PHILANTHROPIC ROCKSTAR STEALS THE SHOW

Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness played a sold-out show at the Hawthorne Theatre on Saturday, May 19, and the production alone made it a night to remember.

For those unfamiliar with McMahon, he typically headlines the Crystal Ballroom, which holds about 1,500 people. But, for this special, intimate, acoustic tour he opted for smaller spaces, with the Hawthorne being the smallest of them all, holding only 500.

Upon entering the venue, everyone was quick to notice that as opposed to random music playing over the speakers, there was specially curated theme song music for this tour. Being younger than most of the audience members, I recognized only the “Full House” theme.

Between these songs came gentle reminders for patrons to respect all those around them. There also were recorded promotional messages in which McMahon talked about his nonprofit foundation, Dear Jack. He is 12-year leukemia survivor, and Dear Jack’s mission is to serve adolescents and young adults in their own cancer journeys, including supporting survivors.

At the Hawthorne, there was a table with volunteers who were signing folks up for bone marrow donation lists if they met the health, height, and weight requirements. There was a constant stream of people swabbing the inside of their cheeks, right there in the venue, as they selflessly agreed to donate bone marrow to any cancer patient with which they were a match.

Later in the show, McMahon explained that his sister’s bone marrow is what lead to his survival.

There were no openers on this tour since it was obvious he had enough draw to sell out shows within days of the tour being announced. So, an hour after doors opened, the lights went down and the show began.

McMahon had an actual backdrop built for this tour that looked like something that would be used in a theatrical play, and in a way it was used that way. We were in his living room, so he entered the stage through his front door (to the Mister Rogers theme song) as if he just got home from a day job. He sat on the entry step, took off his dress shoes and blazer, threw on his sneakers and sat criss-cross-applesauce on a box towards the front of the stage.

With only a desk lamp for lighting, he played a little keyboard or synth sort of instrument as he eased everyone into the night with “Love and Great Buildings” from his latest record, “Zombies On Broadway.” Then he hopped over to his grand piano and began playing music from different parts of his career as a musician. The set was a great mix of his current project, as well songs from his previous bands, Jack’s Mannequin and Something Corporate.

Before playing “Canyon Moon,” a doorbell rang on stage, and McMahon opened the door to invite keyboardist/vocalist Zac Clark to the stage. Clark currently tours with him as part of his band, so he was on stage for most of the night.

During the next song, “High Dive,” the doorbell rang a bunch as the song built up, and Bob Oxblood, formerly of Jack’s Mannequin, came out on stage and joined in on acoustic guitar right where the song left off.

The rest of the night featured different combinations of the musicians playing through McMahon’s set with beautiful harmonies and soft instrumental layering that they built together. Occasionally, McMahon would take a break and Clark and Oxblood would play their solo songs, and promote the tour they’re doing together at the end of this summer.

My favorite parts of the set were the theatrical scenes, and McMahon’s stories.

At one point when he was talking between songs, the stage lighting flashed bright white and thunderous noises played as the ghost of Babe Ruth appeared in the window of the backdrop. He shook his bat in the air and nagged McMahon about needing to play new songs, saying, “I’m a hundred-twenty-three years old: For crying out loud, play something new, Andrew!”

So then, McMahon played his new song, “Ohio.”

Singer/songwriter Allen Stone is scheduled for the rest of the current tour, but had a wedding to attend on the Portland date, so the night ran a little differently than usual. From my understanding, this included McMahon and friends deciding to play “Something Wild,” which he wrote for the movie “Pete’s Dragon” and likely took the place of Stone’s solo song performances.

There was another number that was supposed to be for a movie but didn’t get picked, and while McMahon was singing he decided to hop off the stage and walk through the crowd and sway around with fans.

His crowd is mainly folks in their mid-to-late twenties (some even brought their kids), and everyone really connected over his mention of concerts being a safe space to escape all the shit going on in the world.

The most special moment of the night, by far, was when McMahon told a story leading into “Cecilia and the Satellite” – his biggest hit as Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness and a song he wrote about his daughter.

When the singer was diagnosed with leukemia and preparing for treatment, his doctor insisted that he bank his sperm because it wouldn’t be the same after harsh cancer treatments. At the time he didn’t want to do it, he just wanted to get better, but his doctor didn’t really want to treat him if he wouldn’t do it, so he did. And, now he has his daughter Cecilia because of that decision, he explained.

McMahon is one of the most humble musicians I’ve seen perform in some time. The thoughtfulness he put into creating this tour paid off, and he did it all out of sheer love for playing music.