I went and saw Jack Johnson two years ago at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. The show was sold out and it was packed. This is a small venue and it was before he gained the popularity he has now. It felt intimate. It was great.
Last night I saw him at Walnut Creek in Raleigh. Neil Halstead and Rogue Waves (two different bands) were the openers and they were both great. Neil Halstead was kind of folky and Rogue Waves was rock. I'm definitely going to buy a Rogue Waves album, they were really my cup of tea.
Jack Johnson and his band were fantastic and as down to earth as you can possibly be in a large venue that is so commercial. They played all but one of the songs I wanted to hear. I really love his lyrics. He is a true romantic. Missing from the equation was my husband, who returns tomorrow thank goodness, but I did get to take my sister and a gal pal. The weather was fantastic. The crowd was pretty subdued.
The photos I took are pretty crappy because I took a little POS digital (they don't allow any cameras with removable lenses) and the damn thing just didn't like the combination of low light and distance shots. I'm still going to share a few though because I loved all the images projected onto the screens on the stage.
[Begin rant] I think I've probably been to Walnut Creek about a dozen times over the years and the sound is almost always underwhelming. The parking and getting in and out of that place are a joke. They need to tear it down and put something that isn't halfway to Benson and has more then a two lane road to access it. I do love being outdoors for concerts but Walnut Creek just sucks.[end rant]
8 comments:
I'm a JJ fan... have been for a while now. Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to see him in concert as of yet.
Lucky you!
The wife and I are off to see NIN in a week and a half... really looking forward to that.
So when you say the sound was bad, do you mean so bad that you couldn't hear the music and know what the songs were? I hope that's not the case.
Glad the weather was excellent for you.
Awesome - He rocks! My hubby and I both spent a lot of time listening to him while he was overseas so JJ is kind of "our" thing. We were so bummed he couldn't go last night, but I know we'll get another chance some day. You know of all the concerts I've been to, I never have seen NIN. I hear it's a good show! Live music is just one of the many things I love about summer!
By the sound being bad, I just mean that it's not as well balanced as it could be. The bass echoes oddly in the pavilion. Everything was perfectly distinguishable, but he has so much nice acoustic and it was hard to hear at some parts because of the bass. The piano sounded fantastic though!
He's the "Curious George" artist, right? My sister-in-law adores him and I enjoy his music right much myself!
We love that Curious George album. A top three favorite here (the other two spots are occupied by Justin Roberts).
The only artist/band I've seen fill up Walnut Creek from the "back rows" was Prince. For such a small person, he projects his Prince-ness for miles. Other than that, if you're not right up front, it's usually disappointing. I'm with you on the rant.
Yes! Justin Roberts is fabulous!!! My niece Abby is a HUGE fan.
Yes he did the soundtrack for Curious George, but he recorded 3 or 4 albums before that. I've yet to see the movie and that's the only album of his I don't have, but he did play "Upside down" and I know that's off there.
Valerie- That's cool about Prince. I actually saw Tom Petty there about a month ago and their sound was probably one of the best I've encountered at Walnut Creek, and that one I saw from the lawn!
I do like JJ but love John Mayer. Hubby is a big fan of JJ wish we knew about that concert. I hate the fact we can not take good cameras to the show with us. V.
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