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Show Review: John Mayer

FINALLY.

An artist who has been on my must-see list since high school. A songwriter whose songs I've been singing for more than a decade. A musician whose guitar sound is unmatched.
Mr. +John Mayer, ladies and gentlemen! 
via www.spinningplatters.com
One day back in March my (then) coworker ran to my desk with exciting news.
"Groupon is running a deal on tickets to see John Mayer!" she exclaimed. "Tickets are $15!!!"
Fifteen dollars? Really? For the whole show?! 
Sold. 

So we purchased our Groupons nine months in advance and waited anxiously for October to roll around. In the meantime, Johnny boy released another album, Paradise Valley which was a step back in the right direction, opposite the mountain sound of Born & Raised. The old John Mayer is making a comeback, and it was evident during the show. 

We trekked down to San Diego surviving a car accident and the antics of a doggie that doesn't enjoy long car rides (poor Sammie). We made it with enough time to drink a bit before heading to the show at the Sleep Train Amphitheater. 

We missed +Phillip Phillips, the opener, but none of us were terribly upset about that. Brianna and I snagged a funnel cake (heaven!) right as the lights went down for John Mayer. The venue was big and open, you could see all of the stars. At first the weather was perfect, but then the bottom dropped out and it got pretty damn chilly. But not cold enough to make us leave. Our $15 tickets got us general admission on the upper lawn. Mayer named us 'Lawn People' which was endearing...I think. The pictures I took proved we were pretty far away, but you could still hear everything clear as a bell. Seeing him in an outdoor venue was tops. 

Mayer peppered in a lot of the old favorites, but avoided the ones that were overplayed. For example there was no 'Your Body Is a Wonderland' but he did play 'No Such Thing'. I made it through my favorite John Mayer tune, 'Slow Dancing In A Burning Room,' without bawling like a baby. He played the Tom Petty cover Free Fallin' which I LOVE even more than the original. He played the best tunes from Born & Raised and Paradise Valley. He thanked us for making his older songs classics, or, as he called them, "v-neck t-shirts". The man sure does ramble. It's cute on the albums, but when you're sitting outdoors in low 60 weather with wind you pray that he shuts up and starts playing. Luckily the break for the encore wasn't horrendous. He came back out and ended with Gravity.

Via www.utsandiego.com
The best thing about his live show was guessing which song he was intro-ing. Everything sounded different than the originally recorded song and even different from his live recordings. And the JAMS. When he just took each song and ran with them? Man I loved it. It was like a game trying to figure out what he was doing on that guitar. 

Oh, what DOES he do on that guitar? The sound is like no other. And his facial expressions kill me. You know he's putting every ounce of himself into what he's playing. True art. Painting pictures through sound.

The rumors are true: John Mayer does not disappoint. So happy to check that one off the list...it was long overdue. 

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