USANA crowd gets exuberant treat

BEN HARPER, DAMIAN MARLEY, USANA Amphitheatre, Tuesday.

If there were any ailing fans in the audience at the Ben Harper/Damian Marley concert, they must have been healed.

Harper and Marley were the ultimate shaman icons as they each brought forth separate sets filled with music, love, joy, sweat and energy.

Marley took the stage first.

The son of reggae pioneer Bob Marley, Damian has found his own footing and has had a successful music career in the past decade. He is touring in support of his recent album "Welcome to Jamrock."

And by the look and sound of the cheering audience, he has found the love.

His set, highlighted by choice tracks from "Jamrock" — including the album's title track, "You're in 2 Deep," "Road to Zion" and "Move!" which featured samples of the elder Marley's epic "Exodus" — fired up the audience for Harper's blistering set.

Marley's call for unity and peace was the perfect appetizer for the love of Harper.

Harper & the Innocent Criminals hit the stage running, literally. Harper jogged to his spot and waved to the crowd. He then strapped on his trusty Weissenborn hollow-neck acoustic Hawaiian lap slide and bent out the bluesy opening to "Faded."

Backed by drummer Oliver Charles, percussionist Leon Mobley, guitarist Michael Ward, bassist Juan Nelson and organist Jason Yates, Harper added some musical joy as he tapped out "Steal My Kisses."

Strapping on an acoustic guitar, Harper led the band into the lilting "Diamonds on the Inside" before hitting the gospel notes of "Get It Like You Like It."

"Burn to Shine," the lamenting "Excuse Me, Mister" and "Waiting for You" were other dynamic, presentations from the band.

The heartfelt ballads "Morning Yearning" and "Forgiven" were placed nicely next to "Glory and Consequence" and "Ground on Down." The latter segued into a power groove remake of Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious."

Harper kept to his political views of unity and fairness with "Black Rain" and "With My Own Two Hands."

Throughout the show, each musician cranked out some funky solos, while Harper led the audience into an array of sing-alongs.

For each set, the sound mix at USANA was pitch perfect. Every note and nuance of the songs rang out loud and true. And each lyric was heard for all it's worth, leaving the audience exuberant and spent with warm life forces.

---

E-mail: scott@desnews.com