John Mayer Brings Blues Sounds to Summerfest
Early in his show Wednesday night at the Marcus Amphitheater, John Mayer issued what sounded like a warning or call for patience, couched as a compliment.
He held up a copy of the evening's set list and said: "You can't play this kind of set list unless you have fans with great big ears for music. Otherwise, it would be certain death."
If he had concerns about audience acceptance, it would be understandable.
There's a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Blues duality to John Mayer. Early in his career, he was defined in some sense by his rock-star looks, his Hollywood dating habits and his romantic hit "Your Body Is a Wonderland."
With "Continuum" in 2006, he nudged the pop side of his persona to a more adult and worldly posture, but he wants to be more than just a pop star with a conscience. Mayer's first musical inspiration was Stevie Ray Vaughan, and he obviously aspires to be blues heavy in the mode of the late Texan.
The puzzle is how many of those adoring little ladies in the front rows have ever been or wanted to be at a B.B. King concert.
My guess is not many, but somehow Mayer managed to make that irrelevant. He played both Robert Johnson's "Crossroads" and the humanitarian singalong pop of "Waiting on the World to Change." And the audience accepted both without open signs of rebellion.
Rolling Stone magazine has mounted a virtual campaign to anoint Mayer as a guitar god, and while he might not yet be in the rank of the legends, he certainly seems to be a more than decent technician.
If there's a reservation to Mayer as a bluesman, it's in his singing. You have to wonder if he really has the kind of primal soul that the true blues greats have.
As for his singer-songwriter side, Wednesday night confirmed what "Continuum" already established. He's there.
"Gravity" turned into a mass singalong, and you don't get to that place without possessing the gift of a strong, simple melody. Of course, it doesn't hurt that with his hair now cut short, he's more boyishly handsome than ever.
