He may have once played in coffee shops and bars in Atlanta to small crowds, but that wasn't the case last Friday night.
John Mayer, the famed pop-blues guitarist entertained an absolutely packed house at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre as the headliner of this year's Starfest, put on by Star 94.
Walking out on stage donning a sleeveless "Purple Rain" t-shirt (no doubt to display his full-sleeve tattoo on his left arm), he immediately went into his recent hit, "Waiting on the World to Change," before then proceeding into his first major hit, 2001's "No Such Thing," telling of someone's last days in high school.
Mayer has seen his star steadily rise over the last few years to where he is now one of the preeminent acts on the musical landscape these days. But that has not always been the case.
Once a student at Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music, Mayer dropped out and moved to this area at the request of a friend.
He saw his popularity grow on numerous pop hits, and his fame was on full display with maybe the biggest crowd yet during the amphitheatre's inaugural season. When Mayer's soaring blues guitar solos could not be heard, the air was instead filled with the shrieks of thousands of teens who were no doubt in awe of their idol.
But Mayer offers an interesting dichotomy when on stage.
It's clear that, in his own words, all he wants to do is play the blues guitar, but his fans seem more in-tune to his pop sensibilities, namely the songs he plays while strumming an acoustic. The singer-songwriter has a deep appreciation for the blues and likes to play it often, but much of his audience seems slightly ignorant of this fact, which is a shame, because good blues rock is spectacular.
Mayer is smart in this way because while he knows that the money comes from songs like "No Such Thing" and "Your Body is a Wonderland," it allows him the freedom to get up on a stage like this and educate his fans on the blues. It must be much harder to play blues rock in a coffee shop with a full band and electric instruments.
He announced the name of the song going into it, but I'd be interested to see the percentage of people there who could tell you who originally wrote it, though partial credit could be given if Cream was said.
But that wasn't the only cover he did that night, other classics he interpreted were Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" and Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home," which interestingly enough were both performed on that very same stage earlier in the summer at the Tom Petty/Steve Winwood concert. I guess Mayer didn't get the memo.
Kicking off things at Starfest were the new group One Republic, out of Colorado.
This band I had not heard before but seemed to do their best Coldplay impression on stage, right down to lead singer Ryan Tedder standing while playing the upright piano a la Chris Martin. They seemed to be surprised at the huge crowd already there to see an opening act, and were clearly feeding off the energy.
They themselves performed a classic cover, giving a go at Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth." But this band told the fans who it was by and that it was very old.
Throughout the show Mayer liked to remind his fans that his career started in this very same city by telling stories about when he used to live here.
Before "Why Georgia," he said he was inspired to write it when he forgot his guitar on his way to a Borders in-store performance, and had to sit in traffic, then when he finally got there, the story he told to the four or five people there became the lyrics.
While there were these sweet little interludes, Mayer and crew (he has a great backing band) liked to go off on more exploratory tangents with Mayer stretching out his considerable blues guitar chops. This included one point in the show where he set his guitar down on the stage and kneeled next to it, playing a solo on the ground.
Since it was one of three shows on the tour left, he warned that the band had a lot of energy to get out and might get a bit self-indulgent. He said there are strict fines for going past curfew, but he didn't seem to care, noting that although it costs $1,000 per minute over time, that they should put him down for 30.
John Mayer gave a raucous hometown crowd a great show last Friday, and he said he couldn't wait to be back here again playing songs off his new record, which he plans on going to the woods to write and record as soon as the tour ends.
- www.northfulton.com
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
John Mayer gives thousands a taste of the blues in Alpharetta
PHOTO GALLERY: "Raise Your Racquet" benefit in Johns Creek
Tennis is a popular sport in the Seven Oaks neighborhood in Johns Creek. But on Aug. 22, several dozen women not only served the ball for fun but were playing for a cause. Seven Oaks residents Kristen Portaro and Katie Brenan co-chaired the event, "Raise Your Racquet for a Healthy Heart," which raised more than $8,000 for the American Heart Association.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ENTIRE GALLERY.
Johns Creek welcomes Japanese visitors
A group of more than 20 Japanese university students and officials, city representatives, reporters and other guests spent the day in Johns Creek Aug. 14 to learn more about how the City operates under a public-private partnership with CH2M HILL OMI.
Under this model, Johns Creek contracts with the Englewood, Colo.-based company for management of the city's general government services including public works, community development and administrative services.
The students are part of Toyo University's graduate program in public-private partnerships and the trip was led by professor Yuji Nemoto, visiting professor Sam Tabuchi and Tokusuke Furusawa, the university's managing director. Joining them were Mayor Chozo Nakagawa from the city of Kasai and Ryuji Amakawa, a representative from the city of Uki.
The group also visited Sandy Springs and took in the Braves game against the Chicago Cubs before coming to Johns Creek. They spent the morning with Oliver Porter, who helped lead the Sandy Springs incorporation movement and has since gone on to consult with the new cities of Johns Creek, Milton, Chattahoochee Hill Country and now Dunwoody. It was Porter who helped select the public-private partnership [PPP] model for these cities.
Following the presentation and question-and-answer period with Porter, the group met with CH2M HILL OMI department heads serving Johns Creek, who explained how the model worked in the city. They then toured City Hall before sitting down to lunch with Mayor Mike Bodker and City Manager John Kachmar.
"It was an honor and a privilege to welcome the Japanese delegation to Johns Creek," said Bodker. "We have been pleased so far with the public-private partnership and it was exciting to share how instrumental CH2M HILL OMI has been in our early success as a city."
- www.northfulton.com
Former Forsyth deputy, sheriff candidate could face 50 years in prison
Former Forsyth County Sheriff's deputy and defeated Sheriff's candidate Milton "Scott" Pruitt was indicted in Federal court Aug. 20 on charges of possession child pornography, ending speculation as to when he would go to court.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000.
"Through his actions, Scott Pruitt has disgraced the law enforcement profession and the hard working and dedicated men and women of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office," said Sheriff Ted Paxton. "Officers must always be held to a higher standard, and Scott Pruitt violated that standard."
Pruitt, 40, was removed from the Sheriff's Office in May 2007 for allegedly accessing child pornography on the computer in his police cruiser. A subsequent search of his home allegedly turned up additional images of child pornography on his personal computer, which was confiscated.
"It is disturbing when someone entrusted with public safety exploits his position to commit crimes," said U.S. Attorney David Nahmias, who is prosecuting the case. "This former deputy sheriff is charged with using his access to the Forsyth County computer server to receive and view images gathered as evidence in the Sheriff Office's child exploitation investigations."
Pruitt shocked many in Forsyth County in February when he announced his candidacy for Sheriff in the July 15 primary. During his campaign, the embattled former deputy wouldn't answer questions about the child pornography charges he faced under order from his lawyer.
According to the state's constitution, Pruitt was allowed to run for and hold the office barring conviction of any felony involving "moral turpitude."
He was soundly defeated, garnering nearly eight percent of the vote to Paxton's 85 percent. He did, however, do slightly better than candidate Brian Millard.
According to United States Attorney David Nahmias, Pruitt allegedly accessed the child pornography on or about March 15, 2007.
The three-count indictment also charges that continuing through May 16, 2007, He knowingly received graphic images on his home computer, the production of which involved the use of minor children engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
"We were informed by our county Information Technology Department on March 15 that our investigative files had been improperly accessed by Pruitt," Paxton said at the time of Pruitt's arrest in May 2007.
"We immediately turned the investigation over to the G.B.I. Their investigation led to the arrest of Pruitt."
Pruitt, an eight-year veteran, turned himself in at the Forsyth County jail May 23 after being fired May 17.
Her originally faced 20 felony counts of violation of the Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation and Prevention Act of 1999, one count each of theft by taking and theft by conversion, both misdemeanors, and one count each of computer trespass and violation of oath of office, both felonies.
However, his indictment listed only three counts of receiving and possessing child pornography.
Pruitt was hired by the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office in July 1999 as an entry-level detention officer and rose to the rank of sergeant in the Uniform Patrol Division. Authorities said he'd never shown any signs to make them suspicious of the crimes with which he was charged.
- www.northfulton.com
Rod Stewart appears at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta
The man from England rocked a packed house at the Verizon Amphitheatre Wednesday night with a night of his hits. The 63 year old made plenty of soccer moms and old fans from across North Fulton as his set featured a run-through of all the songs that made his name.
In a stage that was literally all white (from the lace curtains surrounding it to the material spread across the stage to the band's instruments), Stewart stood out in his distinctively shiny silver jacket. But, a few songs into the show and screams were heard all over as he eschewed the coat and left on his white shirt which was practically see-through from sweat.
This was a night billed as "Rod Stewart Rocks His Hits," and he didn't disappoint, coming out of the gate swinging with his big hit "Some Guys Have All the Luck." This immediately followed an intro video with a mock movie trailer depicting Stewart as a robot dubbed "The Rodinator" with him there to "save the world by singing."
I'm not a huge Stewart fan, but his band definitely seemed on point, but the singer himself looks to be getting up there in years. He seemed to struggle a bit when dancing and his voice is a little worse for the wear, but that comes with the territory when you're still doing it for so many decades.
Only a few songs in the set the drummer and percussionist went on an extended solo which allowed the rest of the band to head backstage for a breather. I've been to tons of shows where these types of solos happen, but they're usually towards the very end of the set, never less than halfway through.
Stewart emerged in a new black shirt and seemed a little rejuvenated so I suppose it was good for him.
One thing I got a kick out of was Stewart's apparent affection for Glasgow's Celtic Football Club. Both drummers had the team's shield on their bass drums and through several songs the video behind the band showed highlights from over the years. They're my second favorite team, so I've got to give the man respect for that.
All in all, for me it wasn't the greatest night musically, but I'm a young cynical journalist. And plenty of the crowd seemed to love every moment so that's what really counts. Stewart is still selling out places all over the country and making people happy, so props for that.
- www.northfulton.com
