Photo Credit: Chantal Anderson<\/p>\n
Review by Samantha Gamero<\/p>\n
On Nov. 2, Grammy nominated Eric Johnson, frontman of indie folk band Fruit Bats, played his last sold-out show of his stripped-down, one-man tour. This never-before-done solo tour accompanied the release of Fruit Bats\u2019 newest record, \u201cBaby Man.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0In an interview with Rolling Stone, Johnson described \u201cBaby Man\u201d as a move towards minimalism highlighting the simplicity of folk. This record was made \u201caccidently\u201d over the course of one week, Johnson explained. The simplicity was highlighted in this acoustic show that pleasantly isolated Johnson\u2019s soulful vocals and storytelling lyrics.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One mic, a guitar, a banjo, and a piano lay on stage, waiting to be played. With no opener, Johnson took the stage promptly at 8 p.m. and immediately lit the warm ambiance of the Sinclair with powerful vocals and the raw strumming of his acoustic guitar. As he sang the first song, \u201cMoon\u2019s Too Bright\u201d a humming noise rang in the distance, which, after the song finished, Johnson broke character and pointed it out to the crowd. Throughout the show, Johnson engaged in a similarly intimate dynamic with the crowd, from forgetting lyrics, to asking for song recommendations, and struggling to find the right tune. It felt like an intimate gathering between loyal fans and Johnson, all of us immersed in the melodies of Fruit Bats\u2019 extensive discography.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On the released records, Fruit Bats perfectly fuses Johnson\u2019s raspy folk vocals with upbeat and loud instrumentals, varying from electric guitars, banjos, and the cymbals. This acoustic, slower live version, however, at times felt like a blurred mosaic of songs into one big folk story. But the variations in his voice that characterize the style of many folk artists gave the performance life. A notable, and perhaps off putting, song he played was \u201cCreature from the Wild\u201d off of \u201cBaby Man.\u201d A song about the passing of his dog \u201cPinto.\u201d As commentary beforehand, Johnson explained that \u201cPinto,\u201d in reference to Pinto beans, was a \u201ccreature from the wild,\u201d off the streets of Mexico. Why he was calling the streets of Mexico \u201cthe wild\u201d or his dog a halfway derogatory term, I am not completely sure. The group in front of me even noticed these lyrics and threw glances at each other. The lyrics themselves did not seem rather deep or fully developed, and \u201cCreatures from the Wild\u201d definitely proved this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As the show continued, Johnson played a number of songs off of Fruit Bats\u2019 more popular records like \u201cGold Past Lives,\u201d \u201cMouthfuls,\u201d and \u201cThe Pet Parade.\u201d Some highlights he played from these records included my personal favorites, \u201cThe Bottom of It\u201d and \u201cThe Balcony.\u201d I couldn’t recognize the harmonies of these tracks due to the stripped down sound of these versions; however, Johnson did a great job at subsisting his voice for the missing instruments. More people knew the lyrics to these songs, and I could see people mouthing along without disrupting the silence and stillness of the room.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After playing some fan favorites, Johnson let the audience guide the rest of the performance, as he explained how he decided to structure this tour. People were shouting, \u201cSeaweed!\u201d \u201cPrimitive Man!\u201d,\u201cTegucigalpa!\u201dand numerous other songs from their discography. In an honest manner, Johnson advised the audience that he might not recall how to play certain songs off of older records, revealing authenticity in his performance. He did, in fact, play \u201cSeaweed\u201d off of \u201cMouthfuls,\u201d a slow song that he explained is hard to perform with the full band because in his words, \u201cwould make people fall asleep.\u201d <\/span> Photo Credit: Chantal Anderson Review by Samantha Gamero On Nov. 2, Grammy nominated Eric Johnson, frontman of indie folk band Fruit Bats, played his last sold-out show of his stripped-down, one-man tour. This never-before-done solo tour accompanied the release of Fruit Bats\u2019 newest record, \u201cBaby Man.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0In an interview with Rolling Stone, Johnson described \u201cBaby […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25371,"featured_media":51075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[2586,126],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51074"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25371"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51076,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51074\/revisions\/51076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/span> He ended the set with \u201cHumbug Mountain Song,\u201d a classic upbeat track from the record \u201cAbsolute Loser.\u201d This track without the numerous other instruments was almost unrecognizable with just his guitar, but the audience lent their vocals and hand clapping, making this closing song more audibly full. Johnson\u2019s encore included \u201cYou\u2019re Too Weird\u201d off of \u201cTripper,\u201d and closed out with the perfect singalong song,\u201cWhen U Love Somebody.\u201d Couples gazed at each other as the audience sang along, it was the perfect track to end this intimate show that Sunday night. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"