|
|
|
Jack Johnson ends summer right |
|
|
|
Written by JORDAN GREENBERG / Photos by LYLE A. WAISMAN
|
|
Sunday, 28 August 2005 |
With only two shows remaining before the end of the inaugural concert season at Chicago’s Charter One Pavilion, Jack Johnson’s sold out Sunday night performance was the perfect sunset for the summer. Throughout the set, the crowd swayed and sang along with Johnson as he crooned his way through an impossibly intimate two-hour celebration of music.
| | |
Jack Johnson
|
 Entertainment
 Art
Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island
Chicago, Ill.
August 28, 2005
|
| | |
Jack Johnson seemed destined for success long before he ever picked up a guitar. It wasn’t until he entered the University of California at Santa Barbara film school, however, that he started writing songs. Showcasing his material in the surfer film, “Thicker Than Water,” Johnson garnered positive reviews from friends and peers in and out of the surfing world. Not long after, the east coast blues trio G. Love & Special Sauce took notice and recorded Johnson’s “Rodeo Clowns” that even became the first single off of G Love’s 1999’s Philadelphonic album. A few years on and three albums later, Jack Johnson is a musician totally at home with his own brand of music, a lyric-heavy style of folksy blues as totally unique as the man himself.
Dressed in t-shirt and jeans, equipped only with an acoustic guitar, Jack Johnson stepped onto the stage, and with no preamble or measure of pretense he began a set that was all about the music. Opening with the song, “Never Know,” an upbeat acceptance of human limits, he continued, without pause, into his early hit, “Taylor.” Song after song, he sang with his eyes closed, a smile escaping his lips on the number, “Banana Pancakes,” off of his latest album, “In Between Dreams.” Defined by his scale-crawling vocals and laid back style Jack Johnson’s sound was never overpowering but always emotive, overcoming its creator and the fans in turn. After playing six songs without a break, Johnson wowed the audience when he sang a few bars of his single, “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing,” backwards, demonstrating the technique he used throughout the song’s reverse video.
In his unassuming manner, Johnson gave his loyal fans everything they could have wanted. For twenty-three songs he poured his heart out for the ever-appreciative crowd. When, just before the song, “Tomorrow Morning,” he asked the crowd to sing along, they complied and didn’t stop when he played one of his biggest songs to date, “Bubble Toes,” a couple numbers later. With old friend Zach Gill (A.L.O.) on the piano, every song had a new dimension and an underlying power that surpassed any of the studio produced versions on Johnson’s albums.
Playing an almost overwhelming set, Jack Johnson outperformed his contemporaries and bowled over the audience with the songs, “Good People,” and, “Constellations.” When he finally left the stage, it was only to come back and play four more songs, this time without a band to back him or distract from him. Playing his own song, “Better Together,” Johnson made it seem as if we were hearing it for the first time, which goes the same for his covers of the Goldcoast Singers’, “Plastic Jesus,” and Greg Brown’s, “Spring Wind.” When the night had to come to an end, Jack Johnson said a thank you to the crowd and reassured them that, “We never take it for granted.” Before leaving the stage for good, Johnson, evidently had one more surprise for the waves of people dancing in front of the stage. He stepped up to the microphone and announced that he would like to play one of the first songs he ever learned…with its original artist. A moment later, Jimmy Buffet walked onto the stage to a standing ovation and began to sing his song, “A Pirate Looks at Forty,” alternating verses with the young and inspiring Jack Johnson who did the song and its legendary inventor justice. It was an astounding moment to cap off a show that featured a pleasant surprise in every number.
All in all, it was a beautiful and moving night, owed in part to the Animal Liberation Orchestra who did their job in warming the crowd with their light-toned psychedelic jams, “Do You Like My Pecs?” and “Girl I Wanna Lay You Down.” So, though the weather may be cooling down, and the stars are shining earlier and earlier, Jack Johnson puts on a show refreshing as a sun shower, calming as a drifting wave, and beautiful as a sunset in all seasons.Powered by AkoComment 2.0! |
Other Recent Articles by JORDAN GREENBERG / Photos by LYLE A. WAISMAN:The Return of the ProdigyO.A.R. & Co. not "Feeling Better" at festA midsummer night's jam with 311
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
