During his gig at the Marcus Amphitheater last night, John Mayer showed his audience multiple aspects of his personality and talent, from down-to-earth acoustic pop musician to enviably gifted blues guitarist to full-on rocker.
Even though the evening started off with a few short but heavy downpours, the venue was very well attended – just short of packed – with enthusiastic Mayer fans ranging from teens to the parents of teens.
Mayer acknowledged his cheering fans multiple times, seeming to be truly grateful for their appreciation of his music and their loyalty despite the fact he has not toured in a year.
"I know you’re not just here to hear the hits … You’re all here to see what I’ve been up to," he said.
Mayer, whose left arm is now adorned with an entire tattoo "sleeve," wore jeans and a black T-shirt which was stained with sweat by the fifth song – a testament to his energetic delivery. He played Fender electric guitars, occasionally switching to an acoustic Martin.
Mayer opened with "Bigger Than My Body," and went on to play – with the accompaniment of a seven-piece band – "Stitched Up" (which features Herbie Hancock on the studio recording), "I Don’t Trust Myself," "Crossroads" (an Eric Clapton cover), "Wheel," "Good Love Is On the Way," "Mercy," "Belief," "Vultures," "No Such Thing," "Why Georgia," "Waiting On the World To Change" and "Gravity."
He saved his latest single, "Say (What You Need To Say)" for his encore.
During the mellower, acoustic numbers, Mayer was breathy and melodic, the way he sounded when he started his career, but other tunes represented the harder, more experienced Blues rocker that Mayer has become.
Interestingly, Mayer commented on the unusual facial expressions he makes when he’s performing. (He often looks like he's making an exaggerated frowny face when he's deeply immersed in a song.)
"You all know I make stupid faces when I perform," he said. "It’s been that way since 1999."
Originally, Mayer found success at the South By Southwest music festival in 2000, where he caught the attention of Aware records. In 2001, he released "Room For Squares" which contained singles like "Your Body Is A Wonderland" and "Why Georgia" that launched him to stardom.
His second album, "Heavier Things," received good reviews, and nabbed top spots on numerous charts.
In 2005, Mayer went in a new direction and collaborated with blues greats like Buddy Guy and B.B. King. Later that year, he started rock / blues band the John Mayer Trio.
During his performance, Mayer asked the audience, "Do you like the blues?" and got a huge grin on his face when the crowd clapped and cheered wildly.
In 2006, Mayer released "Continuum." He is working on new material.
When he's not playing music, Mayer writes a column for Esquire called "Music Lessons with John Mayer" and maintains four blogs. Currently, he dates actress Jennifer Aniston.
During the Summerfest performance, Mayer expressed his distaste for Internet articles and the comments they provoke. He said he was making an album with lyrics lifted from the negative comments posted about him, and then broke into a snippet of a song, "He’s a media whore and nothing more."
Sure, Mayer’s face was on a dozen or more Blackberry ads in the amphitheater, but he certainly has enough talent to warrant his sought-after endorsements – and enough success to accept he’s going to get jabbed in cyberspace. Plus, it seems Mayer is dangerously close to biting the hand that feeds him.
"Let me tell you an important piece of information: If it happened on the Internet, it didn’t really happen," he said.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
