The torrential rains on Friday night did not keep Jack Johnson fans from the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. In fact, thousands of fans packed the lawn section to slide around in a giant mudbath to the music of Donavan Frankenreiter, G. Love and Special Sauce,and Jack Johnson.
Donavan Frankenreiter opened the show with a 45-minute set. Frankenreiter's sound is very similar to Johnson's - both have surfer backgrounds and that is definitely reflected in their work. However, Frankenreiter did a little more jamming with his band than the other two. His drummer especially did a fantastic job with his solo.
G. Love and Special Sauce performed next. Of the three performers, G. Love definitely had the best stage presence. While playing the harmonica and guitar simultaneously and wildly knocking his knees onstage, G. Love knew how to work the crowd. The lawn crowd particularly appreciated his numerous acknowledgements of their cold, wet, muddy state.
Jack Johnson opened his set with "Posters," a song from his debut album "Brushfire Fairytales." While the audience sang along with many of the songs off of his second album, "On and On," they responded much more enthusiastically to his earlier songs. Everyone knew the words to "Bubble Toes" and "Flake," obvious old favorites. G. Love and Frankenreiter joined Johnson for an enthusiastic performance of "Mudfootball," his last song without his backup band. Johnson ended the concert with "The News" and "Times Like These," thought-provoking songs that were probably not coincidentally chosen to finish the show.
Besides the babbling brooks of mud that forced concert-goers to swim, slide and shiver back to their cars, the show was amazing. Not only were all three bands good, but they also collaborated well together. Their ability to work well collectively shows their real talents as musicians.
