JOHN MAYER

– Where the Light Is, Live in LA

2008-10-13

John Mayer’s two-disc, live release Where The Light Is shines most brightly on Mayer’s largest attribute, his ego. Disc One consists of an acoustic set and a blues set featuring the John Mayer Trio, a ‘Mayeresque’ romp through the blues. While the acoustic set doesn’t really offer anything new vocally (a criticism I’ve heard of Mayer’s live performances), it does offer an intimate review of a few of Mayer’s bigger hits and a very nice cover of Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’. The Blues set offers a different perspective of Mayer’s talent, and provides an opportunity to get Mayer onto the WYCE airwaves by those programmers who may avoid Mayer because of his pop success. It’s during the blues set that you can more fully appreciate Mayer as a gifted guitar player, however at times it’s clear that showing off is his singular objective. Disc Two is replete with Mayer’s FM radio hits, and those who can’t get enough of Mayer will feel comfortable with the consistency of his live performance to the studio versions. Overall, it’s an okay live disc, although it’s not a landmark piece of work you sense Mayer would like it to be. Perhaps it would be more enjoyable if Mayer didn’t take himself so seriously. - Matthew

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