Concert Review: John Mayer

Image courtesy of Billboard

Well, one thing's for sure: the guy can play. Any hype regarding him as an artist is fully warranted, despite his less-than-desirable off-stage antics. I had the good fortune of seeing John Mayer in his home state of Connecticut last night, and even if he didn't intend it, he sure did a good job of making it seem like a special show. 

The setup of the show was pretty cool; Mayer came out and did a small set with his full band (maybe 25-30 minutes). After that he transitioned seamlessly into an acoustic mini-set, most of which he did solo. However, for a couple songs of that section, he was accompanied by one or two backing musicians, including John Mayer Trio drummer Steve Jordan. From there he was joined onstage by the other member of the Trio, bassist Pino Palladino. They opened their set with their cover of "Crossroads," which, of course, was a lot of fun. Finally, the full band came back out and finished the concert together, playing for easily another hour. All told, the show was a little over two hours, not including transition time or the set by opener Dawes, who were also fantastic.

My only complaint from the show is that I felt at times that Mayer was trying to do too much, especially with his solos. I won't sit here and pretend to be a guitar expert, but at times his concert began to feel more like a Dead and Company show than a John Mayer show. Nothing wrong with that, but for Mayer's solo music, I think drawn out, wailing solos don't really fit. When he stuck to more melody-driven, bluesy solos, he was brilliant; incredibly smooth, as good as anyone else out there today. However, if slightly overdone guitar solos is the only real complaint, you'd have to say it was a pretty good show.

What amazed me more than anything else was how true to his albums he sounds. By that I mean that his voice (and guitar, for the most part) sounded EXACTLY as it does on all of his recorded songs, and unfortunately, that's not something I can say for most of the other acts I've seen. Frankly, there can't be very much mixing to do when Mayer lays down a track in the studio.

Overall, I'd have to say this was a phenomenal show, definitely worth the 40 bucks. If you get the chance to see him live, take it! I know I will!