Even in the dead of winter, a Jack Johnson song can transport you to the most
tropical of paradises. There’s just something about this singer/songwriter’s
sweet melodies accompanied by breezy acoustic guitar that drops you right onto
a sandy beach.
This double DVD set takes us all the way to Japan on one disc and Northern California
on the other. The Hearst Greek Theatre on the campus of UC Berkeley is one of
Johnson’s favorite venues to perform in for its size and setting. The outdoor
arena is big enough to fit a large crowd, but intimate enough to be conducive
to the traditional sing-alongs that inevitably erupt at Johnson’s shows.
This intimacy translates well into the live footage shot at two shows at the Greek
during the In Between Dreams tour in August, 2005. You can hear the crowd singing-along
to songs like "Flake" and "Sitting Waiting Wishing" as Johnson
and his band member "friends" – bassist Merlo Podlewski, drummer
Adam Topol and on accordion and piano, Zach Gill of Animal Liberation Orchestra.
The DVD features appearances by G. Love, Money Mark and Mark Costa, as well, as
plenty of behind-the scenes conversations while the group plays ping pong or lounges
in the green room. Johnson tells the stories of how several songs came to be and
reminsces about why he began playing guitar in the first place – to lead
Cat Stevens and Beatles sing-alongs.
The second DVD takes us across the Pacific to the 2004 Japanese tour, opening
with Johnson’s backstage rendition of "Banana Pancakes." Footage
showing the beauty of places like Osaka and Fiji and scenes of the band surfing
the area’s amazing swells is set to songs like "Pirate Looks at 40."
The concert sections capture the Johnson/Podlewski/Topol trio doing performances
from Brushfire Fairytales and On and On. But, the real gems of this disc can be
found in the extras that provide a peek into the making of In Between Dreams at
Mango Tree Studio in Hawaii.
DVD Grade: A
DVD: Music Reviews [Jack Johnson: A Weekend at the Greek]
Jack Johnson: A Weekend at the Greek
By Yuri Shimoda
Article posted on 1/24/2006
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