John Mayer at the Xcel 3/2/10
by Scott Lyson
“Half of My Heart” was one of the centerpieces of John Mayer’s 110 min set at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Tuesday night. A new song from his latest album, “Battle Studies.” John Mayer is an interesting figure. My first impression was that of teenage pop-star, who writes silly love songs to impress the ladies. I recall seeing him perform “Daughters” at the Grammy Awards and rolling my eyes. In 2004 Mayer performed at Eric Clapton’s first Crossroads Guitar Festival, and is featured on that DVD release. I still didn’t think much of his music, but the interviews he did on the DVD did catch my attention. He seemed to really know the history of blues musicians, SRV, Hendrix, and how contemporary musicians fit in to the story of blues music.
Not long after that appearance at Clapton’s Crossroads Festival, he formed the John Mayer Trio with Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino and put out a live album (TRY!) that I really enjoy. Mayer’s next studio album heavily featured the Trio members. I think that album “Continuum” is a solid album and I decided to see Mayer at the Xcel back in February of 07. About half of that concert I really thought was great, but there were those silly love songs that I could’ve really done without. So, at this point in Mayer’s career I enjoy about half of his work. His collaborations with Buddy Guy, B.B. King, and Clapton, and his Trio work gave me hope that he’d have those influences be more conspicuous in his solo work.
Mayer started his set at the Xcel with the “Heartbreak Warfare” which seemed like a great opener. Then came the highlight of the night for me, when Mayer threw on a Gibson and played the classic Robert Johnson song “Crossroads.” The rhythm section, with Steve Jordan on drums, really seemed to overpower the guitars, but Mayer played a tight solo and then jammed with guitarist Robbie McIntosh for an all too short performance of the classic blues number. Next came an acoustic guitar, and the crowd erupted when Mayer began to play “Why Georgia.” The crowd was far from a sell-out crowd, but the mostly younger female audience was very enthusiastic and couldn’t wait for some of his earlier material.
From this point on, the setlist seemed to alternate between softer, more affectionate numbers and then thicker, groovier numbers, with Mayer really playing to the crowd at points. During “Assassin” he came out from behind the stage, after fetching a new guitar, and sang to the folks on one side of the arena, where a mic stand was placed and then heading to the opposite side to conclude the number. Then the band left the stage, and Mayer played “In Your Atmosphere” alone and then guitarists Robbie McIntosh and David Ryan Harris joined for the next number, Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin.;” Both of these songs were performed on the “Where The Light Is” release and on that release they were much stronger performances.
Mayer introduced the second half of the set by having ‘groove-master’ Steve Jordan solo on drums as they segued into “Waiting On The World To Change.” Midway through the keyboardist took a solo, that didn’t quite fit in with the song. Another new song “Edge Of Desire followed, and then “Belief” which featured some great slide playing from McIntosh and licks from Mayer himself. It seemed to be a crowd favorite. The set concluded with “Gravity.” A song that  usually allows for some fine guitar playing, but it was lackluster and a bit disappointing. The crowd seemed to disagree and cheered enthusiastically for an encore.
Mayer concluded with “Who Says” and the ubiquitous “No Such Thing.” Two songs I’d very much like to do without. From my point-of-view, Mayer seems to be back to his more pop-oriented ways and although there were moments that he seemed to be full of potential as a blues-rock artist, he seemed to keep his focus on his younger female core audience. Unlike his 07 appearance at the Xcel, he didn’t leave me with much to be excited about.
2 out of 5 stars.
(0 out of 5 stars for opening act Michael Franti and Spearhead ~ no further comment)
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