John Mayer - Live at New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 4/26/2013 (Concert Review)

This evening John Mayer took the main stage at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival to close out the day. This was only the second show of his Born and Raised tour, his first since 2010. Let me say, welcome back to stage John! I am a big JM fan and haven't the had the chance to see him live since 2007. I was bummed out when he had to back out of the 2012 Jazz Fest due to his medical issues. So when I saw that he would headlining this year's edition, I was more than willing to make the hour drive from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. What I saw and heard is best described by what JM himself said during the concert, this is John Mayer Version 2.0.

Stacie and I were able to grab a good spot along the middle rail back towards the sound booth. The sound was excellent and we both had a good view of the stage. John started around 10 minutes early from his schedule set time. It was definitely a sign that he was eager to be back on stage. They jumped right into the Born and Raised opener, Queen of California. While his new album was an excellent record, I was interested to see how it translated on stage. I had hoped that it wouldn't come across as easy listening music. My fears were quickly put to rest. After getting through the last chorus of the song, his band kept the rhythm going and he traded out his acoustic for an electric and riffed for around 4 solid minutes. It was a great way to start the show and was basically him saying I'm excited to be back on stage and I'm ready to jam it out. 

He would continue the Born and Raised flavor throughout this set playing a total of six songs off of the album. With the exception of Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey, each tune became a new creation on stage. The band that JM is touring with his extremely tight and talented. They were able to take the acoustic studio versions and turn them into grooving tracks that allowed John to riff and improv over. Believe me, you need to hear this album live to truly appreciate the songs. The setlist also featured a number of covers of some classic artists including Muddy Waters, the Grateful Dead and Blind Faith. John obviously had a great time making these his own and on each of these songs he was a tour de force on the guitar. If the image in your mind of Mayer is still the acoustic/pop crooner talking about bodies being wonderlands, you need to wipe that away. Mayer is one of the best guitarists of our generation and I have a feeling he will be making that known on this tour.

Mayer sprinkled a couple of his earlier songs throughout the set, I Don't Trust Myself and the set closer Vultures were definite highlights. However, as the show went on I noticed the 18-22 aged girls in the audience were becoming a little agitated. The more John riffed and soloed his heart out, the more they stared at their iPhones waiting to hear a song they knew. He never delivered on that, staying away from all the material from his first two albums. I was perfectly satisfied however, as this is the Mayer that I was hoping to see. He said that this was Version 2.0 and I couldn't agree more. I saw an musician that was confident in his abilities and style. No longer was he splitting up his songs between the acoustic artist, the blues artist and the pop/rock artist. All styles were present but he seamlessly jumped between them through the show, sometimes within songs. He also mentioned that he wasn't worried that the crowd didn't know all the words to the songs he was playing. JM was confident in the set list he had to play and seemed elated to finally play these tunes live.  Let me also say that his voice showed no ill-effects from his vocal surgery last year. If anything, I think it has improved. His range has matured as he sings in a little lower pitch but he can still the nail the falsetto when he wants. The breathiness that he would fall into during his earlier live shows is no longer there. 

As Stacie and I left the show we heard plenty of people who were complaining that "He didn't play any of his songs" and were obviously disappointed. However, I hope the majority of the crowd walked away with the same reaction I had. It's great to have John Mayer back touring and this entity of his live show is his most mature and cohesive yet. I can't wait to see where he goes from here and if you have the opportunity to see him this year, do not pass it up!

Check out the Set List and pictures from the show below:

Set List:
Queen of California
Something Like Olivia
Who Says
Got My Mojo Working (Muddy Waters Cover)
Age of Worry
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
Goin Down The Road Feeling Bad (Grateful Dead Cover)
Love is a Verb
Speak For Me
Waiting On The World The Change
Can't Find My Way Home (Blind Faith Cover)
Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey
I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)
Vultures
Goin Down The Road Feeling Bad (Grateful Dead Cover) (Reprise)