Ben Harper begins with a new song on a lap steel guitar. He is creating the song with the Paris Philharmonic. He messes up a few times, completely stops, and then walks around the stage with an “aw shucks” attitude. He apologizes to the audience and explains that he is still learning this new song. He doesn’t make any more mistakes for the rest of the evening.

Later on, they play “Steal My Kisses” from their 1999 album, Burn To Shine. “I pulled into Nashville, Tennessee / But you wouldn’t even come around to see me / And since you’re headin’ up to Carolina / You know I’m gonna be right there behind ya / ‘Cause I always have to steal my kisses from you”. Tonight’s version is performed without the beatboxing in the recording, which gives it a stripped down feel.

Soon afterwards, they play “Diamonds On The Inside” from the 2003 album of the same name. This is his most popular song on Spotify, with over 101 million streams. It’s a beautiful song and it sounds fantastic with the excellent acoustics at Garcia’s.

At the end of the second set, just before midnight (They starts at 9pm), they play “Burn One Down” from the 1995 album, Fight For Your Mind. “If you don’t like my fire / Then don’t come around / ‘Cause I’m gonna burn one down”.

Last year, they played at the Auditorium Theatre, which has a capacity of 3,875. Garcia’s Chicago has a capacity of 350.  Thus, it made for a very intimate show for a band which usually plays the largest venues. This was night seven of their seven night residency.

See the full setlist here.

See the list of upcoming shows at Garcia’s here. 

Cost of a ticket: $95

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Good Value +

Rating Scale: Exceptional > Good Value > Discounted > Go for Free > Don’t Bother

Quinn Delaney