first night of john mayer tour 6/1

First the setlist, then my review.

Theme from Dr. Pyser
Gone
All U Can Eat
Still Fighting It
Bastard
*corndog improv (rock this bitch for john mayer)
You To Thank (changing some words--like, "and the corn dogs were sold out")
Landed
**Bitches Ain't Shit
Shit note on synth
Narcolepsy
Such Great Heights
Kate (!)
***Not the Same

So, it's not like I was expecting much. Ben played a good hour and about 10 minutes, and he was top notch. However, the sound was terrible for him, and the piano was out of tune. But of course when Mayer plays, the sound is remarkable. Anyway, the crowd was absolutely terrible. Seriously, they were so disrespectful to Ben.

*This is the RTB improv he did about people leaving to get corndogs during his set. It was hilarious.

**This was an extended version of Bitches Ain't Shit. Of course all the little teenage Mayer fans giggled when he mentioned Dr. Dre. When Ben wanted us to sing "bitches can't hang with the streets", I felt like it was just my brother and I singing. It sucked. There was no energy what-so-ever from the crowd. They were just talking amongst each other, and getting in-and-out of their seats the entire time.

***Kind of the same story as BAS--nobody sang the harmonies. And afterwards, when Ben was exiting the stage, everyone just stopped cheering as soon as he walked off, so there was no encore.

Anywho, I felt that this kind of environment was the complete opposite of what Ben shows are supposed to be like. First off, it was a sit-down show. Secondly, it was a huge venue. And thirdly, it was John Mayer--and his fans suck. There was no audience participation at all. I was so upset with the crowd, that I couldn't think of watching John with them, so I walked out and hung out with some other pissed-off Ben fans.

I thought Ben and the boys played very well, but everything else sucked. I feel bad that Ben has to put up with this for rest of the tour. Sorry, guys. It just wasn't that great...

P.S. Yes, he played Kate. And it was incredible.

That's so terribly sad.

I never thought it was a good idea for Ben to revert back to being an opener. Yeah he'll get more hear-time, but I'd much rather be in an intimate (and he's said so to) area where we all love and adore him.

And of COURSE the sound was better for Mayer, he probably got to sound check a lot longer. Sadness. Majorly.

Yeah, but I did get a cool new Ben tshirt that says "I <3'd ben folds before he sucked"

is that a tour shirt? 
i must have this!

WHAT? If that's the tour shirt. I MUST HAVE ONE TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


Because I did.


Besides that he doesn't suck. Just some of the stupid publicity things do.

And afterwards, when Ben was exiting the stage, everyone just stopped cheering as soon as he walked off, so there was no encore.

To be fair, support acts NEVER get encores; when I saw Roman Candle as the first of a three act bill, they did do an encore but they weren't the "support" and no band was headlining. Also, they drew the biggest crowd of the night.

Anyway, 1 hour 10? Considering the fact he was the support, that's an impressive set. Okay, so not a full show, but you still got 12-13 songs, which for a lot of bands IS a full set. I saw The Crimea last night and their set was 14 songs long (and their songs are all under 4 minutes in length pretty much). Ben shows are always pretty lengthy. Which is nothing but a good thing.

Yeah, I do realize that he's not suppose to have an encore, but I thought that since he played as long as he did, that'd he'd have one. I don't know.

First the setlist, then my review.

Theme from Dr. Pyser
Gone
All U Can Eat
Still Fighting It
Bastard
*corndog improv (rock this bitch for john mayer)
You To Thank (changing some words--like, "and the corn dogs were sold out")
Landed
**Bitches Ain't Shit
Shit note on synth
Narcolepsy
Such Great Heights
Kate (!)
***Not the Same

So, it's not like I was expecting much. Ben played a good hour and about 10 minutes, and he was top notch. However, the sound was terrible for him, and the piano was out of tune. But of course when Mayer plays, the sound is remarkable. Anyway, the crowd was absolutely terrible. Seriously, they were so disrespectful to Ben.

*This is the RTB improv he did about people leaving to get corndogs during his set. It was hilarious.

**This was an extended version of Bitches Ain't Shit. Of course all the little teenage Mayer fans giggled when he mentioned Dr. Dre. When Ben wanted us to sing "bitches can't hang with the streets", I felt like it was just my brother and I singing. It sucked. There was no energy what-so-ever from the crowd. They were just talking amongst each other, and getting in-and-out of their seats the entire time.

***Kind of the same story as BAS--nobody sang the harmonies. And afterwards, when Ben was exiting the stage, everyone just stopped cheering as soon as he walked off, so there was no encore.

Anywho, I felt that this kind of environment was the complete opposite of what Ben shows are supposed to be like. First off, it was a sit-down show. Secondly, it was a huge venue. And thirdly, it was John Mayer--and his fans suck. There was no audience participation at all. I was so upset with the crowd, that I couldn't think of watching John with them, so I walked out and hung out with some other pissed-off Ben fans.

I thought Ben and the boys played very well, but everything else sucked. I feel bad that Ben has to put up with this for rest of the tour. Sorry, guys. It just wasn't that great...

P.S. Yes, he played Kate. And it was incredible.

that sounds a little disapointing - i might see ben (for the first time mind you!) sometime during this mayer tour, so i hope the atmosphere is better where i go

I am going Tuesday night in San jose. I am up close. I am off to Guitar Center to buy a $300 deal to record it. I can justify this because I am going to see the smashing pumpkins in SF at the fillmore. The JM /BF tix say it's OK to record, no photos. Smashing pumpkins say Vidieo / Photo Audio OK!

yeah, my brother was telling me about this interview he read with john mayer that asked why he allows people to record audio at his shows, and he replied, "well, i think i'm the only artist worth recording live" or something like that. that pissed me off.

be sure to share that recording!
pssh... Mayer's c*cky.
if Mayer fans knew anything about him, they'd know that Ben is one of his idols and he would want them to respect and embrace Ben.

Aw, that's crap that this is how the tour started for Ben.  I hope other towns treat him better. :-/

Mayer's anti photo? That's shit.

I hate it when they're like that.

everyone had cameras though. they didnt even check my purse at the amphitheatre.

Well I don't know if I'll actually see a gig as an audience memeber this tour.

And at Summerfest I'm not allowed to have my cell phone.... I don't know how they'll feel about a camera. Let alone, I don't know if it's my job to check for cameras........