[ATTENDED: January 25, 2020] Will Johnson
I didn’t know who Will Johnson was before this show although I see that he played drums and toured with Monsters of Folk–we have the CD but never saw them.
Wikipedia tells me that Will Johnson is “called ‘one of the most prolific artists in American indie rock.'” He is the singer of the bands Centro-matic and South San Gabriel as well as Molina & Johnson and Marie/Lepanto. I have heard of none of these bands.
Johnson came out on stage with an acoustic guitar, told a story or so and then started playing.
He made a pretty funny joke about a guy from Texas driving in the North East winter.
He also talked about liking Husker Du and Bob Mould since he was little and what an honor it is to be touring with him.
I found his playing and singing style to be pleasant, if a little samey. The venue was also pretty warm so I’m sure I drifted off once or twice during the set. he named a few songs but I wasn’t keeping track.
I love when an opening band blows me away and I can’t wait to hear more. Honestly, Johnson is so prolific (he’s got at least 25 albums out) that I’m just as happy not to have been blown away by him.
He seems to have played the same set at most of the recent shows, so I’m assuming this was the set at our night as well.
SETLIST
- Shadow Matter ϖ
- Predator [new]
- Call, Call, Call §
- I, The Kite ‰
- Flashes and Cables ©
- Almost Let You In ⊗
- Necessitarianism (Fred Merkle’s Blues) ϖ
- A Carousel Victor ϖ
- Inverness £
- Vultures Await ∇
ϖ = Wire Mountain (2019)
£ = MARIE/LEPANTO: Tenkiller (2018)
§ = Swan City Vampires (2015)
‰ = CENTRO-MATIC & SOUTH SAN GABRIEL: Dual Hawks (2008)
⊗ = MOLINA & JOHNSON (2009)
∇ = Vultures Await (2004)
© = CENTRO-MATIC: Love You Just the Same (2003)
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