means, and he made up for it with blistering performances of Up To You Now, Why Must You Always Dress in Black, The Word Suicide and Skin Thin.

He even mixed in a bit of old-school with a soulful performance of Another Lonely Day.

If that was the last Ben Harper show I’ll ever see live – I’m ok with that – because I’m not entirely sure what could top it.

If you have a chance to see Relentless 7 live – don’t think, just act. You’ll be better for it.

Keep On Keeping On, man ….