John Mayer

Went to John Mayer last night at GM Place,

Micheal Franti and his band spearhead opened quite favourably. The 6 foot 6 Franti and Spearhead took to the stage at 8 and delivered a very crowd pleasing and crowd involving performance that saw Franti all over the garage in the crowd even inviting all the kids in GM Place up on the stage for a song. They delivered their happy go lucky reggae hip-hop fusion music for about an hour, Franti was able to involve the audience and acted as a perfect warm up for Mayer.

Then 7 time Grammy winner John Mayer and his band took to the stage at about 9:25PM, kicking off an electric set that touched on all four albums including songs from Continuum and Battle Studies. His musicianship and live performance was second to none, producing tones and sounds out of his instrument of choice, a Fender Stratocaster, which defy all measures of music. During the show he involved the audience and had some funny comedic relief. He also played very worthy covers of Bill Withers, Ain't No Sunshine and Don't Stop Believing by Journey, Incorporating guitar work that make him arguably the best player of his generation using subtle but noticeable, pull offs slides and hammers on top of already complicated guitar. Another highlight was grammy winning drummer, Steve Jordan, who’s toured with Eric Clapton and the Stones, doing a 5 minute drum solo that included funkadelic beats and wicked quickness. Next, the band took a break and Mayer remained on stage performing a 6 song acoustic set showcasing his talent on beautiful Taylor acoustic guitars breaking into experimental solo acoustic work that sounded amazing. After the Acoustic set the band returned and finished up a set that included Gravity, and Why Georgia. Mayer and the band then finished to a roaring crowd of 12,000. The band returned for an encore including Who Says and fantastic version of Gravity using a few Hendrix tricks for kicks.

Overall the show was one of the best I’ve ever been too, Mayer seemed funny and easy going, not what you might expect from a hugely famous rock star that tabloids have an infatuation with, he played for over two hours straight and the crowd loved it. Would have liked to see him cover some Hendrix, which other than Stevie Ray Vaughan(RIP), Mayer is about the only one who can do it properly.