Peter M Howard ::

John Mayer

Oct2003

This was originally written as a Music and Popular Culture assessment piece. I wrote it after Mayer's 2003 Australian tour, although it's not really a review of the show, it's more about placing John Mayer performatively, generically and historically. (Hence ?myth)

On September 27, John Mayer performed live at the Hordern Pavilion, with Lo-tel in support. This critical analysis explores aspects of genre and performance in relation to this event.

The first thing that struck me about John Mayer's only Sydney performance was the choice of venue. The wide-open space of the Hordern Pavilion seems suited to dance and hip hop performances or the sort of loud festival rock that calls for moshing. But the soft guitar-driven ballads of John Mayer seemed out of place there. Perhaps the location says something more about the availability of live music venues in Sydney - the show sold out, but the only larger venues require much larger crowds than the Hordern's capacity of 6000.

The crowd was expected - the white, young adult, 'serious music' fan, the sort one would expect to see at venues such as the Basement. While some of Mayer's radio-friendly pop singles appeal to younger teenagers, the majority of his music is perceived as mature rock and he receives the associated audience. Perhaps they also find that his "quarter-life crisis" stories resonate. The story of a young man searching for his identity and finding out his way in the world is all too familiar to his audience. Simon Frith writes of "identity produced in performance" (Frith, 1996, p114-15), and that is indeed what Mayer did. That identity was produced both by himself and by the audience's expectations and response.

Lo-tel was the support act, their performance slightly louder and more upbeat ('rockier') than Mayer's. But they were still suitably ballady to complement the main show. Their rock/ballad anthems got the crowd started, so Mayer could start with his radio hits. He then performed for long enough to let the crowd wind down again. Lo-tel are the kind of one-hit wonders that stick around refusing to give in. They started their performance with their newest single, but still got the biggest response to their classic Teenager of the Year, which for this audience now serves more as a nostalgic song than as a teen anthem, nicely complementing the themes in Mayer's story-telling. Under no illusions about who the crowd was there to see, Lo-tel's lead singer knew that the loudest cheers from the crowd would come whenever he made mention of the act to follow, and made sure to mention Mayer's name as often as possible.

Like most popular music, John Mayer's music can be hard to slot in a genre. At its simplest, it can be called pop-rock. He is a singer-songwriter, performing guitar-driven ballads - very in vogue at the time of his first album release, Room for Squares. But Mayer's first album was very radio-friendly and his style adapted to be pop-driven. But he has a background in blues, and this influence comes through much stronger on his sophomore release Heavier Things. The attitude in this title is also present in the songs, where he talks of success and its effect on his life. By bringing this 'personal experience' to his songs, his storytelling resonates with realism. The change in attitude also comes through musically. Heavier Things includes much more experimentation with bluesy instrumentation and motifs - in his own guitar and in the other instruments in his band, be it brass, keys, drums or his other guitarists. The album production is well balanced aurally, and sounds comfortable. Room for Squares sounded very confused - as though the producers were unsure whether Mayer's music was just him and a guitar or whether he needed a band. This often left an uncomfortable mix of sounds, which has thankfully been sorted out in Heavier Things. There is also more 'blues' in his voice. He doesn't try as hard to sound right for the radio, and instead plays with falsetto and a breathy but strong presence. Throughout is the sound of an artist growing up and maturing musically - and so it is no wonder this narrative is told both musically and lyrically.

Mayer's musical evolution was obvious in his live performance. The other instruments are no longer a distraction which are shunted into the background, but they are given a chance to shine. No longer confined by the rules of radio and studio production, Mayer and his band were able to show off and play a little louder. Even on his early pop hits such as No Such Thing Mayer performed with a touch of blues. Whether it was a guitar solo, or modified backup instrumentation, he added an extra layer of depth to the radio sound we grew sick of. His style was perhaps most evident in his performance of Come Back to Bed, an obscure 3-minute piece on the new album. On Heavier Things, the song is a small example of Mayer indulging in some blues. But live, it became a 20+ minute performance, complete with extensive guitar solos. He repeated sections of the song over and over, with a different subtle touch each time, keeping the crowd entranced. The piece came complete with a bluesy 'call-and-response'. Mayer used a lyrical 'call' to his girl and his guitar whined in 'response', in a performance that would satisfy any blues fan. The entire set displayed a range of songs and stylings - from his pop singles through his guitar-ballads to the extended blues piece.

Frith talks of jazz performance, saying that a good musical performance "depends on rhetorical truth, on the musicians' ability to convince and persuade the listener that what they are saying matters." (Frith, 1996, p117) Mayer's 'rhetorical truth' was made evident through his lyrical content and musically, presenting an apparent 'honesty' that suggests intimacy with the audience. And Frith suggests that "Everyone in the pop world is aware of the social forces that determine 'normal' pop tastes, but a good record or song or sound is precisely one that transcends those forces." (ibid, p120) While Mayer's early radio singles stood out because of his other influences, his latest work - both the album and as reflected in his live performance - has so grown musically that he has transcended those forces.

References

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