I am now a humbled fan.
I wasn't particularly excited about tonight's concert - John Mayer seemed to have moved form 'cool' to 'adult contemporary' in the 4 years since I first heard his songs, the new album hadn't captured me as completely as the previous ones, and well, our seats were in the 2nd last row, upstairs, at the Enmore. Hmm. Oh, but how wrong I was to think all that would matter, how wrong. Because I did enjoy this concert very much, and John Mayer is really awesome live. I think, at this stage of his career, having worked on more jazz-based performances with his Trio, he's learnt to meld the pop sensibility of his earlier songs with this amazing blues sound and so created a show that's full of awesome guitar work, cathcy songs, and meaningful lyrics.
He is also infectiously charming, and enthusiastic about performing, and so very comfortable on stage. He bounds around, does a quick two step, riffs with the other guys on stage, teases members of the audience, all while playing his dizzying array of guitars with consumate skill. His voice sounds good live - strong with just a bit of grit in the rockier moments, perfectly husky in the ballads, soaring over the wall of music from his very capable band.
There's a real camraderie between him and his 7 member band (keyboard, drums, 2 guitars, bass, tenor sax and trumpet) and each song is embellished and extended with jazzy, blues-influenced improvisations and interludes, as the musicians and instruments play off each other. It's fun to watch, and really awesome to listen to, as they work together so well, and it rarely strays overlong.
He played at least one of my favourites from each of the previous albums, and all my favourites from the current one, Continuum - the defiant 'Belief', the smoky regret of 'Gravity', the loveliest bitter breakup in 'Slow Dance in a Burning Room', and the indictment in 'Vultures'. Very good live. But I saved my most piercing embarrassing scream for when he decided to play 'Neon' on an impulse. Neon is otherwise known as 'my favourite John Mayer song EVER', and I hadn't seen it on any recent set lists online so I didn't even hope to think that I would get to hear it live. He even mentioned that he doesn't play if often - I think they have to tune everything to a different key?
Bigger Than My Body
Vultures
Good Love Is On the Way
I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)
Clarity
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
Why Georgia
Neon
Gravity
Waiting for the World to Change
In Repair
Belief
No Such Thing
Overall, this was such an enjoyable concert, a great musical experience. John Mayer is an artist who can straddle that tricky line of commercial success with musical talent, and it was a pleasure to watch him do just that tonight.
