Jack Johnson is no stranger to Fuji Rock, and for that matter Japan. For the past decade he has made countless trips, filling out the biggest venues and headlining big festivals. It’s a good thing that he enjoys himself while he’s here, even telling the crowd that he would be joining them later tonight to jam to Bob Dlylan and bluegrass act, Greensky Bluegrass.

Jack Johnson is the type of guy you would like to have a beer with. He’s affable and funny, and just enough charisma and charm to keep you thinking about him when he’s not there. Moreover, seeing him on Sunday afternoon is the sort of relaxation that is unrivaled, and when paired with a camping chair and friends and family it may verge on heaven on earth.

To emphasize the familiarity of his music, he started with “ Do You Remember” which is sort of a friend inspired song, or something you might hear while driving your car. In fact, Johnson is said to have written this song while driving one day. It’s just a simple love song intended to make people laugh and feel good. It’ one of his top tracks and appeared on his third album In Between Dreams.

Many would be quite content to carry this vibe all through the set, and to be honest the audience was already in his hand as he didn’t need to do much to win them over. The next few tracks were “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing”, “Good People”, “Flake”, and then the megahit, “Upside Down” which many may remember from the movie Curious George.

By this time, the acquaintance had been reestablished and the audience was singing along with many of the tunes as the set continued with “Time Is the Master” and “Badfish”. As the set began to near it’s ending Jack brought out members of Greensky Bluegrass to play along with a new song called “Big Sur”. He noted that this was the part of the concert where it gets interested as he just told the guest musicians that “the song was in the key of B” and can’t wait to see what happens.

And then the song was “Better Together” which is the first introduction to Jack Johnson for many people. And like the song says, it definitely is better being together as a group rather than being on your own, which may explain just why we go to music festivals every year. See you again soon Jack!