The John Butler Trio in Los Angeles

Saturday, December 1st, 2007 – Los Angeles – The OrpheumTheater

Having just seen Iron and Wine three days earlier in the exact same venue, in my mind The John Butler Trio had a mountain to climb. We arrived right as the opening act, Bret Dennen had started his set. Let me start there. I had heard of Brett Dennen a while back, this kid was some kind of prodigy and it is just known that he has the soul of a much older individual. Now I can say first hand that all of that is true. Bret is an example of someone who has truly embraced themselves. Full of hilarious quirkiness, the crowd was completely impressed by this young and up and coming artist. I could hear murmurs throughout the audience all saying the same thing, “this is the best opening act I have ever seen”. I completely agree. There is just something fantastic about going to a show and experiencing something for the first time. I didn’t know any of Bret’s songs very well. And it didn’t matter at all.

After Bret wrapped up to a standing ovation, I thought John Butler’s mountain might have just grown a few inches. Now I really want to impress upon you that, having seen The John Butler Trio at bonaroo’s live webcast earlier this year, I knew that these guys didn’t fuck around. It’s just that Iron and Wine a few days earlier was so great, I felt that John Butler just had his work cut out for him.

What I could never had predicted was how insane it would be to see John Butler play guitar live right in front of you. Again, we had amazing seats. 10th row center, right on the aisle. Honestly, within minutes the John Butler Trio was on there way to being one of the best live performances I had seen all year. No offense to Iron and Wine, but it became very clear that this band has been playing together for much longer. The new album “Grand National” wasn’t in my top ten list of 2007, but I should mention that it was number eleven.

Every song John’s Trio played made me shake my head in amazement. But when the band left and John Butler played “Oceans”, which is a long instrumental acoustic guitar solo, I can happily say that was the sickest thing I have ever seen someone do with an acoustic guitar. Thankfully someone posted a video of this song from the show on YouTube which I have posted below. They must have been sitting right across the aisle from me. Watch the whole video, seriously.

Wow! I was completely shocked at the brilliance of this performance. Go and see these guys, I beg you. There is nothing better you could do on a Saturday night. The goosebumps that I had at this show were so big, I think they had their own goosebumps to deal with.

John Butler is one of the great artists of our times, same as Sam Beam. I feel seriously lucky to have caught this show. Thank god my wife insisted on it. John’s drummer and bassist kick serious ass in their own right as well. The highlights for me had to be “Oceans”, “Funky Tonight”, “Better Than” and a slower version of “Fire in the Sky”.

Throughout the show the crowd was warm and appreciative. I could tell that the Trio was satisfied. Buy this album, put it in your cd player and go for a drive. Or even better, go see these guys live. You will not be disappointed, I promise you.

~ by mughead on December 1, 2007.