mercredi 21 Jul 2010, 17h55m
Tue 20 Jul – Jack Johnson: To The Sea Tour 2010
If you're a fan of Jack Johnson, G. Love, both, or just a fan of music, you'd have had fun at this show! My group arrived at DTE Energy Music Theater around 5:30 pm and went right in instead of tailgating in the parking lot like most fans seemed to be doing. Upon entering the venue, we soon got word of a special live performance by G. Love, with special guests we wouldn't want to miss, so we found a good spot near a small gazebo he'd be performing in front of. G. Love played a couple songs with his guitar and harmonica and really seemed to enjoy the close interaction with fans. Paula Fuga came up to join him for a couple songs including a spot-on cover of Hammer by Bob Marley. Up to this point, the experience was already great, but then Jack Johnson and Zach Gill came up to play! They played several songs and had a great time. With G. Love on harmonica, Jack Johnson on guitar, Zach Gill on melodica and accordion, and all on vocals, you can't really go wrong.
It helped that the weather was perfect, but Animal Liberation Orchestra and G. Love were great opening acts. In 2008, Mason Jennings opened up, but this time it was G. Love's turn. G. Love was really a one man band up there. With his so-called 'foot-stompin' street side blues' he pounded a trigger for a kick drum, plucked on his guitar, basically made love to his harmonica, and let his ridiculous rhymes flow while seeming natural as can be. I'm glad he mixed some of his crazy rapping with some nice bluesy stuff to not only appeal to more types of music fans, but also showcase his talent.
Jack Johnson's set was full of his classic material as well as the best songs from his new record. It was pretty similar to his 2008 show at DTE, which consisted of a nice long set with the whole band playing a good mix of JJ's tunes, then an encore which began with Jack on his own playing a few slower, softer songs, with then a few more with the whole group including his band and some of the opening acts. Paula Fuga lent her vocals, G. Love lent his harmonica, and Dan Lebowitz from ALO lent his slide guitar for some great jams at the end. Staple It Together was the performance of the night. The whole group performed, and it even featured a crazy rap from bass player Merlo Podlewski. Overall the experience was great, and oh yeah, the huge widescreen video board JJ had behind the band was pretty cool too.