Floor Seats for Mayer

John Mayer was in Calgary on April 30. I've been a Mayer fan since I saw him on a PBS special a few years ago. When artists come to town, I want the best tickets possible, so I joined John's fan club (http://www.local-83.com/) to get pre-sale tickets. That got us on the 11th row Floor in the Saddledome. I knew it would likely mean standing for the concert, but I was OK with that.

I was surprised when I actually got the tickets in the mail that cameras were allowed so long as photos were not for commercial purposes. I had no desire to sell them, so spent the majority of the concert with my camera in front of my face. With digital, the more the merrier, and if you don't like it, you can always hit delete later. Here was the the "actual" view from my seat.

But I have an Olympus SP500UZ with a 10x optial zoom. So this is what you really get...

Mayer can play. He's likely the best guitarist I've seen or heard since Shaun Verrault of Wide Mouth Mason. Mayer's known for his wit and charm; shame he really never said anything during this overly short concert. And short it was -- 12 songs in the concert, and 2 in the encore, for a total of 1 hr 10 min on stage. His "Any Given Thursday" DVD featured an 1:45 concert. The Killers were here a week later -- 2 albums and a 90 minute set. Mayer doesn't lack for material, so to me, there was no excuse for such a short show.