Despite a personal life that has recently become more sensational than his music, John Mayer seemed to stay grounded last Wednesday night when he returned to his Atlanta roots to promote his newest album release, Battle Studies, which hit stands this past November. But even after witnessing first-hand a resistance to letting his mouth totally take over an event, I can still only seem to come up with one word to describe the experience: predictable.
Perhaps my ‘rock star homecoming’ expectations were too high, but I was looking forward to listening to pieces other cities might not be privileged enough to hear – maybe a few covers from earlier in his career, or some of the less familiar, heavy blues-influenced tracks that made me gravitate toward his sound in the first place. A part of me wishes that, instead of playing what he thought the crowd had wanted to hear (like a Journey cover of “Don’t Stop Believin'”), he stuck with the soulful rather than the pop-full tracks. He seemed to exchange the deeper rhythms and bluesy sounds of albums like Continuum for songs like “Bigger than My Body” and “Half of my Heart” (the latter of which was originally a duet with country-pop artist Taylor Swift. Need I say more?).
In all fairness, the bar was set high by opening act Michael Franti and his accompanying reggae group Spearhead, who outshined Mayer on the performance scorecard. Franti, a 43-year old rmusician who has gained success with his group’s single “Say Hey (I Love You),” came off stage and into the audience on several occasions, and made a lap around the lower levels of Philips like he was at the Masquerade. He ended the band’s set by bringing a slew of kids up on stage to help him sing the last verses of “Say Hey.” Never have I seen such a captivating opener.
Even though Mayer didn’t run around the arena, he did have an easy, city-in-common banter with the audience, commenting on everything from the music scene in Athens to the traffic on I-85 during his solo acoustic set that started a few songs into the night. After opening with “Heartbreak Warfare,” he stopped for a moment, made a few remarks about St. Patrick and beer, and took a hearty swig out of a solo cup next to his mic, much to the crowd’s amusement. I knew the old Mayer we know and love was in there somewhere.
Eccentricities aside, his acoustic performance too felt like a missed opportunity for him to showcase his talent; several of his other solos and jam sessions with guitarist David Ryan Harris and drummer Steve Jordan were effective, but seemed measured, almost expected at times. Where was the energetic Mayer that improvised with B.B. King and Eric Clapton?
Maybe it was St. Patrick telling him to behave, or the preteen that kept yelling “Play ‘Your Body is a Wonderland!'” at him from the front few rows (he didn’t), but Mayer didn’t seem to bring the energy I was expecting, especially for a place where his following originated. Sentiments aside, though, he kept his focus on the music, and we all got to hear “Why, Georgia” as the encore.
Hmm, saw that one coming…
Three out of five stars. ***
