John Mayer and Spearhead in Concert
Reviewed by Mariah, age 16, Minnesota
Sweet Designs Staff Intern
Sweet Designs Featured Writer
John was raised in Connecticut, but moved to Atlanta in 1997, after attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston. It was in Atlanta where he started achieving stardom and acquiring his fan base. Room for Squares and Heavier Things, his first two albums, achieved multi-platinum status. He won a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 2003 with "Your Body is a Wonderland". In 2007, John won Best Pop Vocal Album for his album Continuum and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Waiting on the World to Change". Battle Studies, his newest album, was released in November of 2009.
John Mayer is admired because of his philanthropic ideals. John founded the Back to You fund to raise money for education, health care, and the arts via John Mayer auctions. Mayer is also environmentally aware; he partnered with Incase to produce reusable grocery bags and water bottles.
Mayer's opening act was Michael Franti and Spearhead, known for its hip-hop, jazz, reggae, funk, folk and jam band stylings. Spearhead was formed in 1994, and their hit song "Say Hey (I Love You)" went #18 on U.S. charts in 2009. Michael Franti himself is an avid philanthropist. He is a vegan and an advocate for peace in the Middle East. He made a film titled I Know I'm Not Alone to show the devastation in the Middle East and explain why peace is important.
I had the pleasure of attending John Mayer and Michael Franti and Spearhead's concert in April of 2010. First, Michael Franti and Spearhead took the stage. I have to say I have never been more entertained at a concert in my life! Michael, donning a green beanie, and his band appeared on stage, and as soon as the music started, Franti took off his beanie and threw it into the crowd, unleashing his super-long dreads. (I didn't even know he had dreads!) Within moments, Franti was singing, dancing, and jumping all around the arena like no one's business with his dreads a-swinging with the music. I later found out that he had the flu while he was performing! Franti put on an excellent show, despite having the flu.
After Franti departed, John Mayer took the stage. I was not impressed at all. John did not play "Your Body is a Wonderland," "Daughters," or any of his older songs. The megatron displayed all of the wrinkles on his face obtained from years of smoking cigarettes every day. He was not attractive at all. He did not look happy to be there and I wanted to get my money back so I could buy tickets to another Michael Franti show! John looked tired and worn out. He lengthened most of his set list songs to at least 10 minutes each so he didn't have to play the old favorites. His drummer was great, but John's frequent guitar solos were quite repetitive.
Final Thoughts: John Mayer deserves to be an opening act for Michael Franti and Spearhead - they stole the show!
I give the John Mayer concert 2.5 out of 5 stars and the Michael Franti and Spearhead concert 4.5 out of 5 stars.
You can check out Michael Franti and Spearhead and their music at: http://michaelfranti.com/ and John Mayer at http://www.johnmayer.com/
