Jack Johnson
The Point Depot, Dublin, 22 February 2006
Review Snapshot:
Jules Jackson pulls on his hoodie and joins the rest of the Irish surfing
community for the debut Irish gig by Jack 'The Sound of a Thousand Surf Shops'
Johnson.
The CLUAS Verdict? 8 out of 10
Full review:
Jack Johnson, the Hawaiian born surfer, filmmaker and singer/songwriter
is that rare thing in popular music today, an artist who emerged gradually from
a cult scene, as opposed to one who was manufactured overnight by a svengali,
hyped up by the NME or launched over the Internet.
Johnson was first championed by Ben Harper after one of his music tapes,
distributed through a variety of surf shops, found its way into Harper's
possession. The upshot was Johnson's debut album 'Brushfire Fairytales' in 2001
which became a surprise hit, making it to number 34 in the Billboard charts in
2002. Johnson has since gone on to become the pre-eminent modern practitioner of
surf pop in the tradition of such artists as The Beach Boys and Dick Dale. His
entry in Matt Warshaw's 'The Encyclopaedia of Surfing' states simply that, "he
has perfected the art of contemporary beach music". More recently Johnson has
made the transition from cult artist to mainstream pop star, thanks partly to
the Ben Stiller video for 'Taylor' which was play-listed on VH1, a guest
appearance at the 2006 Brits and the ASDA television advertisement for his album
'In Between Dreams'. Go figure.
As a result Johnson's debut Irish gig at Vicar Street was hastily rescheduled
for the Point
Theatre, a move which led more than one surfer I talked to on the night
grumbling about how they would have preferred to see him in a more intimate
venue. The move was made to accommodate Johnson's rapidly expanding fan base
which consists in Ireland of the prerequisite gang of scraggly surfers like me,
as well as legions of South Dublin 'Ohmigod' fake tan OC wannabes.
The surfers
saw this as a chance to kickback and chill out in the presence of someone they
admire as much for his skill on a shortboard as for his music, the babes because
they think Johnson is 'hot' (a phrase much used by the two chicks sitting
beside us at the gig, and whom we had to politely tell to zip it after they
talked incessantly, like totally, for the first three songs of his set. Ohmigod!)
In my opinion, it is impossible to fully appreciate or understand Johnson's
music, no matter how much you like it, if you have never gone surfing. By that,
I don't mean that you have to be Sofia Mulanovich or Kelly Slater, but you must
have tried it at least once, if only in breaking shore surf with a foamie, to
get where he is coming from. Johnson's music effectively captures the 'stoke',
the feeling that you have sitting out the back waiting for the right wave or
after a 'sick session' (good day's surfing). That feeling is hard to describe in
words and Johnson doesn't try to, preferring to sketch it in musical terms with
his slow, mellow rhythms and gentle melodies.
Mellow was certainly the key phrase for a gig which began when Johnson strolled
on stage with his band without being announced and proceeded to run through a
set of songs to which the audience knew most of the words. 'Symbol in My
Driveway', 'Taylor', 'Banana Pancakes', 'Times Like These' and 'Sitting,
Waiting, Wishing' all got an airing, as did some great new songs such as, 'Girl,
I Wanna Lay You down' from the 'Breakdown' EP and ' We're Going To Be Friends'
from the 'Curious George' soundtrack. Each successive tune was greeted with
rapturous applause and the sort of female screaming you normally associate with
a Westlife concert, not that I would know.
Johnson doesn't really change pace live, all his tunes fall into the same
groovy, laid back tempo and I spent the gig with my head bowed and my eyes
closed, tapping my foot along to the music. He has also successfully blended
diverse influences such as Cat Stevens, Bob Marley, Hawaiian Ukulele music and
what I discern as a fondness of Marvin Gaye's vocal phrasing into his overall
sound.
After the main set had finished, Johnson walked back onstage solo with an
acoustic guitar and treated us to an encore set that included a sublime version
of his new single 'Better Together'. After that, Johnson strolled off stage
again and the lights went up on a very stoked audience. As I said before, it's
the first time Johnson has played Ireland, although he has visited before to go
surfing with Ritchie Fitzgerald in Bundoran, but it won't be the last. Maybe
next time, he'll treat us to that intimate Vicar Street gig. In the meantime,
aloha Jack, aloha
Jules
Jackson
