Anyone who went to last nights John Mayer show expecting a slew of one hit singles from his past would have been pretty disappointed. A two-year battle involving multiple surgeries on his vocal cords halted any promotion of the singer’s album Born And Raised, and now Mayer seems unable to reach the same range some of his older songs demanded. However, that problem took little away from the relaxing groove of his songs or the ferocity of the bluesy guitar solos. He didn’t break out “Say,” “Daughters,” “Vultures” or many of the other songs that would likely be found on a greatest hits album. He wants to move away from the pop artist status into the realm of experienced songwriter, and it’s working. Since the early 2000s many of us have grown up listening to his music. Whether it’s speaking to our hopeless political aspirations in “Waiting On the World To Change,” or asking “who says I can’t get stoned,” John Mayer writes for a young audience and now he’s asked us to mature with him.

This article appears in Aug 7-13, 2013.

4 replies on “John Mayer steers clear of his hits at Blossom”

  1. disappointing. I’ve been at shows where the band asked “how do you guys like our new stuff” and are met with some lukewarm cheers. there is a bit of awkwardness as the band laughs, then pumps out mainly their old stuff for the crowd. this is called “playing to the audience”.
    this should have been the case with John Mayer.

  2. Good review….wanted to mention though that he has been performing Vultures on this tour just didn’t do it last night. He changes up his set list quite frequently.

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