José González Live Review | The Social Orlando | September 30, 2015

by Dainon Moody • October 1, 2015

You learn, in time, that José González isn’t going to occupy the stage for very long. He’s pretty glad you’ve crowded into that small space of a club to see and hear him do all he does, all whispery songs and excellent strums and bongos (nice added touch, those). He’ll explode into an embarrassed smile when someone screams “Thank you for coming to Orlando!” He’ll even get so properly passionate that he closes his eyes on all the slow songs (spoiler: they’re all slow songs). Still. The fact remains that his songs are short and he doesn’t have as many as you think he might at this point, so he’s going to take about an hour-and-a-half and create a beauty of a world for you. Or, rather, he’ll invite you into the world he’s made, something that has a soundtrack blending the quiet of Nick Drake (yes) with traces of that Jack Johnson campfire bliss (don’t hate). There will be a lot of red lights glowing and you’ll surprise yourself into really really wanting a lazy hammock and some sandy shores, right there and then. But you know all of this already too. It’s what drew you to come here in the first place. You know he has come to your city as if to say,

“Hey, I’ve created these sounds, you’ve dropped $25 to be a part of it, and well? I hope you get sleepy and I hope you applaud a bit and you’re all so nice and I must be going.”

Or something to that effect. See him a few times and you know this is his way of going about things. You won’t see the very last song he plays, but you will get to hear “Heartbeats” (a personal favorite, if not everybody’s). Once you get home, you will place an order for his latest, Vestiges & Claws, right before falling fast asleep on your phone, the lamp left on like a sudden nightlight. You’ll play that album once you wake up, too, because you want to keep this José González business going. Face it: one night of that goodness is not enough to sustain you. You know this. This is your truth.