w/ Ben Harper, John Butler
Kings Park
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Jack Johnson returned to Perth for the first time in four years, bringing his chill blend of surf rock to Kings Park with two friends who absolutely read the assignment Johnson had provided them, slotting in almost effortlessly with the overall vibe on this near-perfect spring evening.
After a wonderful Welcome to Country that firmly connected the audience with the rhythm that had been in this land for so many generations, West Australia’s own John Butler came to the stage with minimal fuss or fanfare. As Butler began his set, a wagtail sat perched near enough dead-centre at the very top of the amphitheatre, cocked its head and seemingly blessed the events to come, before flitting further into the parklands.
Butler began with Better Than, alone on banjo and harmonica but occupying the entire space through sheer personality, charisma, and downright grit. The sun had not even set and the audience was already grooving as the artist segued into deep-cut Spring to Come, then dedicated Betterman to those friends who always told him the unvarnished truth.
Butler then brought best friend and partner in crime Mama Kin on stage to perform Losing You as a gorgeous duet—the song landing somewhere between gospel and bluegrass, with folk trimmings. Butler stated it was good to be home and have his nearest and dearest close by. He then spoke of the environmental plunder both in the state’s south-west and Kimberley, extended this bird’s-eye view to the wars overseas and those injustices, and dedicated the eleven-minute instrumental Oceans to them all; the crescendo within that track broke over the crowd almost in time with the sun setting.
Wrapping up his set with a slightly sped-up Zebra—could it have been anything else?—Butler gave a shout out to his family who were in attendance before spotting his mother in the very front row. In a career that had spanned thirty years and so many live shows, this was apparently the first night his mother had ever been in the front row. It was a wonderful moment to finish on, with Butler sounding genuinely spun out in the most enthusiastic manner by this turn of events.
Twenty minutes later Ben Harper, another icon of millennial-era cool, strode centre-stage to take on the balmy Perth evening and the audience beyond. Harper started with She’s Only Happy in the Sun, his fabulous voice still intact after all these decades. Taciturn almost to the point of shyness and concentrated over his guitar, Harper acknowledged the crowd only fleetingly at the front end of his set. Please Bleed and Excuse Me Mister were easy highlights here, before a uniquely Hawaiian-tinged cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark, perhaps the rock version of pineapple on pizza—as in, it worked, beyond the usual conventions. The crowd certainly warmed to the track, their voices clearly audible in the evening air as they sang along.
Harper became chattier as his time on stage grew longer and gave the backstory behind his biggest hit, Steal My Kisses. After revealing the original inspiration was his son as a child rather than anything blatantly romantic, he then performed the song in almost honky-tonk style as the audience gently swayed amongst themselves. The biggest cheer of the set, however, fell to the final track, Diamonds on the Inside, as Harper gave the crowd a beat to hold throughout, which was very enthusiastically grasped onto.
As Harper left the stage, his words now tumbled out at speed, as he thanked Butler for showing off his hometown and his headliner and wider crew for the invitation to tour alongside them at this, the far end of the world. Throughout the evening, a high degree of positivity and respect was readily apparent between all.
Another short break and it was time for Jack Johnson to make his way forward to the light. Following two solo performances, the energy shifted noticeably as Johnson took to the stage with a full backing band, featuring long-time collaborators Adam Topol (drums), Merlo Podlewski (bass) and Zach Gill (keys).
With this tour supporting Johnson’s new documentary SURFILMUSIC rather than any new album release, the performance began with home videos from Hawaii, showing the surf and the beaches, seeming to ease the local crowd into their own summer ahead. Johnson professed his early and lifelong love of Australia and advised he had visited the country three times before his music career had even fully started.
After Johnson brought out one of the big hits early—Sitting, Waiting, Watching, which was gratefully accepted and pocketed by his fans—he explained that, as a cameraman on surf movies in his twenties, he had filmed all day and worked on his music most of the night. He told the story of an early visit to Indonesia where copious gifts to the local authorities had unlocked access to the perfect wave later that day, inspiring Holes to Heaven, with the word “bribed” front and centre in the lyrics.
This was followed by Inaudible Melodies, which Johnson had written in college. He joked that with the lyrics in the track and the mentions of Eisenstein and Plato, could it have been at any other stage of his life? Somehow the song had led to an extension on a paper Johnson was running late on at the time.
Upside Down was performed as a duet with local streamer Sam McGovern making enough of a splash in his covers of Johnson’s songs to catch the attention of the tour and warrant an invite on stage to perform. Johnson’s generosity of spirit in sharing a song that wasn’t simply an obscure B-side with a guest appearance shone through in this moment, and will surely live long in McGovern’s highlight reel.
In fact, the concert overall had an extremely relaxed and natural vibe, with Johnson seeming to act as a beloved relative merely picking up a guitar to jam at a family summer barbeque—if that family summer barbeque held several thousand in attendance.
Also very apparent was Johnson’s absolute passion for surfing. His career may be music, but his true love very well still seemed to be the water, as he and his band returned to the topic time and again. Johnson very fondly recalled his youth watching the surf movies at the local cinemas and the special times when a live band would provide accompaniment, which he would now demonstrate to his own 2002 movie, The September Sessions.
As much a vibe or experience as an actual concert, Johnson effortlessly entertained in all regards—as a filmmaker, musician, and generally fantastic person. When Butler and Harper joined their headliner on stage towards the end of the piece, again Johnson often took a step back from the limelight, allowing his collaborators to shine.
The evening had come together in a near-perfect combination of great weather, entertaining performers, chill music, stunning visuals, and that delicious yet unnerving sense of nostalgia for places most of the audience likely had never been. Butler, Harper, and Johnson absolutely worked as well together as had been hoped leading up to the night, and the concert overall could be considered a wonderful entrée leading into the wider southern summer.