John Mayer’s latest release, his third, a studio album Continuum, is relentlessly pristine and devoid of raw emotion to the point that I find listening to it rather difficult. His live show on the other hand overflows with intense emotion and energy that the time with him passes too quickly. The gig at the Enmore Theatre on Friday 3rd October was awe-inspiring. His guitar playing talents were spectacular and his vocals powerful due to the subtle variations of his placement of emphasis, as compared to that of the recorded tunes.
John Mayer and his band are highly consummate performers. All the musicians were compelling, even as much as the members of The Mars Volta for instance, as each band member (Mayer, three other guitarists, one keys player, a drummer and two brass and woodwind instrumentalists) was deeply entranced and passionate about what he was creating. Despite the spotlight shining on Mayer for the majority of the night, the other musicians would comfortably interact with each other and Mayer. Mayer made it obvious that the night was not at all about him, but rather the music and the collective, evident in the lyrics of his latest single Waiting For The World.
The set started with a booming version of Bigger Than My Body. The sound was most definitely thunderous as I was outside and only arriving at the venue at that point in time! It was nine o’clock, the time one usually arrives for a gig, particularly at the Enmore and furthermore on a Friday night. In addition to my dismay of missing the dreamy, ambient support band, The Hampdens, I walk in and find that half of the crowd have brought their cameras and are happily snapping away. Although irked about not having my camera, it does say something credible about John Mayer and his opinion on sharing images and recordings.
After my angst had subsided, it appears that by the uber-long guitar introduction of the second song, Vultures, the sound had been adjusted too. One of the highlights came early in the night when Mayer said that the next song he’s going to play was “one of the first songs I wrote that I’ve ever been happy with at that time”. Clarity was then executed with perfection but not as a mere replication of that on the album Heavier Things. Mayer gave the audience vocal variations, additional guitar segments and combined with the other musicians, Clarity had a somewhat colossal feel.
However, as much as Mayer gave to the audience, it occurred to me that many of them did not give as much back. Sure there was the typical squealing at all the romantic parts of his songs and also a tremendous response after the set, but during the moments where Mayer completely loses himself in the music, his guitar embellishments, I noticed people around me would sit down and were completely impartial. The prime example was during Slow Dancing In A Burning Room where he truly showed off his talent and demonstrated to the audience why he has played with the likes of blues masters B.B. King and Eric Clapton. Much of the crowd surrounding me appeared disinterested when he grabbed an audience member’s mobile and filmed his finger movements for about a minute and then jokingly said “this had better be up on You Tube tomorrow”.
Mayer was complimentary to the audience and to Sydney, and before his last song he announced humbly, “Thank you for giving us a career here”. I really did believe him though after his delicately performed final song, I’m Gonna Find Another You, when he couldn’t get himself away from his guitar. He started to put it down but then grabbed a drum stick and played the guitar with it as the guitar was hanging over his shoulder like a bag. After the audience thought the long, crazy, inspired jam session was over he placed the guitar in its stand yet still did not stop playing.
The encore combined the earnest tune Belief and the extremely upbeat No Such Thing, his first hit single. The Enmore Theatre was buzzing and before we knew it he was happily signing cds and posters and had departed. The gig was possibly a bit short however the audience was given a glimpse of John Mayer’s exceptional talent.
Check out the photos from the gig here
