Ybor City Welcomes Hobo Johnson!
Edited by Anna Mengani
Saturday, July 15th, 2023 I found myself in Ybor City (Tampa), Florida for a small, intimate concert by Hobo (Frank) Johnson at the Crowbar. Ybor City is known for its nightlife on the weekends. I was not expecting the crowd of his show to only be 200 people, but it was absolutely the most fun I've had at a show yet. While waiting to even get in the door for the show, I was in line and ended up meeting Youtuber Jason Nash as he left his comedy show just down the street from us. I made new friends in the process of waiting to see the openers! We stood in the crowd and played Heads Up for a while just bonding and enjoying ourselves.
We were then surprised by the openers, who at the time I had no idea who they were until they were announced. Maddie Barker and Franklin (Frankie) Jonas, yes the 'bonus Jonas' aka the youngest Jonas brother! Both of the openers were absolutely incredible and engaged the crowd with so much energy and joy. I especially loved that Frankie came out in a giant rat costume, which was absolutely hilarious. Both of them showed off their new music, Maddie's new song 'WASP' will be released on August 4th, and Frankie's EP Sewer Rat dropped earlier this year. He played it all for us and it was spectacular.
The start of the Hobo Johnson set was beyond amazing, starting it off with Mover Awayer, which is one of my absolute favorite songs by him. He was full of energy and made the crowd hype up during the entire show. He spoke about his life and read a poem he'd written about his sexuality called Bi, which was fantastic and absolutely hilarious all at once. After a few new songs, he spoke about how he lost his father last year and read another poem about his loss. He joked with us and let some of the audience members on stage to help him rap and to help play guitar when he performed one of his biggest hits, Peach Scone.
I'd been waiting to see Hobo since 2018 when I first heard Romeo & Juliet and Peach Scone on his NPR Tiny Desk Contest video. I had been on a kick of Button Poetry and Slam Poetry and his video came across my Youtube and I fell in love with the stories behind his music. Every time I hear his music, I can't help but to relate to it in some way. It's been a wild ride, and getting to enjoy that concert was one of the best nights of my life. His music is like no other because it truly is hip-hop mixed with slam poetry and I think it's absolute genius. I do hope everyone decides to check him out, and the openers of the show. Their music is one of a kind and shows their talents as artists.
Hobo Johnson
Frankie Jonas
Maddie Barker
