Let’s start with the good things. Hark got to his first meal at Ben’s Chili Bowl; I got to randomly run into Ben Marzouk on the way in. “Effington” / “Rock This” sounded better than normal with a syncopated orchestra, “Annie Waits” / “The Last Polka” / “Landed” sounded strong as ever, and it was fun playing “Jesusland” on Hark’s knee. It was also funny hearing a performer do the “In A World…” voice in the same theater we saw In A World star Demetri Martin in.
The main problem for Hark is that Ben did not play “The Luckiest.” The main problem for me was that the concert was dominated by songs the audience COULD NOT HAVE KNOWN. I don’t mean he played a few songs from a new album the audience did not bother to listen to. I mean, like the first time I saw him, he played mostly unreleased songs the audience could not have heard unless they were in Ben’s head. I am confident that next time, though, he will remember to respect his fans and be back to the top quality Ben.
Grade: B-
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