Music I love: John Mayer

The only album of John Mayer's that I've ever bought right when it was released was Continuum. I wasn't a fan of his at first - I liked "No Such Thing" because it was released sorta close to my 2000 high school graduation, but I found "Your Body Is A Wonderland" to be one of the more annoying songs to ever hit the radio. Sure, if I was in a silly, girly mood I could tolerate it, and even see how people could think it was cute. But I didn't go to my local Target for Room For Squares until a friend of mine played "3x5" for me. It was summer 2002 and I had just come home from my semester in Italy and living on my own, and "3x5" reminded me of how much I craved that independence of doing my own thing. I listened to the album, learned all the lyrics (as I am known to do), and then forgot about it for a while, dismissing it as too "pop" to listen to on a regular basis.

Next came the 2003 Maroon 5/John Mayer show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. At the time, I was a HUGE fan of Maroon 5, and my primary motivation to going to the concert was to see them. John Mayer headlined to promote his new album, Heavier Things, and I think I even (gasp) fell asleep for a minute or two during his show. I hadn't bought his new album, so I didn't know the songs, and I'd never seen him live before. But, he was funny when he told stories in between songs, and his guitar playing was crazy good. And once the concert was over, I was going to my local Target store for Heavier Things. Once again, his lyrics "reached out" to me (I put that in quotation marks because it seems so cliched). But at that point, I still wouldn't consider myself a "John Mayer FAN."

I started thinking there might be more to this John Mayer fella when I came home for lunch one day in late 2004/early 2005 and cosmicly caught "John Mayer Has A TV Show" on VH1. I remember watching it, nearly peeing my pants with laughter, and thinking, "Ok, this guy is pretty fucking rad." (You can see for yourself below)

And finally, what sealed the deal of me being a John Mayer FAN was the John Mayer Trio album. I got it off of iTunes in early 2006, too late for the tour. But it's a great album, and I have loved John Mayer ever since.

I bought Continuum (from Target, of course) the day it came out. I saw him in September 2006 with Sheryl Crow. I saw both Hollywood Bowl shows in July 2007. And then I bought tickets for Mayercraft 2008, where I enjoyed not one, not two, but THREE performances. ALL of them kicked major ass. And all of them proved that John Mayer is a fantastic musican and performer who will stick around for a long time. (As long as he doesn't tattoo himself to death)

I think that my favorite John Mayer songs are still the ones you don't hear on the radio. I've posted videos of two of my favorites here:

John Mayer & John Scofield performing "I Don't Need No Doctor" on Leno.

John Mayer & Herbie Hancock "Stiched Up" at Bonnaroo 2005 - it's a super short clip, but you get the idea.

I am fully aware that not everyone likes John Mayer's music, or his style, or how he looks, or the tattoos that he gets. He's definitely not everyone's cup of tea, and that's totally fine. But you can't deny that he's a funny motherfucker, or that he has guitar skills I would never even dream of possessing.

And though I might not be considered John Mayer's "biggest" fan, and though I'm not one of the fans that goes to hundreds of shows, and though I'm not always too keen on how he usually lets his button up shirt unbutton to reveal half of his chest at his shows, I'll be getting tickets for this year's tour, as well as to any other shows I can wrangle. And you will most likely find me on Mayercraft 2009, braving the throngs of girls in short shorts and couples waving and maybe even the Borat suit. Because John Mayer is awesome. If you ask me, that is.