John Mayer, TSB Arena Wellington

[mr_sooty]

Just came home from this gig, thought I'd post some feedback.

Like many people, I have a kind of wierd love/hate thing going on with John Mayer. He seems like a bit of a twit, and I didn't like any of his early radio hits at all. Then I discovered how good a guitarist he was, my mind was somewhat changed. I personally really rate him as one of the best players around today. So that's what I was going for, the guitar playing. Plus I quite like SOME of his music, so it seemed like a win win. And I figured he'd have a phat band.

To me though, the show was overall rather dull. The opening act was certainly nothing particularly memorable - apologese to anyone who knows her. She was a good singer with some nice songs, but had only half a band (no rhythm section) and it just wasn't particularly exciting. Kind of like a good busking act on cuba street.

Then we waited for an eternity for the actual show to start.

There were some cool songs at the beginning, I enjoyed slow dancing in a burning room and a couple of other favourites. He also did a mean redition of Crossroads which featured some pretty innovative playing during the intro. That was definitely one of the nights (few) highlights. But there was a huge block in the middle, where he played nothing but new stuff - or at least, stuff I've never heard. I wouldn't mind that he played new stuff, if it was cool, but it was all rather dull. It was kinda like listening to 'The Breeze' (radio station) with pictures. The best part of this block was when he broke into Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. Actually, that kind of made me wish I'd spent my money on going to see Fleetwood Mac.

It seemed like the old offsider, you know, the guitarist who looks kinda like Father Jack, played more solos than JM during his part. Granted, he's a fine guitarist in his own right, but that's not who we were there to see.

During the obligatory encore things got a little more interesting, and he finished with Gravity, which is a song I actually really like. Gravity always features a big solo, and he wailed for that one. I was like 'finally, this is what I came here for'. But by that time I was kinda over it and ready to go home. Gotta say though, that black custom shop relic Strat sounds beautiful, definitely the nicest sounding of his Strats.

The FOH sound wasn't the best, a little bass heavy, and it just seemed like the sound guy didn't quite have it nailed. It was far from terrible though, quite bearable.

I was in a reasonable position to see all the amps etc, but I really didn't recognise most of the gear. There was an interesting looking Marshall clone, something that looked a little like a Divided by 13 but probably wasn't, and some snazzy looking speaker cabs that I've never seen before. The two extra guitarists both had big PT Pro boards, but I couldn't see JM's board.

Guitar-wise, JM played a few Strats, but it was certainly less of a Strat-fest than I expected. He also used a Duesenberg Double Cat, a tele, one of those fancy La Cabronita Tele's, an SG, and one of those odd little brown guitars that Lyndsay Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac uses (Turner?).

Father Jack also used a Doozy Double Cat, and well, there were a ton of other guitars too.

I won't say I was completely dissapointed. The concert was basically exactly what I expected, nothing more, nothing less. Most of the people I was with thoroughly enjoyed it, and I seemed to be one of the few who wasn't completely into it. I was kind of the kill joy when everybody was coming up to me and saying 'wow, how awesome was that?', and I was a bit...meh.

Part of it was that I went to see John Mayall last week, not expecting anything much, and was quite blown away. John Mayalls band were a class act compared to Mayers in my opinion. Mayer's musos were very proffesional and polished, but definitely lacked the pizzaz of Mayalls line up. The drum sound at the Mayer concert wasn't a patch on the Mayall drummers amazing sound.

One of the big surprises was actually how entertaining and funny Mayer was in between songs. He always seems like such a knob on the DVD's and in interviews, but he was quite cool. What wasn't cool, was his choice of clothes. He looked like Kirk Cameron in Growing Pains, or Chandler in the first season of friends, or anything alse circa 1991. Baggy slacks with skate shoes, a shirt, and a goofy suit jacket. I'm pretty sure he just didn't bother doing anything with his hair.

Anyway, moderately entertaining, some great guitar playing, but make sure you have a coffee before you go see him, or else you might find yourself drifting off a bit, like I did, or worse, surfing the net on your phone.

[Hot_Grits]

A very polished yet slightly dull John Mayer concert?

-didn't see that one coming.

The farmer bloke is Robbie Mcintosh. And he's pretty much better than all of us. Previous gigs have included the Pretenders and McCartney.

[mr_sooty]

A very polished yet slightly dull John Mayer concert?

-didn't see that one coming.

The farmer bloke is Robbie Mcintosh. And he's pretty much better than all of us. Previous gigs have included the Pretenders and McCartney.

Yeah, like I said, it was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be. I agree, Robbie is an excellent guitarist, but I'm just saying he probably got a bit too much of the lime-light given that he wasn't the star attraction.

[Bg]

shame... this months uk guitarist mag had a run down of his current gear, I'll dig it out if you want.

Glad I'm not going after the previous JM let down I had this month, but hey we all have preconceptions...

[mr_sooty]

... this months uk guitarist mag had a run down of his current gear, I'll dig it out if you want.

I'd be quite interested in that actually. It was all very boutiquey. Actually I'm more interested in finding out what the amp was that Robbie was using, and what the fancy speaker cabs were that guitarist number 3 was using.

[mr_sooty]

Answer number one, Jackson Ampworks:
http://www.jacksonampworks.com/general/ ... r-concert/

[rickenbackerkid]

I was there and I would give the gig a wee bit more credit. Sound was actually really good, except for a MASSIVE kick drum sound that was way overkill. From experience, the TSB is one of the worst venues for sound I can think of, the PA crew did a commendable job.

Yes, there were a few less 'wow' moments in there but all together it was a great show and the band were certainly ace. I wasn't blown away by John's playing - there was quite a bit of blues box walloping, which I didn't think was particularly clever or interesting. However I was blown away by the guitar playing of Robbie and Ryan, brilliant sensitivity and tone.

The opening act was pathetic and the show was a bit short, otherwise, it was great.

[slash-ed]

Glad I didn't pick up a ticket out of morbid curiosity.

[rickenbackerkid]

One other thing - someone really needs to buy John a Noise Gate - obviously his guitar was cranked, and during pauses in solo's, you could hear a huge ZZZZZZZZXXXXSSSSSSSSSZSSSSSSSXXXXXXZSSSZXX.

I was a bit surprised by that.

[Rog]

Chugg Entertainment is pleased to announce that singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lisa Crawley is to open for John Mayer at his Wellington show next Tuesday 27th April.

A unique talent in New Zealand, Lisa has travelled the world with her music and since having returned to NZ last year she has kept herself busy recording and playing live, quickly re-establishing herself as a known presence in the Auckland music scene. Most recently she wowed the crowd supporting Jools Holland and played the Auckland Town Hall. She has recently released her second EP “Hello, Goodbye, and Everything Inbetween”, the keenly anticipated follow up to her first EP “Shoot The Night”.

Lisa will play with her 3 piece band at the TSB Bank Arena in Wellington. With a live show that incorporates elements of jazz, country, pop, indie and a charmingly dry wit, Lisa Crawley will be the perfect addition to John Mayers’ performances.

[mr_sooty]

I was there and I would give the gig a wee bit more credit. Sound was actually really good, except for a MASSIVE kick drum sound that was way overkill. From experience, the TSB is one of the worst venues for sound I can think of, the PA crew did a commendable job....and the show was a bit short, otherwise, it was great.

Admitedly I wasn't in a great spot for sound. Just about everybody else I talked to really liked it, so I'm pretty much in the minority.

[GATGIRL]

I actually thought Lisa was the highlight of the night! Have never heard of her before but thought her performance was outstanding...

As for JM, like mr_sooty I found most of it rather dull and was basically ready to go before the encore. Maybe my expectations were set very high, and I also noticed he didn't seem to play for that long, probably the same amount of time that he kept us waiting

I was a huge fan but felt a little let down... ho hum...

[handlefras]

There is no doubt lisa crawley has talent, but Sooty's comparison to Cuba St busking was spot on. The Thomas Oliver Band would have made a great opening act- would have loved to see that. Mayer started with 'No Such Thing' which was ok, but built quickly into 'Crossroads' with a cool tapping/slapping sort of intro and then 'Vultures' which may have been my highlight of the night. It went steadly downhill from here, the song selection tailored for the fifteen year old girls in the crowd, with plenty of unremarkable ballads from the new album. I was entertained when JM asked for song requests from the crowd, then produced an impromptu 'new' song on the spot with lyrics to match (anyone remember them?). "These are the words to my chorus" or something. It had definately been rehearsed though.

Soundwise: the drums were too loud in the mix where I was (directly in front of the left speaker tower) and it was impossible to hear any keys. At one point inbetween acoustic songs there was a lot of hum/feedback and JM stopped and tapped on a pedal. The hum stopped, he muttered "chorus" (i think) and then switched it back on again.

For my ticket price I was disappointed. Wish there was more interaction with the band, jamming and individual soloing. He showed glimpses of what hes got, but not enough for me. Maybe one day he will do a dedicated "blues tour" and I would be there.

[bluesbass]

The guy has knobbed Jessica Simpson... give him a break

[thehenderson]

Did he bring the bruesbreakers with him?