I am in SUCH a good mood....

Wanna know why? Because of this man:

and this album/DVD:

As many of you who have read my previous posts can attest to, I am an unabashed HUGE John Mayer fan. I can really say that with pride, and can really say that I have been a huge fan of his since "Inside Wants Out" was played for me by my brother many years ago. While his blues stuff makes things shift in my shorts more than anything, I love every piece of music he has put out. And yes, he puts out. Or so I am told by various shady media outlets.

Anyway, I have been listening to this album on repeat all day, and about an hour ago I found myself just boucning in my chair, head bobbing and all was right with the world. I was just churning and burning through work like I actually enjoyed what I was doing. It took me a little bit to figure why I had all the sudden turned into a happy working machine. Then I caught myself bobbing my head, legs going to the beat and had the "ahhhhhhhh....I see!" moment. It was the music.

One of the greatest things I witnessed, musically speaking, was at Rothbury two weeks ago. JM had just taken the stage and we were planted stage right (or to the right of the stage if you were facing it) about 10 "rows" back. Directly to our left were a group of 20-something year old guys and they audibly said something like "nah...this ain't for me" when JM started out with "Bigger Than My Body" as the opener. When they turned to walk away, one of my friend's was like "dude...have you ever seen him live?" and one kid was like "No....I don;t really listen to him" and then mentioned something about being too "pop-py" or whatever. And collectively, we convinced the guys to stay with a "trust me, you won't be disappointed" type of thing. While BTMB is a "pop" kind of song, JM then went in "Belief", and about 5 minutes into it he just starts shredding. The collective look on their faces changed quickly. But things really turned them on when he broke into "Mercy" (the Duffy song, but with his blues twist) and he just killed it. I can't remember what was said when the show was over, something along the lines of "wow" and "thanks for the heads up" was said.

So yeah, Mayer speaks to me in many ways. Some I can explain, other I cannot, but either way I don't care because I like it.

Check out the album and check out the DVD. Especially the DVD because it's like 3 shows in one. He starts with a solo set, then goes into a Trio set, then a full band set. He opens up for himself, which is pretty funny, and he evens talks about it during the set. "Talked to myself backstage. Turns out I'm a pretty nice guy".

Here's my favorite song from the album, Bold As Love, and he also has some great crowd banter in here as well. To paraphrase John, it's the last thing to check out before you check out.

Enjoy.