The theater’s remarkable acoustics allowed the clarity of Gonzalez’s vocals to outshine those of his lo-fi studio recordings, at times sounding like a young James Taylor, or a new age Cat Stevens.

The city of Milwaukee got its first taste of singer songwriter Jose Gonzalez’s hauntingly beautiful melodies on March 18 at the Pabst Theater.

It appeared that promoters had underestimated the Swedish native’s local fan base. What was advertised as a lower-level-only show quickly filled balcony seating well before opening act Mia Doi Todd was halfway through her set.

Armed with only a mike and his six-string, Gonzalez started the night off with a few songs from his debut album Veneer, including his breakout track “Heartbeats,” a blissful cover of Swedish electro pop outfit, The Knife.

Gonzalez remained seated for the entire evening, gently tapping his foot while mesmerizing the crowd with his soft neo-folk style of classical guitar on songs like “Remain” and “Down the Line.”

Keeping his conversation with the crowd to a minimum, Gonzalez introduced “Time to Send Someone Away” as a song about mindless consumerism. He then jokingly explained, “which I realize is something that I’m a part of.”

The theater’s remarkable acoustics allowed the clarity of Gonzalez’s vocals to outshine those of his lo-fi studio recordings, at times sounding like a young James Taylor, or a New Age Cat Stevens.

Gonzalez ended the set with “Cycling Trivialities,” before returning for a much enthused encore that included hits “Crosses,” and the title track of his latest album, “In Our Nature.” Despite not performing local radio favorite, “Killing for Love,” Gonzalez received heavy applause from a crowd on their feet as he took his final bow of the evening.

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