Jack Johnson brings the beach to Berkeley

Fans of all ages and cultural backgrounds filled the Greek Theatre just above the UC Berkeley campus on Tuesday August 26^th. Bahamas, aka Afie Jurvanen, got the positive vibes flowing with songs from his recent album, Bahama is Afie (2014), but it was clear just after he finished his set that the sold-out theatre was here to see Jack Johnson; the crowd starting yelling, “we want Jack” as soon as Bahamas had left, over and over until the stage lights dimmed tellingly.

Former professional surfer Jack Johnson appeared on the music scene several years back and became a cultural icon. His humble personality and easygoing style are reflected in both his lyrics and his acoustic rhythms.  The crowd sang and swayed along with Johnson as he played a variety of songs from his first album, Brushfire Fairytales (2001), to his latest release, From Here To Now To You (2013). Johnson proved to be everything the crowd expected and more: he interacted with the crowd as if talking with old friends, and as the night passed by, the songs just got better.