Jack Garratt Crosses the Pond for a Night at Belasco

Joseph Baura

Back from his native England, Jack Garratt brought his tour to the Belasco theatre in Los Angeles. Coming off of the release of his debut album, “Phase,” earlier in the year, Garratt has been making a lot of noise back in the UK, winning the BBC’s  2015 Artist of the Year award and their honorary Sound of 2016 award. The red headed crooner surely deserves these, as his masterful balance between various instruments, from guitar to electronic MPC, is a great compliment to a powerful vocal range that carries a tinge of soulfulness. As he stepped on stage at the Belasco, the crowds cheer built into a crescendo with the beat as Garratt began to tap away at the pads on his sampler, moving on to keys and drums. Each song Garratt performed felt like a growing process, slowly building the beat from scratch up into a rich blend of percussion and groove.

A couple songs into his set, Garratt performed one of his hit singles, “Weathered,” which he began with the simple strums of his guitar. Upon hearing the fans singing along, Garratt began to smile and laugh saying, “You all sound so beautiful.” It was touching for Garratt, a true moment of satisfaction with his fans.

After a short dialogue, Garratt played with the fans tossing a few piano strokes from Michael McDonald, before going into an impromptu performance of the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” theme song. Before continuing, Garratt did an interesting mash-up between Justin Timberlake’s “Senorita” and Craig David’s “7 Days,” which oddly worked together. As he moved back to scheduled programming, Garratt added more hits in with “Far Cry,” closing with his most popular song, “Worry.”

As the performance concluded, the after-taste of Garratt’s performance was satisfying, yet left fans wanting more in the best way possible.

Jack Garratt grooved at Belasco on Sept. 22