So, for the third time this year...
...I saw John Mayer in concert. It. Was. Awesome. I had heard that he would be playing in the Central New York area about two weeks before the tickets went on sale, so I debated with myself for a few minutes about whether or not I'd have time to go with all the work I have to do. Then I realized that, hey, this is John I'm talking about and I bought myself a ticket.
The venue was in Rochester, which according to a combination of the Ticketmaster website and Mapquest, is supposed to be about an hour and a half away. The show started at 7:30PM, so I was like "I'll leave between 5:00PM and 5:30PM just in case" because, who knows if there would be construction or whatever. I ended up leaving around 5:30, being worried for a while that I was going to be late, but if I hadn't stopped at one of those rest area type things off the Thruway, I would have been early. As it was, I got there a bit before 7:30, but missed about 15 minutes (actually probably more) of the opening act, since I waited in the crush to buy a shirt. Which is very nice, and has long sleeves, so I can actually wear it some time soon.
Opening act, Teitur was really awesome. Just him and his acoustic guitar primarily, but he played this accordion-like thing that was also very cool. I will totally have to get his album now, and would have at the show, but I wouldn't have had enough money to get back home if I had (stupid tolls!). Plus, I have a coupon for Best Buy, so everybody wins! Or something. Anyway, based on the few songs I heard, I'd definitely recommend him. Will have to see if the album is as good.
Then, the main event. John. He and the entire band were so on tonight. This is the third time I've seem him this year, and I don't know if I can say this was his best show out of three, but it was definitely the most memorable. I was uber impressed with the entire thing, and I think the set and lighting designers did a great job with this tour. Gone are those annoying lights that flash out into the audience. Interesting new screens in the platforms (for drums and keyboards) on stage. Also, I am very glad that his doctor made him postpone his recent European tour dates, because his voice really needed the rest. It was definitely worth it.
The set went like this:
Bigger Than My Body - Was a great opener. Best I've heard it done thusfar.
My Stupid Mouth - What can I say about this song except that I love it? Not much. :) However, I do find it interesting that the audience knows all the words to many of his songs, but still doesn't know the extra verse of this song. Almost every live MP3 of "My Stupid Mouth" has it, including the Any Given Thursday version. Oh well, was nice to not have the thousands of backup singers for at least a few seconds.
Clarity - This song is wonderful live. I love the brass players. Big improvement since his SNL performance, mainly (IMO) due to the break from touring. I like this song more every time I hear it, and this performance was no exception.
Next song intro'd as a B Side (I think. It's hard to hear over the screaming fans.).
Covered In Rain - As always, a great song. Interesting to see it without "City Love" (not a complaint or anything, just an observation). Plus, I absolutely love the guitar solo. It's amazing.
John thanked us, said that if he ever started containing shit, that we'd all leave. He'd have an audience of about four people.
Your Body Is A Wonderland - I love Michael Chaves's guitar solo on this song. Also, nice addition of "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by Prince (or whatever he's calling himself these days). This song is always good.
Now John took a moment to do the lengthier speaking to the audience thing, which I always enjoy. He talked about hearing the next song on the radio for the first time, and about how everyone would be so excited, and he'd try to act all cool, while secretly pissing himself on the inside (it works a lot better when he tells it, trust me). Then he said that he didn't realize that he had written hold music. He introduced the song as, "the loudest hold music you'll ever hear." Which is, of course:
No Such Thing - Always good. I have nothing to say about this song, since it always sounds great. That last line is such the truth.
Now, here's the part of the set that gets a bit fuzzy. I know these songs were all played, but am not positive about the order. I'll have to check the Road Journal on johnmayer.com when it's up to clarify.
New Deep - Just as great as I thought it would be. Plus, as a bonus, less singing along than the Room For Squares songs, so I could hear John really well. I *heart* this song.
Why Georgia - Great as always. We got to sing the "So what, so I've got a smile on..." verse. Much fun.
Come Back To Bed - Introduced with the simple, yet effective, "This song's called 'Come Back to Bed'". And let me just say, wow! This was absolutely fantastically done, with a whole bunch of different stuff going on (a little spoken interlude, a great jam session). Definitely one of the highlights of the evening.
3X5 - Started out with an awesome new intro, which many people in my section thought was a new song, so they sat down. But I figured out pretty quickly that it was going to be "3X5". It's all about context clues, people. You just have to listen to the words.
And now we're back on track, set-wise. Next was John giving another spoken song introduction. He started off with "This is a song about men," which totally lost me, but then he proceeded to talk about the whole, "men think women did nothing before they met them (men), and are a blank canvas, etc.". And how this song is about the fact that they aren't. That sometimes, men are idiots, which is something I can get behind 110%. I mean, what?
Daughters - Solo acoustic, really great as always. I think "Daughters" has only gotten better each time I've heard it live.
83 - I always enjoy this song. It sounds so fun live. Nice "Let's Hear It For The Boy" added in there as well. I miss "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", though. I want to say there was an intro to this as well, but I can't remember for the life of me whether there was or not.
So, great stuff. They leave the stage and then John comes back alone for the start of the encore. As a side note, why do they do that encore thing? I mean, everyone knows that they're going to come back out. I think the surprising thing would be to do a second encore.
Encore:
Man On The Side - Man I love this song. John sounded great.
Back to You - Oh, "Back to You"! This may be my favorite of his songs. It sounded great, as usual, with the lovely rockin ending, as well as a little lyrical change to the last verse (the "doesn't it piss you off" thing again, as well as something that got a bit lost among the yelling). I just love this song to death.
And then the shocker of the evening,
St. Patrick's Day! (w/ Scotty Crowe on jingle bells) - Color me absolutely amazed. I've never heard a live version of this song before (don't have any MP3's of it or anything). It sounded great. Plus, we had the totally cool addition of Scotty playing the jingle bells. He is so adorable. A fantastic closer to a fantastic show.
I proceeded to leave, struggling my way along the halls in the absolute mob of people (well, orderly mob. But I swear, as people get older, they obviously forget the concept of "single file"). It reminded me of the hallways in my high school after 8th period. Just a stream of people.
I finally made it outside, and I decided to walk back to the garage the way I came, since I didn't fancy the idea of getting lost. This way took me past the backstage doors and the tour busses and semi trucks and all that fun stuff. At this point, there were a ton of people out there, so I decided that I might as well wait with them and see if John would come out. There were two tour buses parked one in front of the other, and they had blocked off the section of sidewalk between them. So, there were people at the front end of the buses (where I was), people yards away at the back end of the buses, and people across the street.
This was at about 10:20. Throughout this entire waiting time, people in the crowd came and went. A bunch of people formed a mass at the curb right in front of one of the buses, and this cop on horseback kept having to move us all closer to the building so that they weren't blocking traffic. So, at least we had something to do while we waited. At around 10:50 or so, people started leaving. We all cheered for some of the band members. Michael Chaves came over and took pictures of us standing around waiting. We cheered as Scotty got onto the bus, because hey, he rules. People were a bit over-excited, though, since they kept cheering any time the door was open. Those Local Crew guys must've felt special, though.
But finally, at like ten after eleven, our patience was rewarded. John came outside and went on the bus. We didn't lose hope though, and he shortly came back out. He went down to the far end first, which was a smart move, since I am a big fan of the "go far away and get the closer stuff on the way back" method. He signed a ton of autographs, and was incredibly gracious about it. When he got to our end, he continued to sign like a madman. I even got my ticket signed! I was really impressed with how patient he was, and how many people's stuff he took the time to sign. It is so nice to be a fan of someone who really appreciates his fans. And, let me just say, he is even cuter in person.
And that was about it. One thing about waiting around for so long was that I didn't have to sit in traffic, which rocked. And plus, by the time I was leaving the parking garage, they were closing, so I didn't have to pay. I got home at around 1:15 or so, and proceeded to write down an outline of this post so I wouldn't forget anything. I feel as though I forgot something anyway. Suffice it to say that this was a great show and I can't wait until the next one.
Man this took a long time to write.
The venue was in Rochester, which according to a combination of the Ticketmaster website and Mapquest, is supposed to be about an hour and a half away. The show started at 7:30PM, so I was like "I'll leave between 5:00PM and 5:30PM just in case" because, who knows if there would be construction or whatever. I ended up leaving around 5:30, being worried for a while that I was going to be late, but if I hadn't stopped at one of those rest area type things off the Thruway, I would have been early. As it was, I got there a bit before 7:30, but missed about 15 minutes (actually probably more) of the opening act, since I waited in the crush to buy a shirt. Which is very nice, and has long sleeves, so I can actually wear it some time soon.
Opening act, Teitur was really awesome. Just him and his acoustic guitar primarily, but he played this accordion-like thing that was also very cool. I will totally have to get his album now, and would have at the show, but I wouldn't have had enough money to get back home if I had (stupid tolls!). Plus, I have a coupon for Best Buy, so everybody wins! Or something. Anyway, based on the few songs I heard, I'd definitely recommend him. Will have to see if the album is as good.
Then, the main event. John. He and the entire band were so on tonight. This is the third time I've seem him this year, and I don't know if I can say this was his best show out of three, but it was definitely the most memorable. I was uber impressed with the entire thing, and I think the set and lighting designers did a great job with this tour. Gone are those annoying lights that flash out into the audience. Interesting new screens in the platforms (for drums and keyboards) on stage. Also, I am very glad that his doctor made him postpone his recent European tour dates, because his voice really needed the rest. It was definitely worth it.
The set went like this:
Bigger Than My Body - Was a great opener. Best I've heard it done thusfar.
My Stupid Mouth - What can I say about this song except that I love it? Not much. :) However, I do find it interesting that the audience knows all the words to many of his songs, but still doesn't know the extra verse of this song. Almost every live MP3 of "My Stupid Mouth" has it, including the Any Given Thursday version. Oh well, was nice to not have the thousands of backup singers for at least a few seconds.
Clarity - This song is wonderful live. I love the brass players. Big improvement since his SNL performance, mainly (IMO) due to the break from touring. I like this song more every time I hear it, and this performance was no exception.
Next song intro'd as a B Side (I think. It's hard to hear over the screaming fans.).
Covered In Rain - As always, a great song. Interesting to see it without "City Love" (not a complaint or anything, just an observation). Plus, I absolutely love the guitar solo. It's amazing.
John thanked us, said that if he ever started containing shit, that we'd all leave. He'd have an audience of about four people.
Your Body Is A Wonderland - I love Michael Chaves's guitar solo on this song. Also, nice addition of "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by Prince (or whatever he's calling himself these days). This song is always good.
Now John took a moment to do the lengthier speaking to the audience thing, which I always enjoy. He talked about hearing the next song on the radio for the first time, and about how everyone would be so excited, and he'd try to act all cool, while secretly pissing himself on the inside (it works a lot better when he tells it, trust me). Then he said that he didn't realize that he had written hold music. He introduced the song as, "the loudest hold music you'll ever hear." Which is, of course:
No Such Thing - Always good. I have nothing to say about this song, since it always sounds great. That last line is such the truth.
Now, here's the part of the set that gets a bit fuzzy. I know these songs were all played, but am not positive about the order. I'll have to check the Road Journal on johnmayer.com when it's up to clarify.
New Deep - Just as great as I thought it would be. Plus, as a bonus, less singing along than the Room For Squares songs, so I could hear John really well. I *heart* this song.
Why Georgia - Great as always. We got to sing the "So what, so I've got a smile on..." verse. Much fun.
Come Back To Bed - Introduced with the simple, yet effective, "This song's called 'Come Back to Bed'". And let me just say, wow! This was absolutely fantastically done, with a whole bunch of different stuff going on (a little spoken interlude, a great jam session). Definitely one of the highlights of the evening.
3X5 - Started out with an awesome new intro, which many people in my section thought was a new song, so they sat down. But I figured out pretty quickly that it was going to be "3X5". It's all about context clues, people. You just have to listen to the words.
And now we're back on track, set-wise. Next was John giving another spoken song introduction. He started off with "This is a song about men," which totally lost me, but then he proceeded to talk about the whole, "men think women did nothing before they met them (men), and are a blank canvas, etc.". And how this song is about the fact that they aren't. That sometimes, men are idiots, which is something I can get behind 110%. I mean, what?
Daughters - Solo acoustic, really great as always. I think "Daughters" has only gotten better each time I've heard it live.
83 - I always enjoy this song. It sounds so fun live. Nice "Let's Hear It For The Boy" added in there as well. I miss "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", though. I want to say there was an intro to this as well, but I can't remember for the life of me whether there was or not.
So, great stuff. They leave the stage and then John comes back alone for the start of the encore. As a side note, why do they do that encore thing? I mean, everyone knows that they're going to come back out. I think the surprising thing would be to do a second encore.
Encore:
Man On The Side - Man I love this song. John sounded great.
Back to You - Oh, "Back to You"! This may be my favorite of his songs. It sounded great, as usual, with the lovely rockin ending, as well as a little lyrical change to the last verse (the "doesn't it piss you off" thing again, as well as something that got a bit lost among the yelling). I just love this song to death.
And then the shocker of the evening,
St. Patrick's Day! (w/ Scotty Crowe on jingle bells) - Color me absolutely amazed. I've never heard a live version of this song before (don't have any MP3's of it or anything). It sounded great. Plus, we had the totally cool addition of Scotty playing the jingle bells. He is so adorable. A fantastic closer to a fantastic show.
I proceeded to leave, struggling my way along the halls in the absolute mob of people (well, orderly mob. But I swear, as people get older, they obviously forget the concept of "single file"). It reminded me of the hallways in my high school after 8th period. Just a stream of people.
I finally made it outside, and I decided to walk back to the garage the way I came, since I didn't fancy the idea of getting lost. This way took me past the backstage doors and the tour busses and semi trucks and all that fun stuff. At this point, there were a ton of people out there, so I decided that I might as well wait with them and see if John would come out. There were two tour buses parked one in front of the other, and they had blocked off the section of sidewalk between them. So, there were people at the front end of the buses (where I was), people yards away at the back end of the buses, and people across the street.
This was at about 10:20. Throughout this entire waiting time, people in the crowd came and went. A bunch of people formed a mass at the curb right in front of one of the buses, and this cop on horseback kept having to move us all closer to the building so that they weren't blocking traffic. So, at least we had something to do while we waited. At around 10:50 or so, people started leaving. We all cheered for some of the band members. Michael Chaves came over and took pictures of us standing around waiting. We cheered as Scotty got onto the bus, because hey, he rules. People were a bit over-excited, though, since they kept cheering any time the door was open. Those Local Crew guys must've felt special, though.
But finally, at like ten after eleven, our patience was rewarded. John came outside and went on the bus. We didn't lose hope though, and he shortly came back out. He went down to the far end first, which was a smart move, since I am a big fan of the "go far away and get the closer stuff on the way back" method. He signed a ton of autographs, and was incredibly gracious about it. When he got to our end, he continued to sign like a madman. I even got my ticket signed! I was really impressed with how patient he was, and how many people's stuff he took the time to sign. It is so nice to be a fan of someone who really appreciates his fans. And, let me just say, he is even cuter in person.
And that was about it. One thing about waiting around for so long was that I didn't have to sit in traffic, which rocked. And plus, by the time I was leaving the parking garage, they were closing, so I didn't have to pay. I got home at around 1:15 or so, and proceeded to write down an outline of this post so I wouldn't forget anything. I feel as though I forgot something anyway. Suffice it to say that this was a great show and I can't wait until the next one.
Man this took a long time to write.