Jack Johnson at Alpine Valley on 06/21/2008 was a fantastic show. The place was pretty full. I was expecting there to be maybe 15,000 - 20,000 for the show, but there was way more than that attending this one. When we arrived just before 7pm there was hardly a place to sit on the grass and people had to just start packing it in.
I took a little tour of the All At Once Community area to see a little more on how Jack was using the tour to help promote the awareness of things to do to be better to the environment and a little more Green, if you know what I mean. There were some interesting topics including one group who had all the information on which candidates voted which way on all the different environmental bills. They didn't try to sway your vote, just inform you of the issues and how people voted. They were trying to register voters as well which is always good when you have a big mixed crowd at a show.
Some of the other groups talked about growing food and reusing materials as compost. How to compost in general and how to basically be able to sustain without relying on outside resources. That was interesting to hear. Surfrider was there to talk about ocean polution, especially plastic shopping bags and plastic bottles. From all my years of surfing the beaches in San Diego and fishing off the coast in boats, I can tell you there is a lot of junk and runoff waste that goes into the ocean. I'm surprised that we haven't killed everything off. There were more things to see as well. Check out surfrider and become a member even if you don't live near the coast
http://www.surfrider.org/The one thing that dissappointed me about the venue, was that Live Nation was using #6 plastic cups that were clear and could have easily used #1 plastic cuos to recycle. Outside of the All At Once Community there really wasn't much awareness for the environment. People were throwing #6 Plasitic cups in the recycle bins which can't even be recycled. People outside were also throwing their cans and bottles in the trash bins, not the recycle bins. That kind of stuff annoyed me.
We did carpool ourselves, 6 all came out and I felt good that we did our part, but we still parked in the regular spot because the area they had for carpoolers of 4 or more in a car was filled up.
Mason Jennings came out about 7:30 - 7:45pm not really sure. He put on a good performance, but didn't find him to be an outstanding singer. I thought he was just an average folk type guy. That's my "Idol" judging.
I was thinking Money Mark was supposed to come out and play, but around 9pm or so, Jack came out and started playing. So not sure if Money Mark played earlier or outside, but all I saw him do was a song with Jack during the show. - Update 07/01/2008 - Money Mark did come out and jam prior to my arrival at the show. With Traffic and walking, I guess I missed it.
Jack started off with Hope, Taylor, Flake and really sounded good. We were up in the grass and even there he sounds clear as can be. We certainly couldn't see him. but the screens were up and you could catch a bit from those. I would have thought Alpine would have had bigger screens, but they did the trick.
Jack seemed really in tune with the crowd, playing is usually mellow surfer way and really was awesome. Some of my favorites of the night were Upside Down into Bubble Toes. Also I was digging Banna Pancakes and Good People. He did Times Like These, but I need to figure out where in the set it went.
Overall it was a great time and Jack once again put on an amazing show and really was impressive. I would really love to see him and Ben Harper get back together for a couple of shows, switching off and jamming, playing some together. That would be sweet.
If you get a chance, Jack will be back out touring in August. For those in the UK he's heading over in July. Check out
http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/ for all the info on tours, news and the All At Once Community. Also check out his myspace page at
http://www.myspace.com/jackjohnsonmusic to catch a little audio if haven't heard his music before.
Setlist(to the best of my knowledge):
Jack Johnson Alpine Valley, East Trow, WI 6-21-08
9:05pm
Hope
Taylor
Flake
Monsoon >
Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
Sleep Through the Static
Go On
Upside Down
Bubble Toes > Mellow Mood-(Bob Marley)
Wasting Time
Staple it Together > Whole Lotta Love-(Led Zeppelin)
What You Thought You Need
No Other Way > I Would For You-(Jane’s Addiction)
Constellations
Breakdown
Banana Pancakes
Same Girl
Horizon Has Been Defeated > Mother and Child Reunion-(Paul Simon)
Inaudible Melodies
Good People
If I Had Eyes
ENCORE:
All At Once *
Times Like These *
Living in the Moment *(w/Mason Jennings)
Angel * >
Better Together *
* Jack Solo
The Swell Season stopped by for a NPR Tiny Desk concert this past week and gave a 34 minute treat that included a series of new songs we will be hearing from their new CD out later this year. They performed six new ones and had the audience participate as their background music filling in as they only had a guitar with them in the tiny room.
