Tour Dates

Oct 23 – Minneapolis, MN – Icehouse
Oct 24 – Chicago, IL – Old Town School of Folk Music
Oct 25 – Chicago, IL – Old Town School of Folk Music
Oct 27 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark
Oct 29 – Toronto, ON – Longboat Hall
Oct 30 – Buffalo, NY – The Ninth Ward
Oct 31 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios
Nov 1 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
Nov 2 – Cambridge, MA – Sinclair

It wasn’t Fruit Bats, plural, but just Eric D. Johnson — a man, his guitars, a harmonica, and a small keyboard setup. (He mentioned that “Nathan, in the back, running sound” also was contributing keys and vocals — clever, if true.) Even so, the stripped-down format suited him. “This is going to be a little different — just one guy, singing sad songs, very loudly,” he warned early on. Minneapolis’s Icehouse — perfectly sized for his bright, tender voice — responded with near-cathedral respect and quiet.

Signs around the bar politely asked for silence. “Thanks for the quiet,” Johnson said, “glad there’s no frozen drinks being made over at the bar.” A small mercy, and one that kept the focus where it belonged: on his songs’ twangy melancholy and unassuming wit. (He overheard a halted “woo” during a vocal part, and underlined that “woos” were cool and encouraged.)

The set leaned heavily on Baby Man, but Johnson worked in older favorites — “The Bottom of It”, “Rushin’ River Valley”, “Humbug Mountain Song” — jokingly introduced as “the smash hits of Fruit Bats”. Midway through, he traded his acoustic for an effects-soaked Fender, proving that his brand of folk-pop shimmers even without a full band.

Later came “request hour,” a charmingly chaotic experiment in (simultaneous, hollered) audience participation that failed in spectacular fashion. (“It’s never worked before,” he admitted.) But when the crowd was subdivided into request districts and individually polled, one fan requested a song that had been played earlier — oops. Even Johnson’s mother, seated in the crowd, tried her hand, only to be told her request was reserved for the encore. And so it was: “When U Love Somebody,” heartfelt and plainspoken, closed the evening.

Quietly impressive, deeply humane, and a reminder that “one guy, singing sad songs” can fill a room just fine.

The tour continues on to Chicago Saturday, and hits Woodstock, NY on October 31.