Get Stoked for
Jack Johnson’s Doubleheader
Surfer-Songwriter Returns for
Two Nights at the Santa Barbara Bowl
By Matt Kettmann | September 29, 2022
Read all of the stories in our “Fall’s Cultural Harvest” cover here.
Even if he spends most of his time in Hawai‘i these days, Santa Barbara still considers Jack Johnson our own surfing-songwriting son. He studied film at UCSB, played Del Playa keggers in Isla Vista, and owns a home near the Montecito shoreline, where he lived when the town was more sleepy than chichi. If you’re a UCSB grad of a certain era, he may even be your friend, or a friend of a friend, or at least an up-close anecdote that you use to impress otherwise never-been-that-close fans of his mellow, campfire-perfect music.
Like so many friends, it’s been a while since we’ve all connected, thanks to COVID. But Jack’s back, preparing to play two nights at the Santa Barbara Bowl next week, October 4 and 5, his first time on our largest stage since 2018.
The doubleheader — featuring opening sets by his Hawaiian friends Ron Artis II and Thunderstorm Artis — comes on the heels of his latest album, Meet the Moonlight, which was produced by Blake Mills and came out in June. His ninth studio album but the first in five years, Moonlight doesn’t sound a whole lot different from his past works, at least to my ears. But the joy in Johnson is becoming familiar with the lyrics and melodies over time, as they slowly worm into your consciousness and pull at your conscience.
You must be logged in to post a comment.