I have anticipated the John Mayer concert for months. I admit I have a thing for John Mayer and for all the wrong reasons really. He’s a bad boy. He has tattoo’s, plays the guitar, and really disregards the feelings of others as evidenced in his recent interview with Playboy. To many he’s considered a jerk, yet…I still like him. Heading into Xcel Energy Center with best friend Claire I was so excited. I anticipated a night of great music and great company. I was not disappointed. The crowd was very diverse, men, women, young, old, gay, straight, black, white. Seeing the diversity in the crowd made me realize just how universal music truly is. Very different people came together to share in something they had in common, John Mayer music.
The show was music intensive. It was not a huge production, no dancers or wardrobe changes, just John, his band and numerous guitars. The truth is he didn’t need all that to put on a good show. The rest would have been a distraction to how phenomenal the music was. Vocally John Mayer is incredible. With his soulfully distinct sound, one can get lost in his music. I certainly did. Song, after song, I really felt the passion and the stories within the music. When so much of today’s music is computer generated, it is refreshing to hear an artist sing live, just them and their guitar. I showed up to hear John sing, his voice is something I am used to but seeing him on guitar live was insane and probably the most impressive part of the show.
John didn’t speak a lot, but when he did it was to express something of importance. Like explaining that his song “Perfectly Lonely” is either beautiful or depressing depending on how you feel at any given moment, or to acknowledge the people in the audience who had taken the time to make signs to hold up, and lastly to express that he doesn’t do music because he has to–but because he loves to. Because the music was so good, it was nice that there was a constant flow of tunes with very little interruption.
I don’t really have any complaints. The show was undoubtedly worth the $200 I spent on my ticket. I was disappointed that he didn’t perform his hits “Daughters” or “Your Body is a Wonderland,” but if he played every song requested we would have been there all night. I was a little surprised that he didn’t bring up his latest Playboy interview. He turned Nashville and several subsequent venues into an apology tour, but how many times does a person have to say they are sorry? And if you are angry with John Mayer, just do what many did with Michael Jackson and R. Kelly, learn to separate the man from the music.
If you get the opportunity to see John Mayer in concert, I highly recommend that you do so.
I’m Danni and music takes me on a journey.
Check out Mayer’s St. Paul performance of “Gravity” on video below: