:: WARNING- pardon the semi-squeeing, still giddy from last night, fangirl moment I am about to have…. I make NO apologies for it::
Ok, last night was a big load of awesomeness, wrapped in over 2 hrs of uplifting, bootie shaking, straight jamming, soul stirring music. (<–I did warn you I was letting the fangirl out for a bit)
This was my second time seeing John live in concert, but first time in Memphis. It was great, but John always puts on a good show. One the the funniest moments of the show was John taking the time out to read some of the signs. There was one that read “Married Chubby Cougar Needs A Hug” LOL. His reply was “That’s a lot of self awareness for one sign.” So he invited the lady up on stage, along with her best friend of 35 years, and gave them both hugs (multiple hugs in fact) and posed for pictures before continuing on with the show.
The setlist
*Heartbreak Warfare*No Such Thing*Crossroads–straight jammed this one too! *Belief –one of my favs *Perfectly Lonely *Assassin *Stop This Train *Heart of Life *Ain’t No Sunshine<— because it’s covers like this that you even go to concerts in the first place *Waiting On The World To Change –another fav *Vultures–LOVED IT!*Half Of My Heart –w/ a little “Walking In Memphis” remixed in *Why Georgia
*Gravity –brought the house DOWN with this one, in my top 2 fav JM songs
Encore:
*Who Says-- the hubby loved this one *I’m Gonna Find Another You-“It’s really over…” Loved it
Of course, the perfect setlist would have include the two songs I wanted to hear, but didnt expect to: In Repair and Bigger Than My Body. And the two songs I was honestly expecting to hear, but was very surprised he didn’t play, were Edge of Desire and Friends, Lovers, or Nothing. But all in all, an excellent show.
I finally figured out how to upload the 2 brief (very brief) snippets of video I took at the concert. Here’s a bit from Belief (I really, truely love this song, I love the message behind it) and a slip of him covering Ain’t No Sunshine. This is all I took, because I am living my life by the 3 x 5 code–meaning some things are better experienced through your own eyes.
The pics aren’t the best, but what can you do? I was an awesome concert, one you truely had to have experienced for yourself. Last night just confirmed one thing for me–
John Mayer is a bad man on that guitar baby. A baaaaad man…
Just for fun, here’s the Mexican Breakfast routine choreographed by Bob Fosse. It’s been sait this was Beyonce’s inspiration for her “Single Ladies” video. So peep the original version here:
So, I’ve been under a rock lately finishing up my manuscript and getting it ready to send off to an editor for consideration. So imagine my surprise when I check my FaceBook account and see that not only did I miss a John Mayer Trio performance on the Tonight’s Show recently, but they covered “California Dreaming”. So here’s the first, of many I’m sure, John Mayer virtual concerts– this one is dedicated to JM performances I’ve missed.
Now, back to “California Dreaming”, I’ve had a house/club remix of this song on my Ipod for over a year now and it’s one of my jams. I keep it handy at work, because sometimes a good party song helps to destress the situation. Anywho, here’s a clip of that performance. I couldn’t find any actual video footage, so for now it’s just audio. Sounds like it was a great performance, I hate I missed it. (I hope this song is on the new album)
So, another thing I found today, as I was perusing my Facebook page, is that John premiered his new single, “Who Says” on his website today. And, just because it’s me, I couldn’t get the preview thingy to work. However, I did find a slightly burry video of him performing this song live, so I’ve added it below. My impressions of the song? I think it’s a fun/folksy song that reminds me a bit of “Stop This Train”. Some people may get all bent out of shape by the lyrics in the chorus, but if you actually listen to the song, I think you’ll get what he’s saying. But like all art, lyrics are subjective and open to interpretation–which is one of the reasons why I’m a fan of great lyricists. You’ll be amazed at what you find if you actually listen to what people are singing or rapping about. Anywho, that’s a tangent for another day. Here’s John:
And to round out my JM virtual concert of performances I’ve missed (because I’d been under a rock) here’s John performing on David Letterman for his 2008 Thanksgiving show. Apparently, he’s been on Dave’s show for the past 4 Thanksgiving’s!!
And I’ve missed them all!!
Oh well, can you guess what I will be watching this year on Thanksgiving’s Day night?? Enjoy John singing “In The Wee Small Hours” featuring Chris Botti.
Update 9/26/09–all of the video clips have been removed from YouTube. I knew it was only a matter of time before this happed, I hoped you got a change to view them before they were yanked, or got the chance to see the concert.
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I believe it goes without saying that Jay-Z is the pre-eminent MC in the rap game today. And trust me, I don’t say that lightly as I am very hard on the Hip Hop and Rap genre of today (just ask the hubby–we get into it all the time about it). I have fundamental issues with what some Hip Hop “artists” call music, including the overwhelming negative images they choose to glorify constantly, the lack of respect they show for any and all things different than them or from what they’re accustomed to
Yet, I digress. I will not get into that discussion today.
Today I want to talk about the musical genius that is Jay-Z. The hubby had been eagerly awaiting the release of Blueprint 3, so the minute his pre-ordered copied downloaded, he’s been listening to it. After getting his initial impressions, I decided to listen to it once I got home that day. But of course I got sidetracked and didn’t get around to it. Then I was reminded that Jay-Z 9/11 concert was on TV, so I tuned in to get my first look at Jay in concert and to get my first glimpse of The Blueprint 3.
And keep in mind that while I do like Jay-Z, I still have a lot of strong negative feelings and prejudices against rappers in general, and its sometimes hard for me to get past that.
So, I tuned into the concert and was amazed and blown away by his performance. I’ve never seen Jay-Z in concert so all of the live appearances I’ve seen of him have been on award shows and such, where everyone tends to have over the top performances and stage designs. And Jay-z is not known for the visual performances at his shows (i.e. dancers, complicated sets, changing clothes, etc.) so I was a bit concerned (but only for all of 2 secs) of what a Jay-Z concert would be like.
I LOVED it.
Who needs dancers, special effects, and pyrotechnics when you have great music being performed by the likes of Mary J. Blige, Kanye, and John Mayer? I’m a big fan of good music, regardless of genre, and this was a great show. I can only image how charged the atmosphere was at the Garden that night. When you have a talented artist who’s a fan of good music, who’s an outstanding lyricist, and one that is not afraid to make a statement with his work, you’re in for one hell of a show.
Here are just a few of my fav performances from the concert. And while you’re viewing these, check out the crowd. Jay-Z sold out the Garden and attracted a highly diverse audience in the process. I’m telling you, we all bond over good music.
Of course, first up is Jay-Z featuring John Mayer. I LOOOOOOOVE me some John Mayer, as most of my friends very well know. John’s makes his intro at the :26 mark, but the real jam session starts around the 2:45 mark which segues into the DOA performance at 4:32. Try not to get too excited and jump around too much (or wait, that may just have been me-lol)
Here’s Jay performing one of my favs from the new album ”Home”, featuring Kid Cudi. The performance starts at the 1:08 mark
Ok, and last but not least in the line of great performances from the show, here’s my fav song off the new album:
And I would be remiss if I did not include this touching tribute from Jay. This is, of course, the entire reason behind this concert. Seeing the pictures of those that lost their lives that day made a huge emotional impact. The 9/11 tribute starts at the 7:20 mark:
The concert is re-airing tonight (9/13) on Fuse. Tune in if you missed it the first time around.
Today was Michael Jackson’s memorial service. In opinion it was very much a class act and very moving. Michael’s life was a bit of a circus while he was alive; I hope he’s finally at peace. All the tributes, either via performance, spoken word or a shared anecdote, was in top form.
Just a few of the highlights for me were:
John Mayer
Usher
Jennifer Hudson
Rest in peace Michael, may your music and legacy live on. Here’s one of my favorite Jackson 5 performances
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