Review: JP Hennessy Rocks the University Street Fair
Though the weather at the University Street Fair lived up to the typical cold and slightly rainy Seattle standards, JP Hennessy, the bluesy singer-songwriter now based in Seattle, managed to bring a good-sized crowd to his stage.
Although he had a very short set, Hennessy gave the crowd a good taste of his sound — blues rock-esque songs, which range from really calm and easy-going to more hard-hitting fast ones. While his music has its own vibe, there are definitely clear influences, such as John Mayer, as Hennessy plays his solos with such ease and comfort. The songs were about 50% singing and 50% instrumental, which is kind of unusual for his style of music, but a welcome change of pace.
Kicking off around 5, the skies were dark and ready to rain, but the crowd stood waiting for the music fearlessly. A few songs into the set, Hennessy and his band began to play a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.” Covering well-known, classic songs like this is dangerous because it’ll quickly be compared to the original; however, this one was fantastic. They played in a way that sounded a lot like Stevie Wonder’s in the beginning, but also added some new elements and solos to the track that modernized and brought new life to it.
This was one of the first times in the set that the crowd got to see JP add a solo to a song. It’s interesting to watch because you really can’t tell if it’s a practiced solo or an impromptu thing, but he plays it with no worries, like he knows what every fret and string of the guitar sounds like.
After the great Stevie Wonder cover, the band slowed it down with one of Hennessy’s slower tracks, and a few songs later, there was even a couple dancing for everyone. The rest of the set stuck with the same blues rock sound, as he thanked the crowd many times and reminded them that there was merch for sale in little vintage suitcases at the end of the stage.
It was a very short and cold set, but JP Hennessy managed to put on a great show for the crowd that gathered for him. He has a voice that sounds good, loud and strong, but also soft and more meaningful. It was really enjoyable to watch him and the band smile and jam out together in the most casual way, and it was a perfect performance to break up the street fair madness.
