Jack Johnson recently came to Merriweather Post Pavilion for date on his Surfilmusic Tour. He brought his friends, Hermanos Gutiérrez, with him to open the show. And he made sure everyone in the crowd felt like a friend by the time the show was over.
On June 26, the evening started out with Hermanos GutiÈrrez displaying their guitar virtuosity — with Estevan adding percussive touches on both his guitar body and a set of bongos. And Alejandro spicing things up with a lap steel. They say that their instrumental music takes listeners on journeys through beautiful landscapes, and that seems like an apt description. These journeys included a trip across the cosmos on their Dan Auerbach-produced album, Sonido Cosmico. They also played their first single off their new album, Los Ojos Del Cóndor, “Canto Andino” , which they said was only their third time playing it live.
Jack Johnson’s set included old favorites like “Bubble Toes,” “Inaudible Melodies,” “F-Stop Blues,” “Banana Pancakes,” and “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing,” for the older adults in the crowd (myself included). It also featured “Upside Down” from the Curious George movie, which had helped introduce his music to the surprising (to me) number of younger adults and children in the crowd.
Watch the official music video for “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” by Jack Johnson on YouTube:
Jack’s band included Adam Topol on drums, Merlo Podlewski on bass, and the ebullient Zach Gill on keys, melodica, accordion, and random energetic dance steps. Each musician also took a vocal turn. They brought out local trombonist Mark “Notesmith” Williams to help on a few songs. And they broke up the main set by bringing Hermanos Gutiérrez back to the stage for their co-written song, “Hold On To The Light,” and to play a live score accompanying the surfing movie, The September Sessions, displayed onscreen behind them.
“Banana Pancakes” was one of several songs that brought the crowd to their feet, and it included an accordion solo by Zach Gill (along with the best air-accordion solo I’ve ever seen, by the show’s ASL interpreter).
The show also featured a solo acoustic section towards the end, and Jack took quite a few crowd requests, several of which challenged his memory. Several moments added to the hominess of the show, including Jack’s duet with his guitar tech, Boogie, on 2024’s “Home” for Boogie’s father, who was in the audience. Boogie was also credited for his foresight in always providing Jack with fingernail clippers, just in case, because this show was the one where he finally cracked a nail on a guitar string and needed the clippers.
Jack and the band responded to one crowd sign by playing “Happy Birthday” for Finley. He also played “Belle” for a young lady in the crowd who was named after the song. Another sign, which the crowd passed up to the stage for Jack to read said, “I found this in my Dad’s CD player in his car after he passed away. Would you please sign it?” Jack asked the girl to come up to sit on the side of the stage until he could get a sharpie to sign her CD. After he guided her up to the stage, he turned back toward the crowd and realized that people in the crowd had been throwing sharpies up on stage for him. After several songs, he brought her out from the side of the stage, signed her CD, hugged her, and asked if she had a song she’d like him to play. She requested “My Little Girl,” which made more than a few eyes water when he played it for her.
Stream “My Little Girl” by Jack Johnson on YouTube:
Jack called the band out to help him finish that song, and all the other musicians came out to close the show with “Better Together.”
Here are some photos of Jack Johnson performing live at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 26, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
Here are some photos of Hermanos Gutiérrez performing live at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 26, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
