Jack West dropped on by the WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy. It was part of a mini-tour for the New Yorker that took him all the way to Tokyo for a set at the Ruby Room Tokyo. I took a look at the music venue's Instagram page and I suspect it is an expat hang out. Something to keep an eye on should I ever make my way back to Japan for a vacation. He then stayed in Los Angeles for a few days, playing sets at Nalu Vida in Venice and Desert 5 Spot in Hollywood before concluding his visit at Hotel Ziggy.
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| Jack West at Hotel Ziggy |
He came up on stage with just a guitar and took a seat on a stool. It was then that the audience was put into a time warp back to the early 1990s when MTV Unplugged ruled the airwaves and we had classic albums released by Eric Clapton, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and 10,000 Maniacs. For thirty minutes, he played songs that had him attacking the guitar strings with his pick and sing in a raw and passionate intensity. When he covered Tom Petty's "The Waiting," his eyes had a look of fierceness.
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| Jack West at Hotel Ziggy |
His website's bio mentions that he has been recording since a young age and even performed with Eddie Vedder at the age of 12. He spent the pandemic years working on his sophomore album NUMB. During the set, he mentioned that as a 1r year old, he would head to New York City to play music with his father. Those experiences inspired the song "21." Those years of experience has lent him a confidence on stage that is lowkey in nature.
His Spotify bio mentions this about his music, "an American rock singer-songwriter creating emotionally direct, guitar-driven music rooted in alternative and indie rock."
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| Jack West at Hotel Ziggy |
The song spotlight goes to "Missing Out," which did not make the setlist, but is a song I discovered while listening to his music on Spotify. It was released in 2020 and features Mike McCready of Pearl Jam. The song was inspired by the pandemic. For context, at the time of the pandemic, he was 15. I think it puts a framing around the song's title and lyrics: there are probably way more exciting things in the world for a teenager to do in life.
I'm sitting on the floor.I'm really getting bored
The TV's on pause.
The radio's playing that song.
Partial Setlist: Just Want My Way, Seen It All, Untitled Release, 21, The Waiting (Tom Petty Cover), Leave Us Behind.
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