Surfer Rocker Brings Laid Back Style to the State Theater

TAMPA BREAKWAY FESTIVAL – April 26th-27th

TAMPA BREAKWAY FESTIVAL – April 26th-27th
Donavan Frankenreiter in St. Petersburg, Florida

When I read that Donavan Frankenreiter was coming to town, I thought “Man, I’ve heard that name. I think I just saw a YouTube video of him recently.” Sure enough, I had been watching his Jack-Johnson-ish videos of surfing and easy-going, laid back song called “Free.”  Frankenreiter not only has a similar sound but he is friends with Jack Johnson. The story is while he was traveling the world as a professional surfer he used to rent a room in Hawaii from Jack Johnson’s parents (how lucky is this?). They are good friends and you can find videos of them collaborating on various songs.

So, I thought seeing Donavan Frankenreiter might be a nice mellow concert to attend. Sure enough, it was.  Frankenreiter’s mucis has kind of a retro 70’s funk feel as he sang in his raspy, bluesy voice and was accompanied by two  really talented musicians. Frankenreiter played mostly rhythm guitar but and threw in a lick here and there but I was really impressed with his fellow musician who played a combo bass-electric guitar, switching between the two within the same song. The drummer was phenomenal too with impeccable timing and added just enough pizzazz with Latin percussion accessories.

Don’t get me wrong. The concert was really enjoyable and the tunes were catchy but from a musician’s standpoint, very repetitive. The songs consisted of chanting the same anthemic phrases over and over.  The crowd could easily singalong and the crowd which consisted of mostly 30-somethings bopped in time.  The concert was actually a nice change of pace from the loud, hard rock I usually listen to.

Donavan Frankenreiter, long-time pal of Jack Johnson, brought his laid back style to St. Petersburg, Florida
Donavan Frankenreiter, long-time pal of Jack Johnson, brought his laid back style to St. Petersburg, Florida
Chyrisse Tabone, Ph.D.
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