John Mayer - Kansas City - 7/27/04 - Verizon Amphitheater Aug 02 '04 (Updated Aug 07 '04)    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music The Dirtchamber Sessions, Vol. 1 by The Prodigy From $11 Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast From $8 The Bottom Line Suprisingly good. I never thought I’d end up at a John Mayer concert. The guy just never did anything for me. “I wanna run through the halls of my high school. I wanna scream at the top of my lungs…” & “I’m bigger than my body gives me credit for.” He just has a lot of lyrics that I can’t take seriously. …“She’s always buzzing, like Neon, Neon.” What can I say? It just doesn’t speak to me. But, my friend won free John Mayer tickets and couldn’t find anyone to go with him, so I thought I’d give it a shot. If nothing else, we could say sarcastic things to each other and have a fun time. The prospect of being around a bunch of screaming junior high girls didn’t excite me a whole lot. Here’s what I was expecting (I apologize if you’re a Jr. high girl, I really have nothing against you)… Lots of 8th and 9th grade girls with their hands in the air screaming at John…then, Johnny looks cute and waves. More yelling. More waving. Your Body Is a Wonderland. And, then we’d head home. I was in for a pleasant surprise. D.J. Logic was the first opening act. His record spinning accompanied us as we walked around and checked out the concessions stands and hit the bathrooms. We made it back to our seats for Maroon 5's excellent set. The stagehands were very prompt getting rid of Maroon 5's props and getting John Mayer’s gear on the stage. Then, just as it was getting pretty dark out John and his band took the stage. The show started out good, but nothing too special was happening. You could tell John liked to perform. That was immediately evident from the passion behind his guitar playing. But, I didn’t feel like I was seeing anything out of the ordinary. I think a good concert makes you feel like you were lucky to be there because what you saw will never be repeated again. So, while he playing My Stupid Mouth I was thinking that it was good, but it sounds like something he’s played 100 times before. The show took a turn for the better with his next song, Something's Missing. With Something's Missing I finally got the feeling that he was giving Kansas City some special treatment. What made it special was just a brief guitar solo, but it seemed like it was truly from the heart. At that point, I was expecting this song to be the best performance of the night. I was still underestimating what John could do. Instead of being the best song of the night, it was just a small taste of what was to come. The next two songs were good, especially Daughters, but the concert made its big turning point when he asked Kansas City if they liked the blues. He then went into about a 10-minute blues jam that had everybody’s attention. This is impressive, because there was a wide age-range represented at the show. It takes some good blues to keep a crowd’s attention, no matter what the age. But, with a crowd this varied, I thought it would be impossible. I was expecting a mass exodus to the concession stand, but instead everybody stayed put. (I was sitting about 40 rows back, I don’t know what was happening behind me.) John’s blues solo kept everyone jamming along and brought lots of applause when he finished. I was pretty floored that John Mayer could play the blues so well. I’ve seen a lot of blues shows here in Kansas City, and I feel like I have a pretty good ear for good and bad blues. This was good stuff that he was playing. Lucky for me, his best blues licks were going to show up in the next song. The next song John introduced by saying, “This is my blues song”. He started playing Come Back To Bed which led into an even better blues solo than the one leading up to it. This one seemed less rehearsed and more personal. If I had to pick the best song of the night, I think I would pick this one. The show continued with stand-out song after stand-out song. For Your Body Is A Wonderland, DJ Logic came out to do whatever it is that DJs do with their records. John and DJ Logic had a cool rhythm going at the end of the song, which made the song worth mentioning. John closed with Bigger Than My Body, and even though I think the lyrics are a little corny for anyone who’s graduated high school, I sang along with everyone and had a good time. For the encore, John back came out and sang three acoustic songs for us. The first one was an acoustic version of Come Back To Bed, which he said he was recording that night to put on a CD. It was sounded pretty good to me; it featured a cool whistling section in the middle. He told us that he thought it was the first time that he’d played the same song twice in a setlist; we got to hear it once with the band and once acoustic. David Ryan Harris, guitarist from the band, came out for the final song of the night, Neon. This guy had proved himself to be an excellent musician (singer and guitar player) through the course of the show and he ended the night on a high note playing some excellent riffs after John set him loose. All in all it was a great night. I plan on taking my wife the next time John comes to town. His concert was thoroughly enjoyable. It was just what I was in the mood for after a crazy time at O.A.R. the night before. John Mayer’s show was exciting, while at the same time chilled out and relaxing. And, it was a night full of great music performed by talented musicians. You can’t ask for much more at a concert. So, take it from me, a guy who never liked John Mayer much (and who still isn’t crazy about a lot of the radio songs), give John a try if he comes close to you. He puts on a good concert and I bet you’ll think it was worth your money. Setlist Clarity Why Georgia Split Screen Sadness My Stupid Mouth Something's Missing No Such Thing Daughters Blues Jam Come Back To Bed Back To You 3x5 Inner City Blues Your Body is a Wonderland Bigger Than My Body Come Back To Bed (solo) Comfortable (solo) Neon (JM and DRH)

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