Slow Dancing In A Burning Room – Live in L.A.
After a longer break I decided to move on with posting some boutique audio content. Some significant!
But this time I had to go back to 2007/2008. For me it was quite a special time in a musical way because I rediscovered John Mayer.
As many people out there I knew him by listening to „Your Body Is A Wonderland“ on the radio while driving through the early 2000s. Few years later I recognized him as a guitar player who loves to jam at the Crossroads Guitar Festival. He convinced me and I used to listen to his records. Another year went by and somehow I lost sight of Mayer caused by a period of heavier artists like Dream Theater, Steve Vai and so on. Anyway.
In 2007 I played on my electric guitar while a friend came by and asked me: „Have you already listened to Mayer’s new album? That tune reminds me a bit of Continuum.“ „Continuum..?“ „..Yeah…right.“
So I listened to his album Continuum and I immediately became a fan of John Mayer. A fan of Continuum. A fan of blues music. And again a fan of the Fender Stratocaster. This album made a huge impact on my musical point of view. I loved the way he brought back the old bluesy strat tunes and especially tones. It felt like he translated the Stevie Ray Vaughan, Clapton and Vince Gill vintage guitar tones to a younger generation that raised up with mp3 and streaming. Covered with genius songwriting and an outstanding audio production. This record is full of really really strong tracks. One of the best tracks beside „Gravity“ is „Slow Dancing In A Burning Room“. A live show with John Mayer would be inconceivable if he wouldn’t play these two songs he recorded together with Pino Palladino and Steve Jordan in 2006.
15 years later in July 2019, I wouldn’t change any thought on that record. Since then John Mayer released four more studio albums. Three of them also impressed me above average. But I have to confess: The newer the album the lower my expectations. Especially since the last album „The Search For Everything“. In my ears, the search hasn’t been that successful. But don’t get me wrong- it’s still good music I’m into. But there is a big hope that he will catch up with the continuum-era someday.
Beside that, a live show with Mayer is always worth a visit! It’s jamming, it’s high quality music, outstanding musicians and all his great songs with a unique feel that differs slightly from show to show.