Jack Johnson Brings Chill Vibes to iThink Financial Amphitheater in West Palm Beach
By Erin Lee
The first show of the SURFILMUSIC tour kicked off last night in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Jack Johnson’s surf and music documentary received theatrical release after decades in the making.
He shared on stage that young surfers are known for playing live music with films projected behind them, and the communities go hand in hand.
Mid-set he did just that: playing five songs scoring “The September Sessions” featuring Johnson and pro surfer Kelly Slater.
Speaking of community, the entire evening felt like hanging out in Johnson’s backyard. He said “Hey, if you have any requests shout ‘em out. We’ll try to get to as many of them as possible.”
Like someone would do if they were chillin at a house party, not a Grammy nominated artist with decades of experience and a Curious George film score under his belt. Which just goes to show what a humble and likable guy he is.
It’s clear that cultivating community is important to Jack Johnson:
His keys player Zach Gill has been with him since they met in college. They were even born on the same day in 1975.
It also shows in his conservation and sustainability efforts both on tour and in his home of Hawaii.
The 30-song set lasted about two hours, spanning his discography from 2001’s debut album Brushfire Fairytales to six other albums including the popular song “Upside Down” from the Curious George soundtrack.
It was fun seeing a bunch of Gen Z kids walking around the venue in their Curious George t-shirts. My own teenager loved the series as a little guy, and-to his delight- I texted him a video recording during the song, backlit in yellow like the book cover art.
Continuing the thread of relatable storytelling, Johnson regaled us with a tale of writing a paper in college and asking his professor for an extension because he was preoccupied writing a song that would eventually become “Inaudible Melodies.” He went on to share the original lyric was “Slow down Bruce, you’re moving too fast/frames can’t catch you when you’re moving like that.” because he was watching a Bruce Lee movie at the time.
Johnson even included a few well placed covers; inviting opener Lake Street Dive onstage to perform Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How it Feels” and later in the set Sublime’s “Bad Fish” and Jimmy Buffett’s “A Pirate Looks at Forty.”
A warm and breezy August night at iThink Financial Amphitheater was the perfect setting for the evening.
My first time seeing Jack Johnson was a night to remember!
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