НАКОНЕЦ-ТО! :)
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The next Clapton? It's not Mayer
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/657261.htmlDavid Menconi, Staff Writer
RALEIGH - John Mayer is supposed to be a six-string deity for the new century, the closest thing mainstream pop music has produced to a bona fide guitar hero in years. If that's the case, boy, are we in trouble.
Mayer seems like a perfectly affable guy with his heart in the right place, and it's not like he's terrible. Well, when his voice goes all Dave Matthews and he does that annoying yelping scat thing, he actually is pretty terrible. But mostly, he's just profoundly mediocre.
Mayer played Walnut Creek on Tuesday night, and every time he scrunched up his face and launched into an electric guitar solo, it was difficult to keep the mind from wandering to visions of funnel cakes and beer, or wondering how long the line in the bathroom was.
Song after song went in one ear and out the other -- pleasant enough while playing, but not distinctive enough to linger.
On the plus side, the few songs Mayer played on acoustic guitar picked things right up. Leaving the heavy riffing to his other two guitarists, ex-Pretender Robbie McIntosh and Follow For Now's David Ryan Harris, Mayer hit a gliding groove that was immensely appealing.
In terms of his rock credibility, Mayer probably doesn't much like "No Such Thing" anymore, even though it was his breakthrough hit back in 2002. Too bad, because it was terrific.
Unfortunately, the electric portion of the set consisted of Mayer demonstrating that he is a competent player but not the second coming of Eric Clapton.
Halfway through, the woman behind me opined, "Ben Folds was much better." She was right.
Mayer does deserve credit for giving Ben Folds a generous hour-plus running time for his opening set. Like Todd Rundgren, former Chapel Hill denizen Folds has mastered the art of quirky pop that isn't especially popular in the way that Mayer is. He didn't even play the hit single most people would know, 1998's "Brick."
But Folds' music is so well-crafted (and smart-alecky) that he attracts rabid devotees. Pockets of loud, enthusiastic fans were scattered throughout the amphitheater, and Folds eventually won over most of the audience.
Playing in the same piano/bass/ drums setup as the old Ben Folds Five, Folds flashed his customary virtuosic touch on the keyboards, working in oddball flourishes -- such as the riff to the Dick Dale "Pulp Fiction" hit "Misirlou," a strange thing to hear on piano. It was a loose and easygoing set, with 13 songs from all over Folds' catalog, a few covers and some reminiscing.
"You might note that the piano's out of tune and I'd apologize for that, but I'm not gonna do it," Folds said, then recalled carting a piano into Chapel Hill's Local 506.
The exuberant "Army" still sounded like the hit it should've been back in 1999, "Landed" is the best Elton John-style riff anybody (Elton included) has written in decades, and the rippling "Jesusland" could have gone on all night and nobody would have minded.
Then there was the closing song, a cover of a deeply offensive Dr. Dre song called ... well, let's just say it rhymes with "Witches Ain't Fit."
In contrast to the 1992 original, Folds played it as a gently crooning ballad, complete with audience singalong, and it was simultaneously hilarious and breathtakingly tasteless.
Bad taste and all, it was also more memorable than anything Mayer did all night.
