As a son of mother earth and a brother to this land, one of John Butler’s goals has been to promote mutual respect and raise awareness toward bettering the environment through music. April Uprising has been his latest musical vehicle that travels down a revolutionary path and draws meaning from ancient ancestry. Several days after playing a set at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, the John Butler Trio stopped by Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia to give fans a taste of the latest from the Australian-based roots jam band.
With a cool riverfront breeze winding through the mid-sized amphitheatre, John Butler, drummer Nicky Bomba and bassist Byron Luiters took to the stage around 9pm to a lively summer crowd. Armed with his acoustic guitar, Butler, before playing anything, first made a call to the soil we were occupying as he paid tribute to the Native Americans that called this land home many years ago. Wasting no time, Bomba began with a long snare roll as the JBT opened the show with “Used To Get High,” the hit song off Grand National that identifies the many forms of addictions that people face. “This next song is for any of you hippies that like hillbilly music, or any of you hillbillies that like hippie music,” Butler said after strapping on his banjo and diving into “Better Than,” off the same record.
Next Butler featured two of his heavier, more driven songs in his arsenal, “Revolution” and “Treat Yo Mama.” Of all the songs throughout the set, “Revolution” characterizes the new record and feeling the most with ideals of taking back what is truly yours, whichever form that may take. “Take back heart, take back your pride/ don’t got to run, you don’t got to hide,” Butler sang into a charged crowd. Shortly after, a wild fan, the prototype of your avid crazy concertgoer, made his way to the front of the barricade and slid onstage as he lifted his hands to raise the crowd’s volume level. Soon enough, with his strangely arranged ponytail flocking and limbs dancing, the fan broke into a tribal dance as the song picked up.
Midway through the show, Luiters and Bomba gave Butler the stage to himself as he transitioned into one of his instrumentals he still plays from his days busking on the streets of Western Australia. “Please, could you all join me in a prayer through this song that has no words to it,” said Butler. Featuring one of the main staples to his show, the crowd erupted as he finger picked the introduction to “Ocean.” Playing the same acoustic guitar that has been with him for nearly 13 years, Butler creates so many textures as features many phases of emotion through the song.
Following the instrumental, the remaining two thirds of the JBT returned to the stage along with the guys of the Boston-based trio, State Radio, for a version of Bob Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up.” It started with two girls sneaking on stage for the jam which then led into a swarm of fans hop up on stage, though it didn’t seem to faze John Butler and crew at all as security attempted to escort the fans back into the crowd.
Towards the end of the set the JBT featured a string of songs off the new record including “One Way Road” and “Close To You.” With strobe lights flashing, Nicky Bomba provided an extensive drum solo that included drumming on the scaffolding while Byron Luiters dropped the dub on his bass. The two demonstrated the strength of the rhythm section of the John Butler Trio as they fed of each other’s energy.
Returning to the stage to a roaring encore, the JBT closed the night with “Funky Tonight” as John Butler jammed while perched on top of Bomba’s drum set at one point. And Butler was greatly appreciative to everyone that made the evening possible as he thanked the loyal fan base for coming out, venue security for doing their part, and everyone behind the scenes from sound engineers to guitar techs. Fans all over the world can look forward to seeing the John Butler Trio as they will be touring heavily throughout the rest of the summer and into the fall in hopes of uniting people through music.
