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| Jack Johnson /Donavon Frankenreiter, Katalyst Thebarton Theatre Thursday 20 Nov
Earlier in the evening Katalyst kicked things off and, as usual and to my disappointment, the majority of people were oblivious to his DJing as if it were merely filler music. There were few doubts about who was playing next though as Jack Johnson's hairy alter ego, Donavon Frankenreiter strode on stage looking like he had just come off the set of 'Almost Famous'. I was pleasantly surprised at the response to his set with a fair number of people singing along. A highlight of his set was the down tempo version of Call Me Papa dedicated to his little boy who he had collaged all over the back of his guitar. Most of his songs were about being away from his family while on the Pro Tour and playing music. Merlo Podlewski, Johnson's bassist, joined Frankenreiter's set as did Johnson himself (and the crowd goes wild) along with Katalyst who also dropped some beats on the last song Headin' Home. As Frankenreiter said his good byes, Johnson shyly mouthed "I'll be back," just in case we needed confirmation. With palm trees silhouetted on the back drop and lighting covering every hue of an Hawaiian sunset, the floor boards of Thebby gave way to sand as the air conditioner blew a cool ocean breeze over the sweating crowd. Unfortunately the beach setting came complete with an entourage of "Roxy chicks" that insisted on screaming throughout the duration of Johnson's set. Opening with It's All Understood, Johnson delivered a lullaby set that had the audience believing every word. Fortunate Fool, along with every other song from Johnson's better (in my opinion) album 'Brushfire Fairytales', had the sell out crowd singing louder than the humble Hawaiian to which he replied, "Man, you girls have pretty voices." The screaming 15 year old next to me certainly didn't. The up beat Rodeo Clowns brought bongos and whistling into the musical equation and Johnson's 'mini guitar' had the hula skirts swaying and "Aloha-ay!" humming in the back of my mind. Johnson craftily blended Bob Marley into a few of his songs and ad libbed during his encore version of The News singing "We'll love with no imagination" - that strong jaw certainly has the gift of the gab. The encore also included his cover of The White Stripes We Are Gonna Be Friends and a personalised "In Adelaide town the sun is going down," to which the back drop turned a suitable dark blue. Finishing with Times Like These, Johnson proved that a man in thongs with an acoustic guitar is as powerful as a 10ft wave. The whole night was just so mmm mmm.
Cassie Hilditch | |||
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