José González graced the Asbury Hall stage solo with his two guitars on Sunday, March 30. The audience sat in awe and gratitude for the entirety of the set. José González only went to eight cities in North America this March and the audience exclaimed their gratitude mid-set that he decided to finish the much anticipated rescheduled North American tour in Buffalo.
The Swedish singer-songwriter created a serene, healing ambience throughout his show at reclaimed church, Asbury Hall or better known as Babeville. The audience went on an emotional journey through his songs of grief, mental health struggles, darkness, and slowly the songs led us more to the light, belonging, and memory. He opened with beloved tracks ‘Stay in the Shade’ and ‘Lovestain’ from his acclaimed album Veneer and wove in tracks from his newer album Local Valley. The crowd was ecstatic to also hear ‘Line of Fire’ by González’ band Junip which is also featured on his new album.
The show explored all the shades of González’ style which highlighted not only his Spanish strumming style and hypnotizing vocals but also his playful additions of looping and percussion that filled Asbury Hall in the most dramatic way. González did not say much throughout the show but whenever he did speak between thought provoking songs, he connected the lack of collaboration around the globe to his tracks like ‘Visions’ which proclaims ‘we are here together’ and ‘Every Age’ which sends hope that ‘we can build a place where we all belong.’
González seamlessly flowed between songs in English, Spanish and Swedish and covered artists we know and love. The highlights of the show were the driving percussion of ‘Tjomme’ where González made enough sound that it was hard to believe it was just him making it and got the whole audience out of their seats. González finished with favorites ‘Crosses’ and beloved, original renditions of covers ‘Heartbeats’ by the Knife and ‘Teardrop’ by Massive Attack.
In a time when international artists are struggling to play in the US, the audience felt more grateful than ever to see the internationally renowned artist in such an intimate setting. González will return to North America in November for another short tour. The closest he will come back to Buffalo is on November 19, 2025 in Cleveland at the Agora Theatre.
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