The singing surfer from Hawaii is back with a new album of sunny tunes he'll be hoping can make it four consecutive UK number ones.
Jack Johnson is also shaming chart rivals by donating all tour profits to charity, but, thankfully, his do-gooding didn’t get in the way of this performance.
When the singer appeared with an acoustic guitar and played two songs — Do You Remember and I Got You — celebrating long-term marital bliss, he lived up to his reputation for being mellow, mushy and middle-of-the-road.
However, the show came to life when Johnson’s band joined him for Washing Dishes, featuring a classic West Coast-style chorus and Zach Gill’s vibraphone (or “vibes”, as the singer referred to it).
Johnson was so laid-back it was left to Gill to clown around by emerging from his keyboards to do a little dance, or stalk the front row with a wheezing accordion.
Without much in the way of cool or cutting edge, Johnson simply relied on natural ability and heartfelt music.
His latest album provided some of the best moments, including the breathless Shot Reverse Shot, the jaunty Tape Deck about his teenage band’s unlikely punk rock direction, and Radiate, a breezy tune only marred by a chorus that sounded as if he was singing about a radiator.
Don’t Believe a Thing I Say was even better: minor-key majesty of which Fleet Foxes might have been proud.
The band peaked on the gleeful groove of Staple it Together and Johnson’s lyrical slip-up on Bubble Toes just made a joyous song feel more spontaneous.
An acoustic encore of Ones and Zeros, which bemoans our obsession with digital gadgets, was mildly daring at an iTunes gig. Despite the occasional soppy singalong, this surfer dude showed hidden depths.
