On the last night of their tour together, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and Jack Johnson helped ring in the unofficial start of summer with a celebratory show along Lake Michigan at Chicago’s First Merit Pavilion.
Inexplicably absent from Edward Sharpe’s opening set was Jade Castrinos, the group's co-founder and female lead singer. The only acknowledgment of her not being present was an admittal by Ebert they wouldn’t be playing one of their most well-known songs, the duet “Home.”
Though they still featured standards “Up From Below,” “40 Day Dream,” and “Janglin’” off their 2009 debut album Up From Below, the nine-song set consisted mostly of longer takes on deep cuts and requests from the crowd like “When You’re Young” and “I Don’t Wanna Pray.” Lead singer Alex Ebert joked that as openers they faced no pressure, and could effectively play whatever they chose.
As the sun began to set, Jack took the stage with his newest song “Washing Dishes” and instantly dove sing-a-longs “Taylor” and “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" before inviting the openers back out for what would be an early high point. Edward Sharpe's crew joined in on The Beatles’ “Rocky Raccoon” and The Band’s “I Shall Be Released” before the collective had to run off to catch a bus to Houston.
Playing tracks from across six studio albums as well as Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” and Jim Croce’s “Bad Bad Leroy Brown,” amidst breezy island originals like “Tomorrow Morning," “Brushfire Fairytales,” and “Breakdown,” Jack closed the night with “Better Together” after an extensive 30-song set, having helmed another in a long stretch of flawless summer nights.
SIMILAR SONGS
