Before singing his final song of the night, “Someday,” actor and singer Ben Barnes left his audience with one thing: hope.
“If you take one thing away from here tonight, do not let anyone get in the way of following your dreams, whatever it may be. Whether you want to dance, whether you want to be an accountant, whatever it is you want to do, go do that thing. We will not go gentle into that good night,” Barnes remarked.
On Jan. 19, Barnes performed his debut album “Where The Light Gets In” at Summit Music Hall in Denver, CO.
Barnes, best known for his roles as General Aleksander Kirigan in the TV series “Shadow and Bone” and Prince Caspian in the film “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” has moved beyond acting and into the music industry.
After releasing his first album on Jan. 10, Barnes’ engagement has skyrocketed to an average of 189.3K monthly listeners on Spotify.
With production help from members of Maroon 5, the album emphasizes the stages of a relationship; beginnings, tension, sorrow, sex, love, endings and nostalgia.
With the help of his band, the audience watched as Barnes brought the story to life.
Bass player Zoe Sparks opened the show at 8 p.m. Sparks, who averages 3,265 monthly listeners according to Spotify, played three songs. Her songs fall into numerous genres but most notably R&B/soul.
Sophia James took the stage next at 8:15 p.m., playing three songs, even creating one right before the audience’s eyes. With 215,431 monthly listeners on Spotify, James put a refreshing spin on the pop genre.
The penultimate performer was R&B artist Charles Jones at 8:30 p.m., who celebrated his birthday on stage with infectious energy. Jones, with 22,745 monthly listeners on Spotify, also performed three songs including a cover of “Creep” by Radiohead.
After three incredible openers, who also happened to be a part of the band, the audience’s anticipation for Barnes to perform was palpable.
Barnes opened the show with the album’s opening title, “Beloved.”
Shortly after the song, however, the band experienced technical difficulties and was forced to play the concert without a backtrack.
Though this was not Barnes’ ideal situation, the rawness of the band made the concert feel more intimate and allowed the audience to truly experience the emotion behind the album.
Barnes took the technical difficulties in stride, making comical remarks about the situation.
Before starting the song “Nevermind,” he told the audience that it’s about “loving yourself, and looking after yourself, maybe when it’s not quite so easy and you’re suffering with something.”
“In my case, that was crippling anxiety about coming up on stage and having technical difficulties within the first two minutes,” Barnes said.
The concert, while filled with technical problems and the occasional verse mixup from Barnes, was very personable and personalized.
In fact, Barnes sang the song “Rise Up” from his EP to a woman in the audience. She said that the song had helped her through a hard time and she asked Barnes to sing it when she got the opportunity to meet him right before the show.
The entire audience also got a chance to participate in the show, picking between four songs for Barnes and his band to perform.
Before the audience could select, however, Barnes decided to play a completely new song. As a birthday cake was brought out, Barnes and the audience serenaded Jones for his 43rd birthday.
After the birthday celebration, the audience picked the Disney song “You’ve Got a Friend In Me” by Randy Newman.
As an extra treat, Barnes let the audience pick yet another song. They selected the one with the cowbell, more commonly known as “Jealous Guy” by John Lennon.
Barnes ended the concert with the inspiring song “Someday.”
For the two-and-a-half-hour show, the concert was more than just a live performance. Barnes brought his songs to life. Actively engaging with the audience, the concert felt more like a community collaboration.
“At the end of the day, we are all drifting through space on a rock, and we are all driving these neat skeletons made out of stardust. We might as well enjoy it, sing songs for each other and dance our way out of here,” Barnes said.
