Switchfoot Make Lemonade From Lemons at “Secret” Knoxville Show

Concert Review: Jon Foreman and Company Prove How Special Post-Covid Rock Is At The Bijou Theater

Review and Photography by JB Brookman, Nashville Live/SENIORITY

There was a relaxed, laid-back, family atmosphere at the historic and gorgeous Bijou Theater before Switchfoot took the stage. Fans traveled from all over the South to see the only headlining show of the band’s Tour. Due to some flooding at the Alabama tour stop’s venue (The boys are touring with Need To Breathe and have a Nashville stop at Bridgestone tonight) Switchfoot had a day off and they scheduled a show in Knoxville.

Jon Foreman and Switchfoot Rock Knoxville. Photo: JB Brookman, Nashville Live/SENIORITY

Switchfoot are bridge builders… it’s what they do. Connecting stage and venue, band and audience and many times flesh with spirit… Jon Foreman lives to perform and it flows through everything the band does. His relatable, deeply inspiring and always hilarious brand of banter creates a back and forth with the crowd between songs. And then the call and response anthems that the boys from San Diego are known for connects everyone in the room on a gooey, deep level that is almost indescribable.

Switchfoot lead man Jon Foreman in Knoxville. Photo: JB Brookman, NLM/Seniority Photography

Jon Foreman of Switchfoot, swimming in the crowd in Knoxville. Photo: JB Brookman, NLM/Seniority Photography

The music of the night was full of rises and falls… from the crunchy, classic, in-your-face lifters like Stars, Love Alone Is Worth The Fight, Native Tongue and If The House Burns Down Tonight– to the slow and soulful ballads like Only Hope. Mixed in was an eclectic set list from an array of 12 albums across almost 25 years. Jon took requests from the audience, including some tracks off of their masterpiece “Hello Hurricane” like Enough To Let Me Go (a request from a fan created sign in the back of the venue).

Jon Foreman talked about making lemonade out of lemons in his life recently. For someone who tours so relentlessly, it’s obvious that Covid was super frustrating for him and the band. But, Jon and the guys are a band who find the shiny parts of life, where the light shines through. Yes, they are older and wiser- with all of the members now being family men and musician extraordinaire Jerome Fontamillas having beat cancer recently. But, they still rock the house and create anthems that birth joy, hope and love.

Switchfoot bassist Tim Foreman. Photo by JB Brookman, NLM/Seniority

Switchfoot in Knoxville. Photos: JB Brookman, NLM/Seniority

One of the many highlights of the night was Foreman turning on the disco ball and the band grooving into Float and then the venue filling with bubbles…

Switchfoot surprise show in Knoxville. Jon Foreman. Photo: JB Brookman, NLM/Seniority

Jon Foreman of Switchfoot rocks Knoxville, during the band’s secret show. Photo: JB Brookman, NLM/Seniority Photography

You will know them by their fruit. Switchfoot always closes their shows with the power anthem- “Where I Belong” and by the time the kick drum rhythmically thumped into the “ohhhhh whoooa whoooa whoaaaa’s” something had been exchanged between everyone in the Bijou. Something that made us more loving, more hopeful, more empathetic, more full of grace for our differences. That’s what Switchfoot does, they love on people so hard and accept people so openly that their music finds that crack in every person’s tough exterior to a place where the positivity and life of the lyrics can shine inside and bring about change. Lemonade, indeed.