Freebie Concert

Jack Johnson is a pretty famous artist and songwriter, so if you have never heard of him I’d be quite surprised. Jack is known for performing his soft rock and acoustic songs. Any fan can tell you that he is from Hawaii and is big into surfing. As for me, I have always been a huge fan of his music. Not only are the melodies catchy, but the lyrical aspect is as well. His music is slow which is perfect for whenever I’m in a mellow, studying mood. So when I found out that he was coming to Penn State, I became very excited. As if his presence would not be enough, I learned that admission was free! I hoped that I would score a good seat, but a part of me knew that about 1,000 other people were hoping for the exact same thing.

                Of course there was a line stretching for what seemed like miles. I knew that I was not going to get the opportunity to be up close, but I quickly accepted that once I began to realize I would be lucky if I even got a ticket. As soon as my roommate and I caught hold that there was no longer a line, we rushed to the Eisenhower building to retrieve our $0.00 ticket for the evening. 

 

  As the night quickly approached, I waited in line with some friends and unfortunately found myself in what would be considered as the nose-bleed section. I was not about to complain because for starters, this concert was free and the Eisenhower auditorium was relatively small. My distance was considered decent if I were to be at Madison Square Garden. Like all concerts, there was an opening performance. G-Love did the honors of opening up for Jack Johnson. The opening performance was rather slow and almost painful to watch because of how antsy I was to see Jack Johnson’s performance. When he finally came on, I don’t think my smile ever left my face. He was just as good live as he was on the radio. He strategically played all of his most well-known songs consisting of “Better Together”, “Banana Pancakes”, “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing”, “Taylor”, and so on. There’s always some comfort in being able to sing along to every song at a concert.

Jack Johnson is so musically talented that he was able to switch among three different guitars. Acoustic, he noted, was his favorite to perform. Along with his music, Jack took the time to explain the premise of what each song was based on. He went into personal anecdotes that helped inform all of us what the message of the song was. Jack Johnson made his performance at Penn State feel more personal rather than just some obligation of his. I thoroughly enjoyed my time, and I don’t think the smile on my face ever disappeared.