Live Review: Hobo Johnson & Oliver Tree – Rock City Nottingham

Embarking on his biggest UK tour to date, Hobo Johnston headlined the mighty Rock City on Thursday night, bringing an outrageous performance from Oliver Tree with him.

I’d describe Oliver Tree as the best option for an opening band on any tour of this calibre. His ability to control the crowd whilst still obviously not taking himself too seriously is the first highlight of his shows. Second is the gimmicks, taking to the stage in flared jeans we all thought stopped existing in the late 90s but then Oliver cartwheels and the whole band change into these iconic matching tracksuits with a design that everyone recognises but no one knows where it’s from. (seriously, why is that design imprinted in my mind from childhood???) And also running around the stage making birds with his hands and dabbing at every opportunity. The energy from this quirky little band was just something I didn’t know I needed in my life. Despite the childish nature of his persona the whole crowd were invested from the start, there were even mosh pits, like how do you mosh to Oliver Tree? Even the band agreed as Oliver said to the audience ‘They don’t do that shit in America man, fuck yeah’.  

Overall I’d recommend this band to anyone who doesn’t take themselves too seriously, if you want a fun night out where you find yourself laughing as much as you’re singing then Oliver Tree is the gig for you. The whole show is a party from start to finish. Make sure to look out for the mad scooter flip at the end too!

After a quick break which was just filled with The Front Bottoms songs on repeat we get to the man himself, Hobo Johnson and his backing band, The Lovemakers. Hobo, (Who’s real name is Frank) went viral with his music video for Peach Scone in early 2018 after submitting it to NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest and subsequently it amassed millions of facebook views within weeks. He’s described his music style as a mix between The Front Bottoms and Chance the rapper which makes for quite an interesting mix as we see with his songs.

The show started out with a bit of showmanship from himself, letting the band enter whilst he starts singing but is nowhere to be seen? Maybe he just has a thing for cool entrances. He started the set with his other hit song Romeo & Juliet, a fan favourite and a great way to start the show. Unlike Oliver Tree there wasn’t much crowd participation due to the nature of his songs but the crowd loved the show and he very much loved the crowd. My favourite part was the fact he’d gone to the effort of learning how to pronounce Nottingham before the show, although likewise I do love hearing American artists say Nottingham in the weird way that they do. The downside of Hobo Johnson getting so big so quickly is that his set was over before it had started, it comprised of just 14 songs, two of which were covers, Hobo addressed this himself pointing out that they simply don’t have enough of their own music yet to fill a whole set. Luckily he chose some great songs to cover, playing covers of Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson and If i ain’t got you by Alicia Keys as an encore. Pre encore he ended on Peach Scone, obviously saving the best part of the set for last and it absolutely was the best part, encouraging a crowd sing along. Personally i’ll be at the next Hobo Johnson tour for sure as long as he puts out a new album to go with it.