Singer-songwriter, surfer and filmmaker Jack Johnson has been added to the Oct. 26 Bridge School Benefit Concert, an annual event organized by Neil Young and his wife Pegi at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif.

As part of a string of theater dates, Johnson performed Oct. 15 at the Paramount Theatre. Seattle photographer Jim Bennett was there to take a few photos and enjoy the start of the show.

“Sound was excellent,” Bennett says. “It was voice and guitar, just what you’d expect. Easygoing, Johnson was wearing flip-flops, jeans and a T-shirt.

“He came out to play the first two songs solo acoustic, then on the third he started solo and was fronting his full band by the end of the song. The crowd was rapturous, with a huge cross section of people – ladies enjoying a night out, families with kids and Jack Johnson diehards.”

“In 2002, we saw him at the same venue,” Bennett added. “He had one album out, his second not yet released. He played the song ‘Poor Taylor’ by audience request and said that he knew the crowd was Internet-savvy when the call came for that song because it had only been available as a web download at the time. It later appeared on this second album.”

“He played the same song again (Oct. 15) with the full band. It was a nice full-circle moment for the Paramount.”

Opener was Bahamas, aka Afie Jurvanen, a Toronto-bred musician who was nominated for adult alternative album of the year at Canada’s 2013 Juno Awards.

Read more about Johnson at this official website.

Get the details about the Bridge School Benefit Concert here. Heart, Arcade Fire, Elvis Costello and Diana Krall are part of the lineup.

To see more of Bennett’s photos, visit his website here.

— Gene Stout