LIVE: JACK JOHNSON, BEN HARPER & JOHN BUTLER – Perth | Boorloo, 10 November 2026

LIVE: JACK JOHNSON, BEN HARPER & JOHN BUTLER – Perth | Boorloo, 10 November 2026
Kings Park Botanical Garden, Perth, Western Australia
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
Photography by Damien Crocker

It’s a perfectly mild Spring day in Perth | Boorloo and it doesn’t get better than this for an outdoor concert in the beautiful surrounds of Kings Park Botanical Gardens for the first of three sold out nights under the stars.

After a musical Welcome To Country the crowd are still pouring into the grassy venue, buying an exorbitantly priced beverage and finding a patch to sit on when sort of local John Butler takes a seat centre stage. Butler may have been born Stateside and now lives over East, but he still calls Perth | Boorloo home, and we’re happy to claim him as one of us.

It’s just him and a succession of guitars tonight, the rootsy style suiting the pleasant weather and verdant location, and the crowd – especially those standing on the deck just in front of the stage (it’s easy to be mellow laid on the grass with a glass of wine in your hand) – warm up quickly as he plays favourites Better Than, Betterman and Wade In The Water. Butler invites “best friend and partner in crime” Mama Kin out to duet on Losing You, their voices melding together with mellifluous grace over Butler’s finger picking guitar.

He gives a shout out to a volunteer stand protesting against bauxite mining (“the number one cause of deforestation in our south west”) and dedicates a fiery instrumental to the children of Gaza (“free Palestine!”), before realizing he only has five minutes – four and a half! – left. Another shout out goes to family before he notices with authentic surprise that his mum is in the front row, right in front of him – “she’s NEVER been right THERE!” – and closes his short but sweet set with favourite Zebra.

Ben Harper is the same: a chair centre stage and a semi-circle of beautiful guitars, allowing his impassioned vocals to ring clearly throughout the park during his intimate and special set – which we’d be able to enjoy far more if only the selfish buffoons in the crowd would stop their incessant chatter through his performance. Unfortunately the local constabulary refused to arrest the loud talkers when asked.

His set begins with She’s Only Happy In The Sun, By My Side and Please Bleed, before a stunning run through Excuse Me Mister and a wonderful acoustic lap slide cover of Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark.

Forever kept the sublime vibes going, before Harper told the story behind another favourite, Steal My Kisses, written when his oldest son refused to kiss him whilst sporting a bushy beard. A masterful Diamonds On The Inside is punctuated by the pop pop pop of nearby fireworks, prompting Harper to ask the crowd to clap the beat so he can keep the “solo in order.”

 

Jack Johnson is ostensibly here promoting his new movie Surfilmusic, but apart from a short intro clip he doesn’t belabour the point, taking the stage with a drummer, pianist and bass player to deliver a two hour set chockablock with favourites from openers Mudfootball and Sitting, Waiting, Wishing through to Fortunate Fool and Better Together.

Along the way there’s highlight after highlight – not least of all when Butler joins the band for his own Breakdown/Used To Get High, Harper comes out for Flake, and both join in for celebratory closer Better Together.

It’s easy to see why Johnson is so popular (let’s face it, three sold out shows at this iconic venue is remarkable): he’s just so bloody likable! He’s amiable and chatty; and I think everyone in the crowd feels that he could easily be one of them, hanging out on the grass with a drink, having a comfortable, friendly, unpretentious laugh. His manner is easy going and endearing – that’s what we’re relating to.

It doesn’t hurt that his music is so simple, catchy and easy to sway along to – you can imagine it wouldn’t sound very different had Johnson & co been sitting around a bonfire on a beach somewhere playing the same songs, and – combined with the surroundings and the perfect weather – it all makes for a wonderful, memorable evening.

Set List: Jack Johnson

Mudfootball
Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
You and Your Heart
Holes to Heaven
Inaudible Melodies
Bubble Toes
F-Stop Blues
Banana Pancakes
Shot Reverse Shot
Upside Down
Flake
Breakdown / Used To Get High (John Butler Trio cover)
Taylor
Staple It Together
Good People
Posters
Never Know
High Tide or Low Tide (The Wailers cover)
Do You Remember
Fortunate Fool
Better Together

 

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries