John Paul White hypnotizes the Croc

After nearly a decade, John Paul White returned with Beulah, his first solo album after departing Civil Wars, the Grammy Award duo he formed with Joy Williams. Much like the meaning of Beulah, a place deep in the collective spiritual unconscious, the music and words take us on a journey. His soft vocals and poetic lyrics have the power to lift you up and most of the time bring you to a low.

The night at The Crocodile began with The Kernal and his band singing some country tunes for the packed house. The vocals sounded great and he was pretty funny when he stopped to chat a few times. Before playing “Try Again”, he went on a banter that confused Aaliyah’s track along with his own and just telling us not to give up, simply try again.

It was time for JP to take the stage and the set started a capella as he played alone after with the band joining him for the second tune. He played a few songs before stopping to ask how everyone was and then joking that he’ll continue cheering everyone up, “You paid money to actually come and be sad”. The night felt even more intimate in the small venue with the beautifully crafted songs filling the space and creating a very romantic atmosphere, despite the songs being a little heavy.

JP mentioned that he didn’t really think he would be out on the road again as he was burnt out after all those years but the songs kept popping in his head and he had to share them. He mentioned that it was great to connect with everyone after all these years and that he enjoyed sharing the songs with people. Highlights were “Fight for You”, “Hope I Die”, “What’s So”, and “The Martyr”.

When he returned for the encore he asked the crowd, “How does the Pacific Northwest about country?”, which followed by silence and an honest Seattlelite saying ” Not really into it”. He smiled and then asked “How many people come through and play Nirvana for you?”, and teased us by continuing “This is a song called ‘All Apologies'”, and everyone laughed. He was kidding even though his last song was a cover of Elo’s “Can’t Get it out of my Head”. It was great to catch him live and the Croc was the perfect venue to host him.