"Mi madre Benito"

I don't know the reason, but I just wasn't in the right mood for Ben Harper.

In the last days I had been listening to his most recent album, Both sides of the gun, and I din't quite like it, especially the first of the two discs, felt it was too plain and monotone.

I hoped he wouldn't play many songs from this one and focus on his classics...

...and so he did (he started off with a strong rendition of Faded, which set the tone of the concert, played also Ground on down, Burn one down, Forgiven, Please bleed), which he combined with the most powerful new tunes (the title track, Black rain or Please don't talk about murder while I'm eating).

For his encore, he kept two of his most beautiful, and sad, ballads: Another lonely day and Walk away, and he closed the show with a compelling performance of Better way, yet another of his new songs, full lights on and the whole crowd standing, clapping and dancing.

So I found out a couple of things: his new album wasn't as bad as I thought, I wasn't in such a bad mood for the concert after all (or, to say better, Ben made me change it and took me for a great musical ride...).

Though I think Harper is a great musician, singer and composer, there's something about his attitude I don't like: he takes himself too seriously, he thinks he has a mission, there's something messianic about the way he acts.

There was a funny moment yesterday, though: at one time he tried to please the Madrilenian crowd by saying, in something that was supposed to be Spanish: "Mi madre Benito". We guessed he was trying to tell us "Madrid es muy bonito" (Madrid is beautiful) but the actual meaning of what he told us is "My mother Benedict"...

:)