Courtesy of johncruz.com

After years of playing back up, John Cruz returned to Northampton’s Iron Horse Music Hall to headline a show of his own.

After a 50 minute set by Cruz’s longtime friend Joe Keenan, who joked about being “demoted to the opener,” Cruz took the stage with percussionist Jefferies, whose talent in percussion was matched only by her animated facial expressions, and electric guitar player John Caban.

Positioned on the left side of the stage, Jefferies center stage and Caban to the right, the trio kicked off the set with the upbeat title track off of Cruz’s latest release, “One of These Days.” As a preface to a song talking about being happy just sitting on a front porch and rocking, Cruz joked, “I’m at the age when I should be buying a house, but everything in Hawaii is so expensive. I’ve got my eyes on a porch right now … It’s a really nice porch.”

The crowd reveled in Cruz’s humor and soon fell into a trance while listening to Cruz’s slow, soulful follow up “Let Us Dream,” a song born out of a poem Cruz wrote at 19, just before leaving Hawaii for college at the University of Massachusetts.

As people began to shout requests, Cruz laughed and said, “A few weeks ago a guy in Maui yelled out, ‘Play Smoke Two Joints!’ (a Sublime song John played at shows when he was younger) I didn’t play the song. I had him removed. I have that kind of power now,” Cruz explained laughing at his fame.

Cruz then invited Mark Herschler, of the Herschler Brothers to the stage. Cruz had played with the Herschler Brothers after college and the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton was one of their frequent gigs. “It’s really great to be back,” said Herschler.

The reunited bunch then launched into “Hurricane,” the feel-good song moving the crowd to sway gently as Cruz sang, “I feel good, ain’t looking back, and it’s a hell of a sign I’ve got to keep on track. I was down, but now I’m back on my feet again.”

“Angel,” a song that’s guitar arrangements made the small Iron Horse feel like a tropical island, despite the snow and freezing rain that was coming down outside, was next on the set list. “I brought the sunshine yesterday,” said Cruz, “but those snowflakes are something else man.”

Half way into the set, whether due to the music flowing from the stage, or the alcohol flowing from the bar, the crowd loosened up a bit. Couples began to stand up and dance between the tightly-packed tables to “Ku’u Home O Kahalu’u,” a smooth song written by a friend of Cruz’s in Hawaii.

Just before taking a short hiatus, Cruz injected life into the crowd with a break from the sounds of the islands, and belted out “Baby’s Gone Blues,” a song heavily influenced by the blues music he was exposed to during his time in the Northeast.

The crowd quickly became quite and contemplative as Cruz and Keenan retook the stage to play “Grave Digger.” The pair, who has been together since Cruz first moved to the area, complemented each other well, and the song came through beautifully.

Keenan then left the stage and Jefferies and Caban resumed their positions for a song that has become an unofficial Hawaiian anthem, “Island Style.” The song came much to the delight of the crowd, who if too bashful to stand up and dance, were swaying rhythmically in their seats.

The slow soulful ballad, “My First Child,” which Cruz claimed was to be the last song calmed the crowd, which sat quietly taking in Cruz’s warm vocals. Cruz wasn’t fooling anyone when he walked of stage at the song’s close, only to immediately return and give the audience just what it wanted. He returned to play “Shine On,” a hit from his first album, “Acoustic Soul.”

Cruz left the stage for the final time to a standing ovation and screams of Hawaiian protest, “Hou, Hou!” which in Hawaiian means, “More, More!” While Cruz failed to offer up another encore, he did provide the crowd with their own tropical escape, a place to forget the cold New England weather. Even though it only lasted an hour and a half, it was just enough.

Shelby Landeck can be reached at [email protected].