Amazing voice, even when completely drunk
by HaightStreetJive on 1/28/25Fox Theater - Oakland - OaklandRating: 3 out of 5I've seen JJ and Mofro several times. Typically it's an amazing experience, but tonight was a bit different. It was a little odd from the beginning. First, this was a sit-down show. To my memory, I've never been to a show at the Fox with seats. It's normally all GA downstairs. It created an odd, subdued vibe for a high-energy R&B type show. Andy Frasco opened, who I also really like. He and his band were drinking on stage and were definitely pretty loose. I didn't think much of it, it was the opener, after all, but it turned out to be a bit of a theme for the evening.
JJ and his band came on stage and let me first start off with saying, his two backup singers were amazing talents. Truly the shining lights of an otherwise mediocre performance. JJ came out and was immediately sipping on a cocktail or some sort. By the end of the evening, I swear he was chugging it. He kicked into some songs, voice strong. It's quite normal for JJ to tell stories in between songs, but his ability to hold a thought was definitely sketchy, even at the beginning. What's amazing to me, is that even in that state, he was still able to belt out amazing vocals. He would slow a song down to tell some story, or say some random thought that often didn't go anywhere, then kind of kick into the song again. It was like watching two different people. Honestly, had he just not talked, he may have gotten away with it.
In the middle of the show, he brought out the guitarist from the opener's band. This guy must have been on multiple substances, because he went on to play what I can only describe as what you would hear if a 7 year old grabbed hold of a guitar that was plugged into a very loud amp and just started wailing on random strings. It was embarrassing. The final nail in this sad outing came when JJ decided to go lay down a solo on the B3 organ. He started getting into it, it wasn't working out, and you could see him just decide to cut bait and walk away. I've never seen someone of this caliber get that far gone during a performance.
I'm not sure if this was the end of the tour, or JJ's having a hard time, but it translated into a bit of a sad show. I honestly hope he's doing alright. I would love to see him back as the powerhouse he can be.