Being Katie: Jack Johnson at the Tampa Amphitheater

I am live music lover. Unless it involves screaming or rap if it’s live I’m game. So when this conversation happened:

Bff/Rooms: PIC!!!! (as she burst into my room)

Me: mmmrrrph, what? (I was almost asleep)

B: Jack Johnson is coming to Florida, we should go.

Me: Yeah, okay. When is it?

B: August 25…

Me: It’s March…

B: Yeah….do you want to go?

Me: Why not?

B: Okay, I’ll get tickets for you, me, and C-Dawg.

I was happily on my way to a mellow evening of surfer dude hippy music.

The concert was at the 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheater (Disclaimer: This is the first, last, and only time I will mention refer to this venue as the Ask Gary Amphitheater. I will refer to it from here on out as the Amphitheater of the Tampa Amphitheater). BFF/Rooms/PIC Mandy and I picked up C-Dawg (her boyfriend) at his house and we were off for a fun and rainy evening. The first opening act ALO went on at 7PM, we were just getting to the parking lot as they started their set. We had great parking (read: STELLAR) usually I wouldn’t mention this, but the Amphitheater is at the State Fairgrounds which are dirt/clay/not paved and it has been raining in Tampa since Sunday (At a previous concert it was so muddy I almost lost my shoes, not flip-flops an actual enclosed shoes). So we parked and made our way up to the venue.

After last summer’s Kenny Chesney debacle we opted for seats instead of the lawn. G Love took the stage about twenty minutes after we got to our seats. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from a guy called G Love. What we got was bluesy/folk/hip-hop that had people dancing in their seats and jamming right along. The highlight for me was the ingeniously titled “Cold Beverage” which proclaims a love for all things cool and frosty. G Love also produced one of the evening top 3 moments (even if only BFFMandy, C-Dawg, and I got it.) Prior to singing “Booty Call”, about his parents meeting in New Jersey, the native Floridians were asked to identify themselves and then the folks from New York/New Jersey/Philly were given a shout out. The applause from the Northerners by far out shined the native Floridians. BFFMandy joined in with the New Yorkers which prompted a conversation that went like this:

Me: You are not from New York

BFF: Connecticut might as well be New York.

C-Dawg: But it isn’t and he didn’t say CT.

Me: When he does you can say “Me” (This was accompanied by arm waving)

BFF: You look ridiculous

Me: You can say “Me, MandyE, eating a lobstah.” (All of this accompanied my ridiculous gestures)

BFF: (Mocking me) “Me, MandyE, eating a lobstah.”

"Me. BFFMandy, Eating a Lobstah!"

Clearly we don’t need much encouragement to be ridiculous. G Love finished his set with one more song; which according to C-Dawg Jack Johnson usually accompanies him on. Around the time G Love finished it started to rain and despite our seats under the awning we were still getting wet. We made a brief attempt to move further inward, but ended up back in our own seats when the actual ticket holders showed up.

Finally, finally, finally Jack Johnson took the stage. He opened with probably my second favorite song, Banana Pancakes. Overall I really enjoyed the show. He played all the really popular stuff and even the stuff I wasn’t familiar with I really enjoyed. There were the crowd pleasers like Sitting, Waiting, Wishing and Better Together (the last song of the show.) The highlights for me were Upside Down, an awesome cover of Tom Petty’s Free Fallin, To the Sea and Bubble Toes. By far my favorite moment was Jack’s cover of Jimmy Buffett’s Pirate Looks at 40. It’s one of my all time favorite Buffett songs and the version from the concert was wistful, dreamy, and absolutely perfect.

More Pictures!!