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Musician Jack Johnson poses in Jackson Square, New Orleans with St. Louis Cathedral in the background earlier this year.
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Salt Lake City’s westbound roads were packed, as traffic crawled westward toward Usana Amphitheater in West Valley City last Tuesday, Aug. 23 to see Jack Johnson in concert at the popular Utah venue.
While the amphitheater’s Web site boasts a capacity of 15,000 people, one staff member reported about 17,000 were in attendance.
Parking was at a premium with police directing traffic onto the streets because lots were filled to capacity. Some resorted to parking in the surrounding neighborhoods as well.
Although a steady stream of traffic clogged streets until almost 9 p.m., much of the crowd showed up for the opening acts of Matt Costa and the Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO). One of the ALO’s band members also accompanied most of the songs sung on the piano and on the accordion for the song “Belle”.
Fans rose to their feet cheering when Johnson appeared on stage. Participants sang along with Johnson when he began his hit single “Taylor”. “I forgot Salt Lake City’s got a lot of good singers,” Johnson said, after the opening line of the song.
The performers weren’t the only exciting things. Usual crowd antics ranged from general loitering in the aisles to trying to go to restricted areas in the amphitheater.
One man climbed onto the concrete walls in a mountain motif on either side of the stage. When asked to come down, he climbed further up the wall, as the crowd cheered him on. Finally security arrived with a ladder and he decided to come down.
Although packed past capacity the concert was calmer than most hosted there this summer.
“This is really calm, laid back compared to Motley Crue, 311 and 50 Cent,” said Greg Petty, an usher and security guard at the main gates.
Throughout the concert Jack shared a little about his songs and his personality between songs. After “Mud Football”, his song about remembering growing up on Hawaii’s North Shore, he shared what the sugar mill mentioned in the song was. The sugar mill was a place you went either to fight somebody or to kiss somebody. It was a good place, he explained, or “It could really suck,” Johnson said.
Johnson mixed his first two albums with his new album In Between Dreams. He also sang the first song from his latest album and then the next few from his first two albums Brushfire Fairytales and On and On.
Throughout the concert singing along could be heard from fans in the audience, showing there weren’t any unpopular tunes. His breakout songs “Flake” and “Rodeo Clowns” that helped make him make a name for himself were included in his set.
A brief summary of Johnson’s career is a little different than many musicians because it started out surfing professionally. When he was injured in a competition he decided to go on with his life as normal.
After he graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara, he pursued a career as a documentary surf filmmaker. This led him to supplement his movies by making his own music. Eventually this landed him where he is now. He now carries on his career happily married with one son and his wife acting as his boss and tour manager.
His music could be evidenced in the gray hairs accompanying their children to the gates of the venue.
