This Blu Ray is totally kick #$%. I had no idea John Mayer played like this. A friend saw him in concert a few weeks ago and said his blues guitar playing was great. I bought the disc today and I'm watching the trio portion. This is an extremely good sounding disc.
Caveat about my Blu Ray reviews: Two weeks ago I was enraputured by Celine Dion's A New Day. I bought it to watch with my girlfriend. I think I've watched it fifteen times. Seriously, even if you hate her, throw it on you Netflix list and let your wife watch it. She will really like it. And if you have young daughters there is some nice dancing in it if they are interested in ballet and modern dance. And watch at least one track on it. She covers River Deep Mountain High and really shows she is the boss. I wish she sang more high energy songs like that instead of the wimpy stuff that made her probably a billion dollars.
Ok go ahead and make fun of me now.
cool, I will have to pick up this one once I nab a bluray player in the comming weeks.
That disk is plain awesome. I'm a big JM fan. Actually, cool side story in a minute about him...
Where the Light Is was recorded in LA last Winter (Dec. 2007 I think). It was filmed with a real film camera, as opposed to digital. I found the direction to be really great. The show, needless to say, was pretty phenomenal. You get all three incarnations of the John Mayer experience - his solo, acoustic act (wherein lie his roots), his Trio ensemble, which is a very accomplished blues/classic rock effort and his full, live band. It's an interesting branding move - the Trio is. I think it will help him sell his blues stuff, there being less confusion about what you're buying when you pick up a John Mayer disk vs. a John Mayer Trio disk.
Alright - my cool JM story. My brother in law works at Johns Hopkins in the oncology ward doing patient's last days liaison work. It's kind of a downer job - he assists families through the death of their loved ones. So, pretty much, every day, people are dying around him. Bummer. There are some perks, though. Assisting people through such emotionally trying times creates instant bond between people sometimes. About 8 or 10 years ago, the guitar luthier Paul Reed Smith found himself in the company of my brother in law as a result of the sickness of one of his close relatives. Micheal (brother in law) and Paul hit it off, and they have been good friends ever since.
Being good friends with a guitar maker whose guitars rank up there with Fender and Gibson has its perks. Needless to say, Mike's house is littered with literally dozens of one-off, custom guitars that Paul has made for him. I play guitar and have for years. So, my jealousy is hard to mask.
Recently, John Mayer was caught on YouTube playing a Paul Reed Smith (PRS) guitar with Buddy Guy, I believe. JM Has an exclusive contract to play on stage with Fender guitars, so that was a bit remarkable. PRS approached him and asked if he wanted a guitar made for him. John said yes and gave the custom shop the specs. Well, long short long, the guitar was not up to John's liking - he wanted a darker finish. So, back to the shop the guitar went.
Here's where the cool part comes in. Mike had been promising to get me a guitar for years. But finding a spot on the custom schedule can, at times, be difficult, especially when he's not a paying customer. When Mike heard that JM had ordered and played the guitar, but ultimately wanted something slightly different and sent it back, he jumped on it. Paul agreed to give him the guitar instead. Well, this weekend, I was given this gorgeous thing of beauty, which I now proudly call my own. It came with a letter to John Mayer's agent in New York, with the shipping info, etc., with a notation (coded) that said - "Artist Special Order - JM."
It's a semi-hollow body, electric guitar, with book matched curly maple front and back, in a natural finish (no stain). The neck is Brazilian Rosewood and the tuning pegs are Ebony. I'll post some pics soon, hopefully.
Thanks for reading.
I will make fun of you. Also, my wife will kick my ass if I ever bring home Celine Dion for her to watch.
<Nelson>Ha ha!</nelson>
That said, glad to hear you're enjoying blu-ray. Someday I will see and have this wonder.
Cap, that's totally awesome, and we need pictures.
My only fault about the disc are the interludes. John is a little whiny and needy. But I think he will mature out of that.
The audio on this disk is the best I've every heard. The Dave Mathews / Tim Reynolds was my best sounding disk, but this one is just a wee bit better.
ok, thats it I HAVE to buy a bluray player!
Celine Dion got you hooked, huh?
The audio on the disk IS outstanding. I had both the Dave and the JM together, listening side by side. The Dave disk had incredible fidelity. With only 2 guitars and a vocal, the sound was pure, pure, pure - like being there. With the JM show, since there was more involved in the mix, it was a bit "noisier" - as in there was more sound to digest - but it was better than being at a live show, sound wise.
Both were treats for the eyes and especially the ears.
For a sneak peak, check out:
PRS Guitars Private Stock The top and bottom woods are curly maple
Mahogany center and neck.
Brazilian rosewood fretboard:
It's a hollow body with "f-holes" (ha, f-holes) kind of like
.
Also, check
this out.
[This will be a lot easier when I get home with my camera]
Cool story Adrien and what a beautiful guitar! John Mayer has been into the blues for quite a long time and in fact Stevie Ray Vaughan had such a huge impact on John that he has an 'SRV' tattoo on his arm. I've never been a big fan of John Mayer but he can play a heck of a blues guitar whenever he wants, I'll have to pick up the disc whenever I get off my duff and buy a player.
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JM does a pretty awesome SRV impression. I've seen him live a handful of times and there are moments when he'll do a few blues standards and whip out some signature SRV licks. He's also known to rip of Jimi. I guess if you're going to rip anybody off, those two as good a start as any.
