Jack Johnson

The last concert at Summerstage was last night. We saw Jack Johnson with the warm up band of G. Love and the Special Sauce.

We have been incredibly lucky this year. All the concerts we attended did not get rained on. The weather was magnificent each night.

G. Love and the Special Sauce are a mix of rap, reggae, r & b and cajun. Very talented group. Jack Johnson is a super dude from Hawaii who was making cd’s of his own and someone decided that he should be under contract somewhere. Personally, I loved his first album, Brushfire Fairytales. Perfect summer music.

Last night we sat in the bleachers, as always. Our kids came too. We talked about the music we saw there this summer. I happened to agree with them. They said Jack Johnson would have been more fun to listen to if we had sat on the lawn, brought a picnic and listened to instead of watching him live. It wasn’t necessary to watch him live. Too mellow. The Strokes, on the other hand, were awesome live. They just rocked.

After being at many outdoor concerts over the years, the kids have it right. Seeing a real diverse band that sounds different on stage than in studio is absolutely worth seeing live. For instance, I saw the band Modest Mouse this summer. I had not really gotten into the music but after I saw them live, I could hardly wait to hear them again and again. Jack Johnson, as much as I enjoyed his music for months on end, it didn’t have a different appreciation for him after I left the concert.

So, next year we might have to figure out who deserves the green grass picnic and who deserves standing in the bleachers and rocking out.