On a warm, muggy night in July, the fine citizens in the greater Wilmington area were treated to a show by one of the hottest artists in music right now. It was the 20th of July when John Mayer brought his bluesy, acoustic/electric jams to the Delaware waterfront. Mayer has it all right now. His Room for Squares is selling (currently the number 23 on the Billboard 200 at press time); his single "No Such Thing" is all over the radio as well as the charts (18 on Billboard Hot 100 and still rising), and he is loved by the ladies for being so darn cute. Mayer has been labeled a Dave Matthews clone, but on this night, he proved that wrong. Having heard a handful of bootlegs, I thought I knew what to expect from the show, but I could not have been more wrong.

   I was shocked to walk into a concert and see that most people were already there to see the time opening act, Res (but then again, its easy when mom is dropping you off). This smooth sounding R&B singer brought back shades of Desiree, but with way more talent. It seemed as if her and her band had been together for a while, as they sounded really tight. She got a decent response from the crowd but it was tough since this was not really her crowd. She was doing her best to win them over. The AC/DC classic "Back in Black" was an interesting choice for a closer….very different sound but still good.

   After a short delay, the lights went dark and a high-pitched shrill hit the air. It was time for John Mayer to hit the stage. Opening with "83", Mayer showed off instantly with his guitar work as well as his keyboard work. A growing (and annoying) trend was starting as John's vocals were easily over powered by what appeared to be the combined vocals of every girl there. Mayer didn't hesitate though as he railed off big songs to start his set. You couldn't ask for a better start to the show than "83," "No Such Thing," "Why Georgia," and "Back To You."

   Like a good performer, Mayer didn't want to finish the crowd off to soon and quieted the mood with "City Love" and "Something's Missing", a new song. John then kicked the band off of the stage. What happened next, shocked the hell out of me. Not that John was covering "Message in a Bottle," but the following is an actual conversation I had….

Hamilton: What a great version of "Message in a Bottle?"
Some Girl: I love that song. It's my favorite song of his.
Hamilton: Who Sting's? The Police?
Some Girl: No, John Mayer's…duuhhhh.

   Now there is never a reason for a guy to hit a giirl, luckily I didn't have to as my girlfriend was there to kick this girl's ass after the show; but the musical ignorance of this girl was amazing. John finished his mini solo set with "Sucker" before bring back Dela (Bass Player David LaBruyere) for an amazing, set-stealing version of "Love Song for No One." Mayer finished strong with "My Stupid Mouth," "Why Did You Mess With Forever," "Your Body is a Wonderland," "Great Indoors," & "3x5." A new song, "Covered in Rain" opened the encore on a slower note followed by the show closer, "Neon," which isn't my favorite song but sounded very good live.

   The show wasn't all great though; there were some problems with it. This was just a bad venue for John Mayer, but then again, I am probably spoiled from seeing him at the TLA in Philadelphia back in February. The further away from the stage you were, the sound was terrible as you could not hear John's vocals, especially over all the screaming girls. Now I don't care about people singing along at concerts, it can make a show really cool (see Dashboard Confessional, you'll see what I mean), but it really hurt the Mayer show. Upon entering Kahunaville, everyone was giving a colored wristband: yellow for over 21, green for 18 - 21, and the very special and very R. Kelly blue wrist band for those under 18. There was a little too much of the green for my liking but I am just being a prick based on my dealings with the unintelligent non-Sting fan.

   Overall it was a good show though. The only thing that Mayer has in common with Dave Matthews is the crowd they both share. Mayer's obvious Stevie Ray Vaughn influenced guitar work really impressed me. This guy plays a wicked blues guitar. I was not expecting the bluesy feel that his songs took on live. I am really looking forward to the follow up to Room for Squares, as you can hear the changes Mayer is going through both as a guitar player and songwriter. Kenny Wayne Sheppard and Johnny Lang were supposed to be the 'Next big Thing' in blues music, but both have been passed by John Mayer, as his songs have that same pop/rock sense that the late-great Stevie Ray Vaughn had..

Scott Hamilton
EMPYRE Lounge