Jack’s Mannequin at HOB San Diego
“But if you left it up to me - every day would be a holiday from real...”
Jack’s Mannequin is out on tour supporting their latest release The Glass Passenger and spent this lovely early Halloween evening with a nearly sold-out HOB SD filled with adoring fans. Andrew was a hit right away when he came out wearing a grass skirt and coconut bra over his jeans and tee. Nicely done (though that coconut bra was a little distracting.) Set list photo first (the entire set list if you rawk on).
Andrew started the set with three from the new album. While those were well-received, the crowd went crazy when we heard the beginning notes of “The Mixed Tape”. We had our first sing-a-long of the evening (this is my mixed tape for her/It’s like I wrote every note/With my own fingers), but it was not to be the last. Andrew did a good job of mixing in some old faves with the new material. From the new material, I liked “American Love” and “Hammers and Strings” best. Before starting in on “Hammers and Strings”, Andrew explained that the song was about his piano. The lyrics were pretty cool and I have to admit that I got a little choked up. Maybe it was a little residual emotion from “Dark Blue” which he played prior. The strongest part of the set was the trio of “I’m Ready”, “The Resolution” and “Holiday From Real”. I really enjoyed “The Resolution” - it is such a celebration of how Andrew beat leukemia and hearing him sing it was very moving. (BTW, Andrew looks great - love that his hair is so long and he is not so skinny these days.)
(Andrew on his piano)
During “Holiday From Real”, Andrew stood up on his piano for the second time of the evening. He is such a spaz (in a good way) and I just love to watch him on stage. He slowed it down quite a bit for the last song of the main set with “Caves”, which is a bonus track on the new album. The rest of the band left the stage for the first part of the song and Andrew pounded away on the piano for a good while before the rest of the band came out to finish off the set strongly.
The encore was definitely for the fans. Andrew started it off with “Bruised” and then introduced the next song as one for the Springsteen fans. Took me a bit to figure out what it was because I am by no means a Springsteen fan but the chorus gave it away - it was “I’m on Fire”. Then he did a classic from his Something Corporate days - “Cavanaugh Park”. Lots of old school fans very happy to hear that one. The show ended with “La La Lie” where Andrew busted out his harmonica and the entire crowd sang a long to end a great show.
(Andrew on harmonica during “La La Lie")
(You can view all photos here.)
