Our 3rd time seeing John Mayer in a span of 2 weeks proved to be considerably different than the previous shows. Performance wise it was fantastic, but there are some other factors that were not as smashing.
First, I personally did not like the Darien Lake Music Center! Neither did my daughter. We drove almost 5 hours and starting from the beginning we were disappointed in the venue. We had VIP tickets and it wasn’t easy to figure out where the VIP entrance was. Of course this made navigating with my hurt knee that much worse. Then the ladies at the gates really took their jobs seriously. They were digging through purses and patting people down. I was kind of like, are you freaking kidding me? They ended up making my daughter walk all the way back to the car to get rid of our video recorder and her Nikon camera, because no videos and no detachable lens cameras. Which is really a moot point nowadays, isn’t it? With smart phones and Ipads people are all around taking videos and pics . But whatever, she was pretty pissed and it definitely started the night on a wrong note, pardon the pun.
The Music Center is all open and the seats were not at much of an incline therefore, the stage had to be elevated so people could see. This kind of ripped us off in the front row, because you were constantly looking up and a lot of the show you couldn’t see. Whenever John stepped back from his mic my daughter couldn’t see him at all. Not to mention we had a big security fellow standing right in front of us the whole show who had to stand right up against the barrier and block my poor Morgan. As if this place couldn’t get any more ridiculous they allow the press to stand in the way FOREVER!!!!!! I am not joshing you when I say, “Almost the entire time Phillip Phillips was on stage the press were standing on their foot stools blocking anyone sitting or standing in the very front.” See the previous info about the stage being so high and having to look up. Well when you looked up all you saw was photographer’s asses! Fortunately, John Mayer plays much longer so we weren’t blocked for the whole show, but still a good portion of the beginning of his show was also ruined by press. Now I’m all for publicity and letting the press get some shots, but seriously, they weren’t limited at all. Do they have any fucking clue how much money I spent on those tickets? Of course they don’t and they don’t give a rat’s ass either, but let me just say they might cover one of the tickets if they sold a kidney! Anyway, to say it was a truly harrowing beginning to the night would not be an understatement.
John Mayer’s performance was phenomenal as per usual! He kind of acknowledged my daughter while she was jumping up and down he was standing right in front of her and started jumping with her. lol He gave a little speech about how he’s happy people can connect with his music. He played a total of 20 songs including new ones like Paper Doll and Dear Marie and some crowd favorites, Gravity and Vultures. And he did so with the ease and fervor with which we have come to expect from his performances! In essence, HE ROCKED! but…I’m not sure what was going on inside his mind. He didn’t seem “happy.” With that being said, when he has a guitar in his hand I believe he is as comfortable as he can ever be, but he seemed “off” maybe. There was a bit of chit chat, but not nearly as much as we’ve heard from him previously. He smiled and made everyone feel his “love.” lol Still something that I am unable to put my finger on didn’t seem quite right. He never threw out the one “I Love You Too” that he’s become so well known for. I thought this was odd. But what was even more bizarre was at the end of the show after the encore where he normally bows with the entire band everyone just walked off stage. Now I’m not saying he didn’t say thank yous, because he did. We just thought it odd they didn’t all bow. He also didn’t throw out his guitar picks. He doesn’t go through that many throughout the show and we’ve seen him throw the remainders out at the end. Nothing! Kind of sad for anyone out there hoping to get her little hands on something JM touched as a little memento.
On a side note, my daughter bought him a rose. She carried it in and finally got it up on stage and she was a bit hurt that he didn’t even pick it up or acknowledge it. I’ve not really seen anything thrown up there before so I don’t know how he’d normally react, but since it was one flower he could have made it look like he appreciated the gesture. I hope his new ‘more sophisticated” self doesn’t start taking for granted all these young fans who adore him. That would be a shame!
Granted these strange behaviors at the end of the show didn’t make or break the concert. It was still a terrific show and we had the time of our lives!!!!! But, it leaves those of us who have seen him before wondering, “What gives?” We see the reports of him being out with Katy Perry the night before in NYC and it leaves many to speculate was it a late night? Perhaps too late? or was there something else? Things that make you go hmmmmm? It should be noted that last night was the first time he’s played A Face To Call Home last in several shows. The last 2 shows didn’t even see the song played at all. And while we don’t know that this song was written “for” Ms. Perry we do know that he made heartfelt references to her during his first show before playing it and since then people have been referring to it as “his song for Katy.” And that is all well and good. Whether it is or isn’t really isn’t my concern, but I do hope she is not the reason for his odd behavior last night.
Of course we love him and pretty much always will unless he singles out my daughter or me to insult. We certainly wouldn’t be spending all this time and money if we didn’t adore him and his music! Now I’m finished with that rant. Here’s the setlist from last night at Darien Lake!
Wildfire
Half of My Heart
Vultures
Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
Dear Marie
Fool to Love You
Something Like Olivia
Born and Raised
Stop this Train
Free Falling
Queen of California
Who Says
If I Ever Get Around to Living
Waiting on the World to Change
Age of Worry
Can’t Find My Way Home
Gravity
I Don’t Trust Myself
Face to Call Home
Chasing John Mayer 