On Monday night, if a person was in the vicinity of Wal-Mart at 3 a.m. or even Waffle House, then it is quite possible that he or she had the opportunity to spot one of the hottest things to hit the Freedom Hall Civic Center recently.
Pop artist John Mayer visited these Johnson City landmarks before his big concert Tuesday night at Freedom Hall.
He first debuted in 2001 with his album Room for Squares. The album has since gone triple-platinum and his eagerly-awaited second album Heavier Things hit stores in September 2003.
Fans piled into the concert hall eager to see the husky voiced singer, but they had to get through the opening act first.
Guster, which consists of Ryan Miller, Adam Gardner and Brian Rosenworcel, was ready to pump the crowd up and get them prepared for Mayer.
The trio met in 1991 while at Tufts University. They recorded their first album Parachute in 1994. Although the band has been around for several years, they are gaining more notoriety due to their current concert tour.
Despite a crowd that was anxious to see Mayer, many in the audience could not help but move to the rhythm of the fresh, up-and-coming band, especially when drummer Rosenworcel cut loose for a drum solo that was especially effective thanks to the use of strobe lights.
Guster gave it their all for a set that lasted about 45 minutes, complete with Rosenworcel on bongo drums. After their crowd-pleasing performance, the band met with fans for a handshake and autograph session. Their current album Keep It Together seemed to be the choice item for autographing and many picked up a copy after their performance.
However, it was time for the man that the crowd at Freedom Hall had come to see. The audience was able to watch on large screens as Mayer made his way out to the stage. He was welcomed by hundreds of screams and cheers.
At times, Mayer’s soft husky voice was almost drowned out by the music and screams of the crowd, but no one in attendance seemed to notice or even mind. He appeared to have the audience eating out of the palm of his hand.
At random times, he threw guitar picks out into the crowd that was packed around the stage like sardines in a can and even told them of his toothbrush-buying experience at Wal-Mart the previous night.
Although Mayer’s face twists and contorts while he’s singing, he appears to enjoy his art and is one with a guitar. He even supports the Mac with an Apple emblem on his guitar.
However, Mayer was not all smiles when he was beginning a new song and someone took that opportunity to throw a leather jacket onstage behind him. He stopped playing and announced, using a choice word or two, exactly what he thought of the stunt.
“It’s not funny enough to laugh at and not disruptive enough for someone to leave,” he said.
The show, however, must go on and go on it did. Mayer played his smash hit singles such as “Your Body Is A Wonderland” and “Bigger Than My Body.” The crowd sang along with these as well as other well-known favorites “Why Georgia” and “No Such Thing.”
Even songs that hadn’t been released as singles were known word-for-word by fans in the audience such as “Clarity” and “Daughters.”
Mayer teased the crowd with a special preview of new material not yet released. He performed a song called “Hummingbird” which will be featured on his upcoming album.
Although there were a lot of high school age students in attendance, it was obvious that Mayer’s music goes beyond age. Yes, there were even some Bucs that drove the long distance to see Mayer in concert.
Despite the fact that Freedom Hall is not the size venue that Mayer is probably used to, he put on an excellent show.
It could have been the lights, the sound system that you could feel deep down in your stomach or just the fact that John Mayer kept telling me that my “body was a wonderland” complete with “candy lips” and “skin like porcelain.”
Whatever it was, I, along with seemingly everyone else, went home happy.

Author