José González captivates Seattle opening tour night

It had been a while since my last show coverage and I wanted to pick a favorite artist to make the return that much special. After exactly two years José González announced tour dates in Seattle and I couldn’t wait to attend. It was the first date of his North American tour in support of fourth studio album Local Valley. It was added after the first night sold out, only reassuring just how much people missed live music.

The night started off with the talented Jess Williamson standing in front of the seated crowd with her guitar. Her voice carried well with the acoustics of Neptune Theater and people quietly listened to her tunes. Her performance was mixed with her latest album, Sorceress, along with her previous releases. She was the perfect person to open the night, elegantly paired with González himself.

After a quick pause González took the stage seated in the elevated platform in the middle of the stage. He sat during his whole set switching between guitars and following along his trackback machine. The simple backdrop cloth was used for a few projections in the background along with minimal lighting. González doesn’t really need much more than that since the main focus is his own performance which emphasizes his soft voice and aura.

We heard new tracks “El Invento,” “Visions,” “Head On,” and the more upbeat “Swing,” along with older favorites while the main set ended with a powerful cover of “Teardrop.” The encore included “Crosses” and “Heartbeats,” which reminded all of us of why we fell in love with his music in the first place. He didn’t banter much but he did stop to thank the crowd before the last track and to tell us that it was inspired by thinking of the word dude and how “Tjomme” is the Swedish word for it. It was an outstanding night which resurrected all that was missing these last two years from my life and I’m so thankful it was with González.