I will admit that I had never heard of Ben Rector before he opened for NeedtoBreathe last spring. Jumping on the bandwagon usually isn’t my style, most often because I still have no idea what’s cool even after it’s cool, but ever since he came to Harding, I was hooked. His sound reminds me a little bit of Andy Grammar or even Jason Mraz, but he definitely carries his own unique, clear vocals and smooth sound.
The Administration Auditorium was packed well before 8 p.m., filling up the floor and most of the balcony. Andrew Ripp opened for Rector, and his opening song was a little too soft and easy going for an opening number, in my opinion. I suppose he wanted something a little less special to start with though, so that he would have the audience’s full attention for what seemed to be his most popular song, “Savior.” Although I’m not from Tennessee, unlike what seemed to be the majority of the audience, I still appreciated his interactions with the crowd to ease into his performance. I was a little worried when he started in with a bit of “American Woman,” to appease those in the audience over the age of 25 (all 12 of them) and was curious if a fog machine or something would start to roll out, but fortunately he added a little Eminem (you know, that one clean part) to keep it relevant — at least for those of us who still dream of the ‘90s. But all in all he did a great job. His vocal interpretation of a guitar solo was humorous and yet still catchy, and his duet with Rector was seamless.
Rector’s presence on stage is so comfortable. You feel like his best friend listening to him describe what’s going on in his life. His songs are typically upbeat and light-hearted, which just makes him more lovable and just fun to listen to in general. He performed a few favorites including “Never Gonna Let You Go,” “She Is,” and of course “Loving You is Easy,” in which his routine involved asking the audience for lyric suggestions, which for last week’s concert was “ice cream.” He made it work.
While there was no question to whether or not an encore would be asked for, Rector delivered. His cover of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” was a hit last year, and needless to say, when he even mentioned the word “cover” I think I saw tears of joy – from the group of guys next to me. If he hadn’t won the audience over before that moment, he sealed the deal with a classic.
His humble demeanor and friendly banter, commenting on how polite we were (it’s a Christian school thing), made him even more endearing. Overall, a five-star performance. Ben, you did it again.
