John Mayer Concert 2010

Who: John Mayer
Opening act: Michael Franti and Spearhead
Where: GM Place, Vancouver, BC
When: April 1, 2010


The evening started gloomy, with drizzling rain. I was wondering where the sunshine went; it was perfectly sunny in the afternoon. Anyway, that didn't stop us from our original plan: walk to GM Place. I live pretty close to downtown and I have walked to downtown before (to save some bus fare and as an attempt to exercise). Tonight was no different, and we were even more inclined to walk to downtown ever since the pay-time period increased to 10pm (pay period used to be until 8pm, which means we can park for free after 8pm on the street...but now we can only park for free after 10pm). I thought that was only during the olympics, to try to encourage people not to drive downtown and to use public transit instead....but I guess it's staying forever now. Oh well, at least they made the effort to decrease the fee for coin-parking.

However, taking into consideration that it was raining and the show would probably end late, we drove to Cambie street and looked for a free parking spot on the street. It probably saved us a good 20-minute walk, compared to if we had walked from my house. And so there we were, walking along Cambie bridge in drizzling rain. It didn't take long, about 15-20 minutes, maybe? We got to GM Place at around 6.50pm, and the door opens at 7pm. Before we went inside, we had a quick (and cheap) dinner at Costco. Hallelujah to whoever invented poutine :D

Michael Franti and Spearhead opened the show. I only know 1 of their songs, and really didn't know what to expect since I don't really know much about this band. They have a tone of reggae in their music, that's all I know. I was pleasantly surprised to know that the band is really really good. The lead singer has a very strong voice and was very comfortable performing, he also made a lot of effort to engage with the audience, for example when he decided to take a walk through the aisles and started singing on one of the stairwells. The band also invited people in the Plaza section to come down the stairs towards the Floor section (I wonder how the security people managed to put them back to their original sections after the show?). The female lead singer was awesome! And hey, I enjoyed it a lot when they closed the opening show by singing their hit song: Say Hey (I love you). They managed to increased the audience's excitement and energy by bringing youths on stage to sing along with them. What a show :)


As a side note, though, I thought Michael Franti could've practiced more on his speech. He probably said "How'you feelin' Vancouver?" about 10 times.
We then went into a short break before John Mayer came on stage.

The light went dark, and the crowd went crazy! Mayer started the show by singing the new single: Heartbrake Warfare. Oh, did I tell you that I bought a T-shirt? LOL. Of course, right? I almost-always buy a t-shirt from these concerts as memorabilia. God knows how much money I've spent on these rip-offs t-shirts. The t-shirt that I got has the lyrics of Heartbrake Warfare written on the back, it's actually pretty sweet.


He converse with the audience throughout the show, throwing some jokes around "I can't read the signs back there, but I love you too". The posed for the camera, making funny poses and funny faces. It was enjoyable to see him do that. He could say some stupid harsh (and sometimes inappropriate) comments sometimes, but I believe he could be genuine too. He loves performing, he loves being an artist, that's all.


Later on that night, he sang Slow Dancing in a Burning Room, with a background resembling a burning fire. Cheesy much? I mean, come on. It would've been better if they had just used his reflection on the big screen instead, so we (who sits at the back) can see his face.



He then sang Waiting on the World to Change with a solo guitar play, followed by a new song (which apparently he's playing for the first time on stage). This was a solo performance with his guitar. Not sure what the title is, or whether he's already given it a title. And of course, he didn't forget to play his old songs, which I LOVE (more than his newer songs).


No Such Thing was flawless!! "Oohhhh"

Followed by Neon. "Oohhhh aaahhhhh"
It's amazing to see him perform Neon in person, because the guitar chords sure seemed to be very difficult to play (yea yea..this is from watching too much Youtube).

Here comes the surprise, a cover of Ain't No Sunshine, John Mayer way. With a lot of guitar solo here and there. What more can I say?
And he doesn't stop there. He knows that the fans were getting pumped up, and he continued by performing Why Georgia Why, one of my most favourite!! I love him.


The concert ended in a good note, with John Mayer singing a cover of Journey's Don't Stop Believing. It was very unexpected for him to sing that song, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Overall the show was awesome, I wished he would've conversed a bit more with the audience and engage, like he did when I watched him for the 1st time in Vancouver. Oh, did I not tell you that this wasn't my first time watching John Mayer? Tee hee hee. Would I watch him again? Sure!

Comments