Jose Gonzalez, the Swede with a Latin name and a classical guitar, played the historic Wiltern Theater last night as part of his current “Green Tour.” Apparently the oft-compared Nick Drake folkie has an environmentally conscious mind. As such, he teamed up with an outfit dubbed Reverb to help bring awareness to the Al Gore crusade against global warming. A portion of ticket sales benefited the cause as well. Widely known as “that guy with the song from the bouncy balls commercial” (Sony Bravia) Mr. Gonzalez has now put out two solid albums of Latin flavored folk tunes which have helped bring him to the forefront of the genre. It is true that ‘Heartbeats’ from the Sony commercial (a cover song penned by fellow Swedes The Knife) catapulted him into the hearts of Indie folk lovers the world over, but it’s his relaxed voice and unique playing that have allowed him to build on that initial buzz.
Though the show was all ages, it was nice to see a more mature audience rather than the teenage crowd that often shows up for these Indie affairs. Apparently Jose Gonzalez would have also made for an excellent Valentines Day show as adoring couples made up a large portion of the audience. The bottom floor was at capacity, while the Balcony had empty seats only in the rear section. The stage setup was minimal with a couple guitar stands, mics, two bongos, a box, a melodica, and a few chairs.
L.A. based musician Mia Doi Todd started the evening with her own brand of drone folk. About halfway through her set she mentioned an ongoing battle with her own voice as the result of a cold, though you wouldn’t have known it by her performance. Her vocals were crisp and powerful. There was definitely some audience chatter towards the back as she played her set, but nothing too objectionable.
It was a different story when Jose came on stage at around 9:30. The crowd noise came to a hush as he began his set. He’s blessed with the kind of voice that commands everyone’s utmost attention, very reminiscent in tone to James Taylor. His vocals were flawless throughout. The sound was excellent as the mics picked up every detail of his playing which was forceful and precise yet really came off as effortless. About halfway through his set he brought out some accompaniment, a percussionist, and a female vocalist to help him color the songs. The songs that really stood out were ones with a driving rhythm that allowed for the percussionist to move the song along with strong bass hits while his drop tuning made the songs sound even more powerful. Of course ‘Heartbeats’ was a crowd favorite, but ‘Remain’ off his first album was also a highlight. He played a good mix of songs from both of his LP’s including a song during the encore called ‘Killing For Love’ which he mentioned will be performed Wednesday night on Jay Leno.
I was surprised with how well his songs translated to a live setting, as his albums tend to bleed together from track to track. If played as background music many of his songs are somewhat indistinguishable, yet in a live setting each one stood uniquely on its own. This came largely as a result of his powerfully clean vocals that the studio albums only hint at. He remained seated during the entire set and offered little conjecture between songs, though when he did speak it was usually a funny little quip. He introduced one song by saying, “this song is about tribalism and nationalism” before throwing in at the last minute, “It’s not a love song.” After the crowd provided their own percussion via the handclap on one song, he interjected on the next, “Don’t try to clap to this one.” Catch him tonight on Leno and see what you missed.
Photos by Lincoln DeFer
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