(Image provided by The Colonial Theatre)

As a fan of Switchfoot, and therefore their frontman Jon Foreman, since the release of their debut album in 1997, the musings of singer/songwriter Jon Foreman helped shape my formidable years. For every major stage in my life - high school, dating, college, heartbreak, engaged, married, fatherhood, the ups, the downs - Foreman's songs, in one form or another, have been a big part of my life's soundtrack. With the release of his latest solo album in 2024, and his day job band being off the road working on a new album, Foreman has set out on a solo tour in support of In Bloom.

For three separate phases of the tour, Foreman will have three different artists supporting him as opener. For the second phase, it's Jon's brother Tim's son Jettee. For the third phase, it's Tooth & Nail recording artist Tyson Mostenbocker. But for the first phase, it's Nashville, Tennessee recording artist Jordy Searcy. Now, Jordy may not be a name heard much in the Christian music community, but the indie artist is pretty open about his faith in Jesus (and his fandom of Jon), so he seemed like a natural fit for this tour. Jordy's set was literally just him with an acoustic guitar, and he decided to "try out" some new songs for the Phoenixville, PA audience on this chilly March evening. At one point, he even rested his cell phone on the side of his acoustic while peforming so he could consult his lyrics. "I Feel Like Dancing when I'm Around You" is a new song about his wife, and he handed his phone to a fan down front so Jordy could FaceTime with his wife (who is actually YouTuber Michel Janse) and perform it to her. He then played "All This Time," another song about his wife, but one he'd never played live before. And after some appreciative words for his audience, he closed with a song that seemed tailormade for the Phoenixville audience. I was surprised he flippantly included a use of the "S" word in the lyrics, but I suppose, given the older demographic of the audience, he hadn't thought much about it. (The same song had a lyric about how women and Jesus are two things he doesn't understand... a sentiment I'm sure many Christian guys can relate to).

Jordy's set had begun roughly 15 minutes after the proposed 8pm start time listed online, but he was done playing around 8:40. The house lights for this historic Colonial Theatre (which was featured in the 1958 horror classic, The Blob) came back on, and the audience mingled a bit for the next 25 minutes before Jon Foreman's band took the stage a little before 9:10. Keith Tutt stepped up to the electric cello to provide some delicious and atmospheric accompaniment throughout the night. Patrick Dodd provided bass and assorted other accompaniment, and then Aaron Redfield provided drums all night. A couple songs into Foreman's set, Searcy joined the band and provided guitar and keys at different moments - clearly having the time of his life the entire time.

The accompaniment trickled in, with Keith recording a cello loop before grabbing a bass, and then Jon stepped out to join his bandmates, opening with "Sojourn" from In Bloom. As with most of Jon's recorded solo work, there's a distinctly different soundscape that emanated from the stage than what you would hear from Switchfoot. The only constant between the two is Foreman's signature vocal style. "Lovers are Believers" was next, and then the band proceeded to launch into an acoustic take on Switchfoot's mega hit, "Meant to Live." It's a song you want to hear in full, electric, rocking form, but for a Jon Foreman set, this composition made total sense.

Once the song finished, Jordy joined the band and Jon broke out the harmonica for a raucous rendition of "Resurrect Me" from his Summer EP. At this point, Jon paused to talk about how they had a lot of prospective requests to perform. Among them was "Southbound Train," and he wanted to attempt to merge Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" with it as a lead-in. He kicked off the song and then realized he'd gotten in a bit over his head, so he asked if someone would help look up the lyrics online. He then pulled a fan on stage who held their phone out for Jon to reference the lyrics from, and he continued performing the Cash classic before segueing into "Southbound Train" (complete with using his harmonica to make a chugging train sound). To Jon's excitement, "Antidote" was among the songs requested, and he gleefully held up a fan made sign and needed to know who in the audience had made it. He then followed that song with another request - and one of my all-time favorite songs (I didn't request it, but would have if given the opportunity), Switchfoot's "Vice Verses." It's such a deep and pensive song that just really hits the spot on an emotional (and spiritual) level.

Foreman and company then moved into "I Propose a Toast," the lead single from In Bloom. He then got the urge to perform in the audience, and stepped off the stage into the center aisle. It was only then - with the spotlights no longer hindering his vision - that he realized the venue had a balcony, so he changed his mind and decided to relocate to the historic venue's balcony to perform there. He requested all the lights go out, but instead, the lights remained on him in the balcony for a bit as he proceeded to play a cover of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World." The lights all finally went out, and Jon asked the audience to turn their mobile phone lights on to illuminate the room. He segued into Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and then started playing his own song, "Terminal," while still on his own up in the balcony, but then returned to the stage to finish the song.

The mood got a little worshipful as he jumped into "Your Love is Strong," a moving track from his solo song repertoire that has become a fan favorite. And, in an effort not to disrupt the audience's engagement - which he kept expressing his appreciation for - he asked the Phoenixville audience to imagine the next couple songs were the would-be encore - or "non-core" as he quickly dubbed it - and closed with a new song, "Where the Sidewalk Ends," from In Bloom (and I'd argue it has a distinct Switchfoot vibe to it), followed by a cover of Nirvana's "In Bloom" (he joked that he had to play it because some in attendance must have expected a Nirvana cover band as the main event), and then merged it with his own "In Bloom." To end the night, surprisingly, Jon closed with Switchfoot's "I Dare You to Move," which was a fitting conclusion to a great night of music, and a thematically hopeful message to leave the audience with.

I'd venture to guess that, while many fans of a band will often be fans of - or at least give a chance to - the frontman's solo act, few said solo acts live up to what is built by the artist's beloved band. I'd say Foreman is on the short list of solo artists birthed from popular bands who have truly carved out a meaningful path with their own work. Jon Foreman doesn't disappoint when on stage with Switchfoot, and he certainly doesn't disappoint when taking his solo work to the stage.

From the merch table: I was thinking recently that some readers may wonder what kind of goodies artists offer at their shows. I didn't get a close look at the table itself, but I saw Jon had several different "Jon Foreman" tees on sale for $35 a piece and a sweatshirt (no hood) for $50. I also saw some folks walking around with In Bloom vinyl records, so I know those were also on hand at the merch table. So if fans hope to come home with some new Jon Foreman merch after his show, they should be pretty happy with the options there.