I totally agree that knowing an artist beforehand makes a huge difference in concert. However, I had heard Rufus before (and own his Poses album) and also saw him in concert before. He does have a great voice. But to me, there’s no question that a) his songs are not as good as Ben’s b) his state magnetism is not as good as Ben’s. Ben is just more *alive* on stage, for the sad songs and the happy songs.

The two times Rufus approached that, I thought, were on “California”, a great song, and on the cover of “Hallelujah”. The rest… pretty blah.