Chicago, IL- United Center
April 10, 2010
By Anthony Kuzminski
{Photo Credit}
Six songs into John Mayer’s concert in Chicago, “Assassin” a track from his latest release Battle Studies, began leisurely and was the only song of the fifteen-song set in which Mayer used a hand held microphone as his guitar went unused at first as it hung off his back. Despite the stage’s dizzying array of lights and video screens, the song appeared to lose most of the sold-out crowd despite an impassioned vocal performance. Just as many were about to make headway to the exits for a bathroom break, Mayer pulled his guitar front and center and performed a mouth gaping guitar solo that was spellbinding. As the song wound down, Mayer picked up one of drummer Steve Jordan’s drum sticks and tapped his guitar strings with the stick amplifying a wholly unique sonic texture that reverberated throughout the arena. Watching “Assassins” taught me a valuable lesson about John Mayer; never ever count him out until the final note has been wrung out of his guitar. He’s like Barry Sanders, former running back for the Detroit Lions. A defense could block Sanders twenty straight times, but when he eventually breaks free, he will run for nearly one-hundred yards. Mayer may take chances that appear self-seeking but in the end, he continually manages to pull you in with either the minimalism of the song being performed or the sheer awesomeness of his musical capacity.
Capping the first leg of his tour in support of his fourth studio record, Battle Studies(forty-seven dates in all), John Mayer and his band performed for well over two-hours at the United Center breaking curfew and delivering a show no one will soon forget. A large curtain inaugurated the show, draped on all three sides of the stage, pulled back to reveal a brooding John Mayer carefully strumming his six-string and tenderly invigorating his whammy bar for the desired effect on the evening’s opener, “Heartbreak Warfare”. The distinctive echo his chords proved to be audacious as you wouldn’t expect the mid-tempo number to absorb the crowd the same way a full tilt rocker would. Alas, John Mayer has an inexplicable gift to fuse his pop leanings with his veneration of the blues. While a virtuosic talent with his guitar, he never allows his skills to diminish the material and only flexes his talent if it suits the song. “Warfare” flourished as an opener and was understated but persuasive enough to make you take notice. Mayer balanced his set list with delicate care, without ever falling into the typical traps that hinder arena shows. The sing-a-longs didn’t feel forced (“No Such Thing”) and the deeper album cuts (“Good Love Is On The Way”) made you want to revisit the respective albums they came from. Even the vast stage didn’t feel intrusive. A large screen encompassed the back of the stage while the aforementioned drape that covered the stage at the beginning of the show and encores was really the only prop. However, the stage had enough of a personality to be welcoming to those in the upper regions while being intimate enough so it suited the songs and never drew attention away from them. Despite the concert taking place in an arena, Mayer and his band performed with straightforwardness almost as if they were in a basement jamming for their own pleasure. The steadiness with which the band delivers the material is a lesson in musicianship. The performance wasn’t the least bit icy but gripped you and the euphoric rise of the music was felt not just by the crowd, but the musicians as well.
Mayer has picked his touring band the same way a distinguished actor associates himself with great directors. Consisting of five musicians and two backing vocalists, they exemplify greatness. It’s one thing to deliver note-for-note song recreations and it’s another to breathe life into the material, which is what they did. Following Mayer’s cues and the band brings an edge to his material one couldn’t have foreseen. Anyone can listen to someone recreate what is on the record, but to show your audience a different side of the song is something that will ingrain and endear the performance to them for all time. “Bigger Than My Body” features sci-fi meets cotton candy guitar riff while the chorus is sweet enough to riddle your teeth with cavities while “Perfectly Lonely” featured some marvelous guitar work from Mayer that was anything but ostentatious. The song features enough sheen to intrigue the casual listener yet brawn proves to be an integral ingredient that allows it to standout from standard pop fare. Few acts can bring to life the ancestry of R&B, soul and Chess Records without losing the masses in the process, but Mayer and his band finds a way to reshape and balance all of these components.
“Half of My Heart” opened with some lines from Bob Dylan’s “Just Like A Woman” and ended with a rousing rendering of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”, both of which stayed true to the beat and music of “Half of My Heart”. It’s one thing to do a cover in concert and something else entirely to incorporate these classic successful into your own repertoire, with distinctive flavoring. This was further evidenced by a subtle rendering of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’”. Mayer is a genuine fan of music and whenever he pays homage to another act, you sense the love and admiration he has for the music and as a result, so does everyone else. Despite everything that is written about Mayer, he is a musician first and foremost. “Stop This Train” was done by Mayer solo and alone. As he gently plucked his acoustic guitar and serenaded the crowd, I watched the audience. From those on the floor to the upper regions of the arena, everyone was entranced. He segued into the Simon and Garfunkel classic “Homeward Bound” towards the end and when he finished, there wasn’t anyone in their seats. John Mayer’s career to this point is nothing short of astounding. Make no mistake, the early pop hits and his good looks helped him in the door, but without the songs to back him up, he wouldn’t have a career that continues to take him to new heights. His music is more suited for coffee shops and tiny blues clubs, but due to some force of nature, he was able to sell-out seventeen-thousand seats and still finds a way to crisscross between multiple genres of music while staying true to his own vision.
Despite his charming demeanor, good looks and virtuosic talents that seduce your aural impulses, John Mayer is a wise musician whose music recurrently dodges shame and continues to progress in ways no one deemed possible. This is always to sign of a lasting artist of great significance. As he was about to perform “Why Georgia”, the final song in the main set, he address and thanked the Chicago crowd and reminisced about his beginnings in Chicago when he played Schubas, the Metro and the House of Blues in a charismatic manner, but it was something else that seized my attention and reverence. He told the crowd, “It’s not what I’ve found, but what I am seeking that has brought you all here”. As long as he continues to grow and make distinguished music, everyone in attendance will be there with him as he continues his philosophical journey where music will light the way.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door ,can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be found on Twitter
