Residents of Humboldt were treated to a different kind of concert on Feb. 4 at the Humboldt Gallery as Eric Harper brought his rock/classical flamenco hybrid show to town.
The show was sponsored by Weber & Gasper Law Office and is the second leg of the Humboldt Area Arts Council concert series in association with the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils, following the performance of The Lion The Bear the Fox on Nov. 12.
Harper played in front of a packed house, where he weaved in stories of his life growing up in the southern United States, before moving overseas and back again, ultimately ending up in Canada, as well as some jokes.
Playing in front of a packed house was great, says Harper.
“That’s just great that people are open minded and courageous enough actually to come out and see a musician they’ve never heard of before.”
Harper was really pleased with how the show went, noting that the crowd was very responsive, even laughing and clapping during his songs and his jokes.
“It’s nice that I can hear them clapping and laughing because sometimes audiences are very respectful and don’t even do that,” says Harper. “I’m never really sure if I’m having an impact on them or not but Humboldt’s audience was definitely very responsive, which is very nice.”
The show in Humboldt was a little different style venue than some of the other shows Harper has played, but he said he much prefers the smaller more intimate setting because it allows him to have that interaction with the crowd. He does not get that when he is playing in front of 5,000 people.
“It’s a little bit more difficult to get on a personal level. I don’t really tell the stories of how the songs were written so much it’s more of just play and there’s not a lot of chance to really interact with the audience.”
The show was Harper’s first time to Humboldt and he says he would love to return to Humboldt in the future for another show.
“Humboldt’s a really great place. I met some really cool people here.”
In the meantime, the Humboldt Area Arts Council will turn their attention to the third leg of the OSAC concert series with The Middle Coast hits the Humboldt Gallery stage on Feb. 24, sponsored by Behiel Will & Biemans Law Offices.
The four-part concert series is sponsored by the Friends of the Museum & Gallery and the Humboldt Journal.
