Every human has flaws. Perhaps John Mayer’s are more pronounced because of his celebrity: the world has heard too many of his clueless ramblings about sex and race on his Twitter page and in recent “Playboy” interviews. But when Mayer used his mouth to sing rather than babble incoherently, those of us in attendance at the Verizon Center last Saturday remembered why we came.
Mayer may not seem terribly stable when he speaks off the cuff, but when he picks up his guitar and plays he certainly knows what he’s doing and how to express himself.
After a long but cheery set from guest act Michael Franti and Spearhead, Mayer opened with “Heartbreak Warfare,” the first track off his “Battle Studies” album. As he shifted to older songs such as “No Such Thing” and “Comfortable,” it was clear the concert would be a pleasant blend from his old and new repertoire.
Mayer took liberties as he added various riffs and guitar solos to already popular and recognizable songs– a trademark of his live shows. He effortlessly played through popular songs “Waiting on the World to Change” and “Half of my Heart,” and drove a mean guitar on “Neon.” He also played along with his music video of “Who Says” which was projected around the stage on a mosquito-like net. And he showed off his strumming skills by playing his guitar on “Gravity” while it lay flat on the ground.
Mayer brought a little of verbal nonsense to the show, too. He joked about devoting his time to building a “helloboat,” a contraption he described as a combination of a helicopter and a boat. The music is one thing, the man another – and yes, you have to learn to separate the one from the other.
But he did seem genuinely grateful to the crowd that came out to hear him.
“Everyone one of you bought a ticket, and that wasn’t just a ticket, that was a ticket out of a really bad day, of a really bad week, of a really bad month,” he said.
Fact is, crazy as he seems, he was right: for those two hours, he transported you from whatever was getting you down. Despite what the odd man may say, that’s what a brilliant artist can do.
