Enjoy
You Owe It To Yourself
i got back from the cruise this afternoon, after a lovely round of standby musical chairs. my flight home was originally booked for 5pm, but since my friend and i debarked at ~8am, we had a lot of time to kill. i can't believe the cruise is over, especially after looking forward to it for such a long time. i am so happy and thankful that i got to take this trip & it was refreshing in more ways than i can count. now onto my semblance of a review:
my friend colleen and i got down to florida on thursday, so we boarded the victory mildly-to-very-much-so sunburned. aloe, check! i saw some t-shirts for crazy t-shirt day that made me wince, recoil and check my gag reflex. there were some good ones, though, like the series for a family of 4 - two little girls and their parents with various photos of john. on the back, it said "[random] family from [san jose?] loves john mayer." i know that if i were a kiddo, that would be a crazy vacation, but certainly one i'd remember for my lifetime. the most hilarious one i saw was one worn by a dude who photoshopped john's head onto the rolling stone cover with christina aguilera's naked, guitar-holding body. he changed the headlines, but unfortunately i can't remember them.
john had a deck cordoned off above the back lido deck pool, and it was certainly an exercise in human dynamics on friday when i was watching all of these people (mostly women, but i'd say the ship was gender split 75F/25M if i had to take a guess) watch john. they were yelling and doing things just to get his attention and i was somewhat ashamed to be on the same vessel with them. it made him seem like a caged animal, and that depressed me for him. i understand the fascination of fans, but i neither understand nor identify with the behavior. that said, i pretty much expected it. fortunately, things got much better once the music began.
i caught the tail end of brett dennen's set on the lido deck and i think his music fits well with a cruise atmosphere. i'm a fan & love his live shows, though they took awhile to grow on me. i can understand why he's not everyone's cup o' tea, but such is music. after brett was done, colleen and i shifted back to the siren's pool a.k.a. the back of the lido deck, where we ran into some old friends and made new ones.
then we moved on to the first of john's shows. i saw an earlier review that said the crowd wasn't into it and there weren't die-hard fans there. i beg to differ, not only because i'm obviously one myself, but my seats were also near the front and people were absolutely into it. sure, there was a drunk girl or two that talked way too loudly during guitar solos, but i'd say that's the minority.
this is tied for the sunday night show as the best one i've EVER seen/heard from john. the dynamic between him and the crowd was amped up because everyone in that room loved his music, at a minimum, or they wouldn't have been on the boat. aside from the killer guitar solos that were prevalent throughout the set, i loved john's banter. he asked the crowd how many of them got passports just for the mayercraft, and a ton of people screamed. in not so many words, he said that underscored how cool and memorable this whole experience was. that people were heavily invested and it was going to be amazing. he reminded us to put all of our other shit on hold.
he explained that he was out at some club with [90] cologne bottles in the bathroom, and after he washed his hands, the attendant said, "have a good night. you owe it to yourself." this became the mayercraft mantra, and it made an appearance in last night's set as well, though not nearly as pronounced. you owe it to yourself to check what's weighing you down at the door.
i loved the reappearance of coldplay's we never change, though it was weird to hear it in a song other than not myself. good love and why georgia both appeared in the set as they usually do, but no matter how many times i hear them, i don't get sick of either. one of my favorite moments of the set was wait until tomorrow solo. also, bob reynolds had a ridiculous solo somewhere in the set, but i cannot remember the song. overall, it was some of the tightest playing i've ever seen and the set lasted for two hours.
my friend and i woke up really early on saturday and took advantage of the hour by grabbing some chairs on the lido deck for relaxation and hilarious conversation throughout the day. after all of the lounging around, we caught dave barnes' set, which featured matt mangano on bass. for newer fans of john, matt used to be john's guitar player and roommate (in both boston and atlanta). [speaking of old band members, michael chaves was also onboard.] gabe dixon also joined in on the keys and played some of his songs for the crowd per request from dave. i'm definitely going to investigate his music more. dave was excellent & hilarious as usual. i can't wait to hear his new album, which is slated for release this april.
we moved on to the 80s & trivia about that wonderful decade when jem and the smurfs ruled the world. team "members only" had a strong showing, but unfortunately we couldn't pull out a victory. the 80s outfits were seriously impressive. all the hairspray, glitter, sequins fuschia and mullets. matty nay would have been proud.
after grabbing some food (the only mediocre part of the cruise for me), we caught a few of teddy thompson's songs on the lido deck. his voice is great & i liked his sound a lot, but i couldn't stay for too long because i wanted to see martin sexton play in the caribbean lounge. i hadn't seen martin play in over 2 years, and it was great to hear his voice again. in addition to his own tunes, he pulled out a johnny cash cover.
next it was on to the bomb squad at the lido deck and they were fuckin' awesome. i loved their sound and their vibe, and since they're NY-based, i know that i will be checking them out again. brad mason & his brother are in the band, along with many others. brenda gethers of american idol fame is their vocalist & i loved her stage presence. when i ran into her the next day, she was incredibly sweet.
then we hit the adriatic lounge to laugh our asses off. first up was james smith, who hails from australia. my stomach literally hurt from laughing so hard throughout his set. his boy-band thing nearly had me on the floor. i'd seen him once prior at the comedy cellar, and i definitely want to check him out again. sherrod followed and the crowd roared the most when he brought john's name into the set. my favorite john-based joke had to do with the ridiculous girly dance that females do at john's shows. holy louisiana purchase is another favorite of mine. if you have no idea what i'm talking about, then you should see one of sherrod's sets.
we capped off the night with colbie caillat's set at the caribbean lounge. i like her voice, but need to give her lyrics a closer listen. the crowd seemed to latch on to her, and then john appeared during battle (i believe that's the title), and the insanity level ratcheted up. it was cool to see john step onstage that way, as it wasn't expected when we got there for the set.
we woke up early the next morning, yet again. this time, though, the lido deck was completely saved and/or filled by 830am by people that had been camped out since 530am. it's possible there were people there earlier, but that was the craziest time i encountered. crazy crazy CRAZY. that's the only word to describe the madhouse. since we actually wanted to enjoy some time outside, we made our way back to siren's pool, where there were plenty of empty lounges at the time. great conversation with friends again, and a good time chillaxin'. at some point in the morning, john went up to the deck that was cordoned off for him. my friend and i were thankfully under his deck, as opposed to the gawking side.
when john came down to go to the bathroom, it got a bit crazy again, but that was nothing compared to when he stepped out in a bright neon something. there was a sarong involved and it looked like neon suspenders to me. it made no sense, but whatever. i realized how wrong i was when i heard the crowd of ~50 people scream/laugh and snap photos. john had dropped the sarong and broke into a jog around the deck. if you've seen borat, that's all you need to know. if not, look it up. i'm guessing photos will pop up here or elsewhere soon, if neon non-bathing suits are your thing. i've never laughed so hard in my life; cheers to john for his willingness to, uh, let it all hang out for the fans.
after that hilarity, we headed to the L83 Q&A which was surprisingly insightful. some questions i can recall are, "what's on your bucket list?" and "having written daughters, what's your favorite thing about your mom? what would she say is her favorite thing about you?" i did crack the hell up when someone asked a question and then said they'd "envisioned" themselves asking john the question. use the filter and keep that part in your head. pee yourself internally, as john explained.
then it was onto the lido deck for cooper, tim bradshaw's band. i really enjoyed seeing a different facet to the musicians from john's band. i hope cooper keeps at it, and i look forward to hearing more from them. once they finished their set, it was onto john's 2nd show.
the chairs had been removed at 1, so the all-day campers had to stand or lean. the set was hilarious and i loved it. who wouldn't love a random medley with sucker > love soon > man on the side > only heart > say? (order may be wrong in the middle). thank goodness for the full bladders onstage or we wouldn't have gotten that medley or DRH's pretty girl with john joining in once he returned. if you're looking at whatever pictures have been posted, it looks like there's a new tattoo on his arm, but it's just a drawing. it was gone by the final set last night.
i'd be hard-pressed to pick which set i enjoyed more - friday's or sunday night's. sunday's gravity was absolutely INSANE. the jams were incredibly intense again and i distinctly remember my eyes widening during a particular guitar solo. i couldn't believe what i was hearing or watching. i found both clarity and wheel to be perfect for the set. i was thrilled to hear wheel because i'd only heard it once, in 2004. it was as gorgeous as i'd remembered. it was especially fitting given john bringing martin out during the encore, with martin having inspired john when he was just beginning his career.
clarity encapsulated the whole feeling on the mayercraft:
by the time i recognize this moment
this moment will be gone
but i will bend the light pretending
that it somehow lingered on
john enthusiastically stated a bunch of times that he'd absolutely be up for this again next year. judging by his face when he was playing in the caribbean lounge both nights, i could tell that he was having a blast on stage. i can easily say it was my best weekend ever, no pun intended.
if there is indeed a mayercraft II, book yourself a cabin. you owe it to yourself.
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