john mayer owns.

kar got us tix to see mayer last night in Darien, NY. i'll describe a situation. put yourself there:

we got there a bit late. lots of traffic, road work, etc. so we park at the very back of the lot and we're running full out to try to get to the shed. we can hear him from a long way off. 'waiting on the world to change'. sounds good. real good. we get to the gate just as the song is ending. it's late. 9:30pm. dark.. pitch black. and when we walk around the corner, we walk into the amphitheatre, the stage is lit blue, pale, from the back. the band is in the shadows.. dropping a big groove. one of those heavy ones. JJ johnson is the drummer, and he has those really heavy grooves. and John is in the middle. he's got a followspot from above, and he's sortof leaning left a bit, looking straight up into the light.. that white glow, right? and he's just cutting hard into this heavy solo...

that's an image that you don't really see any more. we're past the age of the 'guitar god', you know? we don't have guitar gods anymore. the 60s, 70s... that was all about guitar gods. and that's been lost in the age of power chords and octave leads.

it was such a fantastic night. so musical. john is really the best thing going on guitar right now. mindblowing, really. it's crazy to see someone on a stage that big, in a scenario that, high pressure, and he just goes for it. his talent is huge. bigger, i think, than he can fit into a particular song. it's teh type of thing where, really, he belongs in the trio. it's probably where he's his best. or maybe sharing a stage with clapton and buddy guy and steve gadd or something.

one thing to note:

i couldn't help but notice how things changed depending on what was being played on stage. when the band was playing john's pop tunes.. heck, when John was playing his pop tunes, he looked almost disinterested. so did they. like.. just.. going through it. but man, that place came alive when they launched into a slow blues. everybody just stepped it up to another level. good stuff.

also, highlight of the show was when some girl in the audience held up a sign listing all teh songs she wanted him to play.. sortof a personal setlist. and he says... 'well.. that's way to many songs, but.. you know, i don't like to be trumped, so, of course, i'm gonna do it..' and then he goes ahead and plays about 5 seconds of 20 of his hits right then and there.. it was sweet.

everybody listen to more John Mayer.

going to the zoo tomorrow with nik and kristina. gonna see the polar bear.

J