Jack Johnson’s Swell Season Draws Crowds to Hollywood Bowl
As Tropical Storm Rachel curled along the coastline, the musician landed in L.A. with a collection of his greatest hits for the final shows of a North American tour in support of his new doc, “SURFILMUSIC.”
Source: The Hollywood Reporter · October 12, 2026 at 11:02 PM · AI-assisted report
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HOLLYWOOD BOWL, LOS ANGELES, 13 OCTOBER 2026 —
Musician Jack Johnson brought his North American tour supporting his new documentary, “SURFILMUSIC,” to the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday for the first of two sold-out shows, performing as Tropical Storm Rachel swirled off the coast.
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The performance marked the final stops of the tour for the 51-year-old singer-songwriter and his longtime band.
The two-hour concert featured a collection of Johnson's greatest hits, accompanied by surf footage and family videos displayed as a beachside backdrop under a balmy, occasionally drizzly night sky. Johnson performed alongside his band, which includes standout sidekick Zach Gill, whom Johnson met during their early days at UC Santa Barbara and who plays accordion, harmonica, piano, and melodica.
Johnson opened the set with “Mudfootball (For Moe Lerner)” from his 2001 debut studio album, “Brushfire Fairytales,” followed by “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing,” “Bubble Toes” with intros and outros of the Steve Miller Band’s “Keep on Rockin’ Me Baby” and “Take the Money and Run,” and “Banana Pancakes” alongside a soulful cover of Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5.” The setlist continued with “You and Your Heart,” a stripped-down “Breakdown” featuring Johnson on ukulele, “Upside Down,” “Staple It Together,” “Waste of Time,” “Constellations,” “Do You Remember,” and “Holes to Heaven.”
Longtime friend Ben Harper joined Johnson onstage for “Flake” and a cover of The Wailers’ “High Tide or Low Tide,” while fellow surfer Kelly Slater appeared for a cover of Jimmy Buffet’s “A Pirate Looks at Forty.” The concert concluded with an encore of “Better Together.” Opening act Hermanos Gutiérrez, a Latin instrumental duo formed in Zurich in 2015 by Ecuadorian-Swiss brothers Alejandro Gutiérrez and Estevan Gutiérrez, set the tone with soulful instrumentals on lap steel guitar and later joined Johnson onstage for a mashup of songs from the “SURFILMUSIC” soundtrack.
The tour supports the intimate documentary “SURFILMUSIC,” directed by Emmett Malloy, which chronicles Johnson’s evolution from surfer to filmmaker to musician. The brothers Gutiérrez accompanied Johnson on the score for the film, which premiered on March 13 at SXSW and is currently screening at select theaters nationwide.
The concert took place during a homecoming weekend across the Southland, drawing a mostly Gen X crowd that experienced a nostalgic night as their own children apply to college. The show kicked off with Johnson asking the audience, “Y’all came ready to sing, right?” with the second night of the sold-out run following next.
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