On Tour: John Mayer in Denver

15 Apr

I love going to concerts, and I tend to go to more live shows than most people. I think I will be obligated to write some posts on the concerts I attend. This summer promises for some amazing concerts – a few that are coming up are La Roux, John Butler Trio, and the Mile High Music Festival.

It’s taken me forever to post about this concert – my apologies about that. I had a difficult time finding the cord that connects my camera to my laptop. Anyway, John Mayer’s March 23rd show at the Pepsi Center in Denver, though marred by an extremely inconvenient and very dangerous blizzard, was truly one of the best Mayer shows I’ve been to so far. I’m unsure of how many times I’ve seen him now – maybe 9 or 10. The 2010 winter tour focuses on Mayer’s fourth studio album, Battle Studies.

This was the setlist from the Denver show:

Heartbreak Warfare
Crossroads
Vultures
No Such Thing
Perfectly Lonely
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
Assassin
Comfortable
Free Falling
Waiting on the World to Change
Half of My Heart > Dreams
Bigger Than My Body
Why Georgia

Encore:

Who Says
Gravity

I would have to say that the highlights were “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room,” simply because that has to be my favorite John Mayer song of all time, and the transition of “Half of My Heart” into Fleetwood Mac’s classic, “Dreams”. The encore was not a surprise – “Who Says” and “Gravity” have been a staple of each show of this tour. I felt that the inclusion of songs like “Bigger Than My Body” and “Waiting on the World to Change” were meant to please fans who do not know every Mayer song, but would know the words to those radio hits. I really don’t care for the song “Perfectly Lonely,” and I’m not sure why. It’s just a little whiny for me. Some songs I would have loved to have heard are “St. Patrick’s Day” and “Wheel.” If you do not know those songs or if you’re on the fence about the musical stylings of John Mayer, those two songs will make you a believer.

I was fortunate enough to have seats in the third row, but I ended up having to go alone due to two factors: an ex-boyfriend who left me high and dry, and a massive blizzard that did not allow me to pick up my sister in Greeley. I ended up meeting two really cool girls from Fort Collins, and the three of us finagled our way onto one of John Mayer’s five tour buses, where I consumed Grey Goose that I assume is somehow provided by Columbia (John’s record label). I didn’t end up taking pictures of the inside of the bus, but it was likely one of the most luxurious tour buses in the world. The seats were upholstered in super-soft leather and flat-screen TV’s adorned every corner. The assortment of food and alcohol available made me want to live on a bus – that bus, specifically. Photos and videos of the show are posted below.