HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
By Devlin Smith, Contributing Editor
2006.09
I'll freely admit it; I mainly went to see John Mayer on Wednesday night. I've fallen for the kid hard. He's a great singer, terrific lyricist, totally easy on the eyes, awesome in interviews and mesmerizing on the guitar. There was no question I had to see him as he promotes his latest album "Continuum," so when I read that he was coming to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine with Sheryl Crow, I felt like he was the cake and she was the icing. Boy was I wrong.
Even though she played the first, shorter set of the two, Crow is second to no one. In a word, the woman rocks. In a set filled mainly with fan favorites, Crow had the crowd at her command as she unleashed her powerful voice and switched smoothly between bass, acoustic and electric guitars.
The set began with "A Change Would Do You Good," a song that had the lollygaggers (myself included) rushing from dinner and drinks straight to our seats. Mayer joined Crow's impressive band for "My Favorite Mistake." "He can play," she told the crowd after her co-headliner meekly left the stage.
"It's been a crazy year and we're just so glad people showed up," Crow told the crowd. None of that well-publicized craziness had any impact on Crow's performance, though, and through the strong set that included "If It Makes You Happy," sing-along "The First Cut Is the Deepest" and "Steve McQueen," she proved herself to be one of the top women in rock, standing comfortably alongside legendary forebears like Stevie Nicks and Janis Joplin.
Crow put her guitar down for the final song of her set, "Every Day Is a Winding Road" and sassily strutted across the stage, looking much like Tina Turner as she did so. And in her leather pants and vest, matched with her voice, smile and general presence, Crow showed that the girls in rock can definitely give the boys a run for their money.
Mayer, the boy of the evening, staked his own claim, preferring to go down his own blues path instead of trying to beat Crow at her game (and, truth be told, it wouldn't have been much of a fight). He took a pretty big risk in dedicating most of his set to the weeks-old "Continuum," but it paid off as the faithful got to sing along with new favorites for the first time and casual fans, or those there for Crow alone, learned that this album is definitely worth picking up.
"Vultures," "Gravity" and first single "Waiting on the World to Change" were among the highlights from "Continuum." Grammy-winning "Daughters" got the whole crowd singing and swooning and "Why Georgia" from Mayer's debut "Room for Squares" felt "brand new" for its singer that night in Irvine.
With Mayer, though, the guitar playing is the main attraction and several times during the evening, he brought the somewhat mellow crowd to its feet. As Crow said, he really can play. Watching Mayer play is nearly as enjoyable as hearing him. With him, it seems that he truly needs to play—his facial and body expressions giving the impression that he's desperately trying to get something out of him when he plays. I don't know if he's fully satisfied with his efforts, but the Irvine crowd was definitely bowled over by his output.
Mayer also had his share of mooning to do over Crow. "She's like filet mignon and I'm like cube steak," he told the crowd. Though he sees himself as scraps, Mayer had the benefit of being the night's true headliner and got an three-song encore that started out with an acoustic rendition of "3X5" from "Room for Squares" and was rounded out by two more "Continuum" tracks, "I Don't Trust Myself With Loving You" and "In Repair."
The show went on longer than I thought it would but both Crow and Mayer gave the impression that they could have gone on all night if given the opportunity. If only they'd been given the opportunity.
I guess I can't be too greedy. There are more dates for these two to play and it wouldn't be fair for them to give all the good stuff away so soon even if the crowd in Irvine would have loved it if they had.
For more information on John Mayer, check out his official website. Read Interference.com's review of "Continuum" here. Visit the Sheryl Crow website here.
2006.09
I'll freely admit it; I mainly went to see John Mayer on Wednesday night. I've fallen for the kid hard. He's a great singer, terrific lyricist, totally easy on the eyes, awesome in interviews and mesmerizing on the guitar. There was no question I had to see him as he promotes his latest album "Continuum," so when I read that he was coming to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine with Sheryl Crow, I felt like he was the cake and she was the icing. Boy was I wrong.
Even though she played the first, shorter set of the two, Crow is second to no one. In a word, the woman rocks. In a set filled mainly with fan favorites, Crow had the crowd at her command as she unleashed her powerful voice and switched smoothly between bass, acoustic and electric guitars.
The set began with "A Change Would Do You Good," a song that had the lollygaggers (myself included) rushing from dinner and drinks straight to our seats. Mayer joined Crow's impressive band for "My Favorite Mistake." "He can play," she told the crowd after her co-headliner meekly left the stage.
"It's been a crazy year and we're just so glad people showed up," Crow told the crowd. None of that well-publicized craziness had any impact on Crow's performance, though, and through the strong set that included "If It Makes You Happy," sing-along "The First Cut Is the Deepest" and "Steve McQueen," she proved herself to be one of the top women in rock, standing comfortably alongside legendary forebears like Stevie Nicks and Janis Joplin.
Crow put her guitar down for the final song of her set, "Every Day Is a Winding Road" and sassily strutted across the stage, looking much like Tina Turner as she did so. And in her leather pants and vest, matched with her voice, smile and general presence, Crow showed that the girls in rock can definitely give the boys a run for their money.
Mayer, the boy of the evening, staked his own claim, preferring to go down his own blues path instead of trying to beat Crow at her game (and, truth be told, it wouldn't have been much of a fight). He took a pretty big risk in dedicating most of his set to the weeks-old "Continuum," but it paid off as the faithful got to sing along with new favorites for the first time and casual fans, or those there for Crow alone, learned that this album is definitely worth picking up.
"Vultures," "Gravity" and first single "Waiting on the World to Change" were among the highlights from "Continuum." Grammy-winning "Daughters" got the whole crowd singing and swooning and "Why Georgia" from Mayer's debut "Room for Squares" felt "brand new" for its singer that night in Irvine.
With Mayer, though, the guitar playing is the main attraction and several times during the evening, he brought the somewhat mellow crowd to its feet. As Crow said, he really can play. Watching Mayer play is nearly as enjoyable as hearing him. With him, it seems that he truly needs to play—his facial and body expressions giving the impression that he's desperately trying to get something out of him when he plays. I don't know if he's fully satisfied with his efforts, but the Irvine crowd was definitely bowled over by his output.
Mayer also had his share of mooning to do over Crow. "She's like filet mignon and I'm like cube steak," he told the crowd. Though he sees himself as scraps, Mayer had the benefit of being the night's true headliner and got an three-song encore that started out with an acoustic rendition of "3X5" from "Room for Squares" and was rounded out by two more "Continuum" tracks, "I Don't Trust Myself With Loving You" and "In Repair."
The show went on longer than I thought it would but both Crow and Mayer gave the impression that they could have gone on all night if given the opportunity. If only they'd been given the opportunity.
I guess I can't be too greedy. There are more dates for these two to play and it wouldn't be fair for them to give all the good stuff away so soon even if the crowd in Irvine would have loved it if they had.
For more information on John Mayer, check out his official website. Read Interference.com's review of "Continuum" here. Visit the Sheryl Crow website here.
