Last night I saw one of my favorite bands, the John Butler Trio, for the sixth time. They are an Australian band that is wildly popular in the Land Down Under and they have slowly gained headway here in the US. The first time I saw them was at the Trilogy Wine Bar in Boulder, CO with approximately 100 other people that were mostly Aussie’s living the ski bum lifestyle in Summit County. They have grown exponentially since then including headlining shows at Red Rocks and recently opening for the Dave Matthews Band in New York at Madison Square Garden.
The highlights of the show included:
* The Fitzgerald Theater— May be the coolest indoor venue I have ever been to, even John Butler mentioned what a classic place it was. 2nd row tickets didn’t hurt either!
* The extended intro into Treat Yo Mama that featured the new bass player simultaneously playing stand-up bass and didgeridoo. Impressive doesn’t seem an adequate description.
* “Ocean”- Always a top highlight of the show. For a sample of John Butler’s awesomeness, watch the video below. You won’t be disappointed.
* “Losing You”- Butler had everyone sit during the solo performance of “Losing You” and the place got so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Awesome.
* The intensity of a JBT live show. I am not a huge fan of the direction some of their new music is going, a little too poppy, but those songs are transformed in a live setting with extended instrumentals and the electricity that JBT brings to every show.
* Butler’s rant about how cold it was.
* Matt McHugh of The Beautiful Girls was the opening act and he did an acoustic cover of Pearl Jam’s “Black” dedicated to professional surfer Andy Irons who recently passed away unexpectedly. I could have left happy after that. It may be the top highlight of the night.
* Bells Two Hearted Ale on tap!
Lowlights:
* “That guy” was seated right behind me. For some reason known only to him he thought he needed to attempt to clap to the beat of every song and scream out either “Yeah John!” or “I love you John!” during every song. It took every ounce of my being not to rip his arms off. Beat clapping and “I love insert singer name here” yells are my top two pet peeves of concert goers.
* Nit picking lowlight: Every few years, Butler shakes up the lineup of the Trio. This was the first show I have seen with the new drummer Nicky Bomba and bass player Byron Luiters. While they were extremely good I did miss “ape-man” drummer, as Kati referred to him, Michael Barker and bassist Shannon Birchall. After all, 4 of the 6 shows I have seen were the John, Michael, Shannon line-up.
* More nit picking: After 6 shows I am still waiting to see two of my favorite songs, “Life” and “Earthbound Child” played live. Not really a lowlight, but every time I go I hope to get those two and so far no luck.
And because I am a huge dork and like to keep a record of these kinds of things, here is last nights set list:
Pickapart
Used to Get High
I’d Do Anything
Don’t Want to See Your Face
Revolution
Banjo Instrumental
Better Than
Treat Yo Mama w/ extended intro
Ocean (solo)
Losing You (solo)
A Star Is Born
Ragged Mile
Good Excuse
Zebra
C’mon Now
Encore:
One Way Road
Funky Tonight
Now, watch the video!
Yay! Love JBT!
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