Tag: MTV

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Concert Reviews

Blast From the Past: John Mayer Concert Review on MTV.com

If you’re familiar with my music taste, you already know that I am a die-hard John Mayer fan. In fact, it’s one of those qualities that seems to be ingrained in my musical makeup and everyone knows about me. Even while interning at MTV News Online I’d get the occasional joke about my obsession with him. But, no matter what anyone thinks about Mayer as a person or his recent stints in all the gossip mags, his talent is undeniable. I wish I could play guitar even half as good as he can . . . but I probably should actually practice my guitar regularly to reach this goal. Below is my review of his Madison Square Garden concert from 2007. Feel free to read it below, or check it out on MTV here with a full photo archive of the show.

John Mayer Goes Out With Alicia Keys — At Sold-Out New York Show
Singer shows sold-out crowd there’s a lot more to him than pop.

By Annie Reuter

NEW YORK — With a guest appearance from Alicia Keys, sing-alongs galore and an intimate two-song acoustic performance on a small stage in the middle of the crowd, John Mayer’s sold-out performance Wednesday night delivered everything a headlining spot at Madison Square Garden should.

After a strong opening set from Mat Kearney, Mayer’s show began with the venue darkened before the sounds of Mayer’s guitar drowned out the screams from younger members of the audience. A blue spotlight revealed him as he began “Belief” solo before being joined by the rest of his band.

(See Mayer dazzle by checking out photos of the MSG show right here.)

As the 90-minute set (consisting primarily of songs from his latest LP, Continuum) progressed, he joked with the crowd often, introducing “I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)” by saying, “In America, you’re allowed to be an a–hole.” While it seemed at first to be a political reference, he instead described a first date and surprised the crowd by saying, “This song is telling you I’m the type of person that will do you wrong.” With lyrics like “If my past is any sign of your future/ You should be warned before I let you inside,” Mayer got the point across.

The crowd went wild for songs like “Waiting on the World to Change” and “Stop This Train,” but longtime fans made their presence heard on older songs like “Bigger Than My Body,” “No Such Thing” and “Why Georgia.”

But even though Mayer, who won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album at the Grammys last month (see “Timberlake Rocks; Blige Weeps; Chicks, Chilis Clean Up At Grammys”), has a pop audience many would envy (need we mention Jessica Simpson?), the crowd at the Garden showed that his efforts to diversify musically have worked.

Sure, there were plenty of teeny-boppers in attendance, but there were also parents with their children, couples young and old, businesspeople coming from work, and high-school and college students. And Mayer made sure that his show contained something for everyone: His solos and improvisations with the two guitarists in his band pleased the guitar geeks, and he dipped into bluesy John Mayer Trio mode for “I Don’t Need No Doctor” and “I’m Gonna Find Another You.”

And throughout the show, Mayer constantly let those fans know just how much he appreciates them. “I’m not mature enough to be the kind of person to thank you for how much this means to me,” he said after “Waiting on the World to Change.” And then later, “This [success] doesn’t exist without you. I’m not sure I deserve it, but I’m going to keep writing and playing and doing whatever I have to do.”

Perhaps taking a tip from the Rolling Stones, for his encore Mayer performed two acoustic songs on a small stage set up in the middle of the venue, singing “Your Body Is a Wonderland” and “Stop This Train” just feet away from surprised fans, bringing the intimacy of a small club to the nearly 20,000-capacity venue.

Mayer left the small stage at around 10:30, but had one more trick up his sleeve. Returning to the main stage, he played “Vultures” — saying at the end, “This is the best night I’ve ever had” — before beginning his last song of the evening, “Gravity.”

As the song seemed to be ending, female vocals were heard — and just as cries of “Who is it?” became nearly as loud as the music, out came Alicia Keys, who took over the song’s vocals while Mayer accompanied her on his guitar. “Keep me where the light is,” she crooned, as the song ended with the spotlights shining brightly all over her and Mayer.

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First Person

College Reminiscing

This past week has continually reminded me of why I first decided to become a music writer. While preparing for an edit test, I began paging through various notes from journalism classes I had taken at Rutgers (still in disbelief that it’s been over a year since I graduated). I came across one of the first music-related assignments I wrote in my junior year. I still remember the class, it was Professor Fitzpatrick’s News Reporting and Writing and while my news writing wasn’t the strongest, I took full advantage of writing feature and entertainment-related articles in his class, this specific assignment being no different. We were assigned to write a profile on whomever we wished — politician, entertainer, etc. — and I decided on my favorite artist at the time, Kanye West. When reading through my profile assignment I was thoroughly impressed by my research and could clearly see that even back then, well over two years ago, it was evident that becoming a music journalist was in my future.

Even before interning at MTV News or Rolling Stone, you can see in my earlier articles that this is what I excelled at and had passion for, despite not realizing it for myself at the time. I had always wanted to write thought-provoking, moving pieces as well and partly, I think this is why I love discovering and featuring new bands on my blog. In a way, by me writing about lesser known bands and getting readers interested in listening to a song or checking out their MySpace, I’m making a difference, even if it is in a very small way.

This week I’ve decided to roll back the clock and post some of my very first music-related articles. Whether it be my first artist profile on Kanye, first concert review or in-depth magazine writing assignment, I hope it gives you a little taste of how it all began and motivates me to keep pursing music writing when the career path isn’t always clearly laid out for me.

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News

MTV News Featured Member

Guess what! I’m featured on MTV’s concert blog, You R Here, as a featured member for this week! I tried to take a screen shot to paste it in my blog for you all to see, but it wasn’t working for some reason. See for yourself at http://www.mtv.com/news. If you scroll down to the right hand side you’ll see a picture of me and my friend Wendy (she takes all the pictures for my blog). Feel free to peruse previous posts I’ve uploaded on MTV and leave comments!

Be sure to check back later this week for an interview with Kris Roe of the Ataris!

Categories
Concert Reviews

Switchfoot, Relient K and Ruth Raise Over $67,000 on Tour Benefiting Habitat for Humanity

Special thanks to Wendy Hu for the amazing concert photos! All credit goes to her. Feel free to click the link above to read the review on mtv.com.

Minutes before 10 p.m. Hammerstein Ballroom went dark and the sound of guitar chords from radio hit, “Meant to Live” could be heard on stage. Screams echoed throughout the room. The spotlights came on and Switchfoot quickly began playing “Oh! Gravity” – first single off of their sixth album of the same name. The energy was high, both on and off the stage as each new song was played. “Stars” was their second song of the night and after that was one crowd favorite, “This is Your Life,” as singer Jon Foreman sang at the edge of the stage, leaning into the crowd.

Having been to three Switchfoot shows in the past three years, I’ve always wondered how they keep up their energy for every night of the tour. Drummer Chad Butler explained that the motivation is connecting with the audience.

“In our live show there’s a conversation, it’s a two-way dialogue. To have the audience singing it back is amazing. To have people after each show come up and say how much a song means to them, that’s motivating,” Butler said. And the audience was singing along all night.

Switchfoot kept the show fresh with a few remixes of old hits throughout their set. One song in particular “Gone,” started out with band members singing a Beyonce song and then intertwining Rihanna’s “Umbrella.”

Having recently broken from record label Columbia, Jon Foreman announced that this is Switchfoot’s first show in New York City as an independent band.

While singing “American Dream,” the entire band paused, for which seemed like eternity, frozen in their spots, seemingly making the point that a house with a white, picket fence and 2.5 kids is not, in fact, their American dream.

Singer Jon Foreman has the most energy of any performer I’ve come across. During “Dirty Second Hands,” he played a symbol, spinning around in circles while hitting it. Slowing down the night a bit, when playing “On Fire,” Jon jumped into the crowd and started singing to the audience, while balancing on the first level railing of box seats adjacent to the stage. Later, during hit single, “Meant to Live,” he crowd-surfed into the audience for a while, the crowd later gracefully placing him back on the stage.

The highlight of the evening occurred when all three bands took the stage to perform a song entitled, “Rebuild.” Jon Foreman of Switchfoot and Matt Thiessen of Relient K wrote “Rebuild” and released it specifically for their “Appetite for Construction Tour” where $1 from every ticket is going to benefit Habitat for Humanity. Fans can go onto Switchfoot.com and purchase the song, thus directly donating money to Habitat for Humanity. The tour has raised over $67,000 for Habitat, all three bands helping out on builds throughout the tour.

“Our goal is to encourage people to donate time locally in their own city. One of the most amazing things about Habitat is you don’t need to have any prior experience or expertise . . . they’ll put you to work and you make a difference. I’ve been really excited to see our audience come down to the sites and help out,” Butler said.

Matt Thiessen of Relient K agrees. “One of the best things of this tour is the meaning behind it,” he told the audience. “One dollar of every ticket goes to Habitat for Humanity. We want to encourage everyone to check out their local chapters and go to some sites. It’s a lot easier than you think. We’re never completely content with where we are in life. We need to be compassionate. Being compassionate is what makes us feel alive.”

The rest of the Switchfoot set was strong. Jon played an acoustic number with special guest, Keith Tutt on cello, for the infamous crowd favorites, “Only Hope,” and the beginning of “Dare You to Move,” until the rest of the band came out, resulting in the entire Ballroom singing along to the last song while Jon thanked everyone for being a part of the last 10 years.

Butler said “Dare You to Move,” is one of his favorite songs to play live. It’s one of the songs that they play halfway around the world and the audience sings along to every word. “We wrote it many years ago and it’s the highlight of the night. No matter where we go the audience is singing along. There’s a unity that exists inside a rock club that rarely exists anywhere else where you have strangers putting their arms around each other singing along. It’s a connection that I rarely see anywhere else. Music is a powerful thing. It brings people together.”

Both Relient K and Ruth had strong sets. Relient K played some new songs from their latest album, “Five Score and Seven Years Ago,” as well as surprised the crowd with their holiday version of “Sleigh ride,” from their holiday album, cleverly titled, “Let It Snow Baby…Let It Reindeer.” With fake snow falling from the lights and an inflatable snowman, Christmas tree, and polar bear, Relient K got the Ballroom into the holiday spirit.

Like Switchfoot, Relient K played an hour set showcasing hit singles, “Be My Escape,” and “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been.” They even covered 80s Tears for Fears hit, “Head Over Heels” with remarkable precis
ion, as well as wrote a “love song” dedicated to hit TV show, “The Office.”

One of the highlights of Relient K’s set was when
they hand-picked three members of the audience to help them out on a song. One boy played a few guitar chords for the song while two girls helped out on tambourines.

Opening act Ruth performed for their first time in New York. They had a strong 20 minute set. Hailing from Washington State, they played a song entitled, “Here in New York,” and you could see their excitement throughout their performance to be playing in the city that never sleeps. Lead singer Dustin Ruth told the crowd how stoked he was to be on tour with Switchfoot and Relient K, explaining how surreal it is for Ruth to be on tour with their heroes.

Although the concert ended at 11 p.m., Jon had a special treat for fans waiting outside in the cold well past midnight. He took out his guitar and gave 30 or so fans an impromptu performance of songs “24” and “Somebody’s Baby,” which will be featured on his “Winter” EP. Jon and the rest of the guys from Switchfoot were on 35th St. signing autographs and taking pictures until 1 a.m.

Categories
Features First Person

I’m not a groupie…a music lover’s tale of getting that interview.

Despite popular belief, I am not a groupie. I’m a journalist. Sure, I hang around tour buses to get an interview with a band. But, that’s my job. Music has always been a passion of mine. It wasn’t until my sophomore year of college that I thought I could make a career out of it — music reporting that is. I still remember the concert. I was a correspondent at my college paper at the time, The Daily Targum at Rutgers University, when I covered the Gavin DeGraw concert on campus. Tickets sold out in record number, being that his song, “I Don’t Want To Be” was the theme song to a new hit TV show on the WB, “One Tree Hill.” His single began getting radio air time and popularity ensued.

I was standing in the front row, notebook in one hand, camera in the other when it hit me — I could do this for the rest of my life! I’ve always loved going to concerts and trying to meet the band. I did it for fun, but I could actually make a living out of it. Soon afterwards I began writing for my college paper’s entertainment section and while I’ve always enjoyed writing, music writing became my passion. I’d cover concerts on campus, in NYC, at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ, a short drive from campus. You name the concert, I was there.

I was lucky enough to intern at Jane magazine as well as MTV News Online during my last year of college and learned more about the magazine/music industry and am confident that this is the field I want to go into. Since my current job isn’t a writing job I’ve decided to blog a bit on what I love — music. I’ll be going to some concerts and hopefully getting interviews as well as doing album reviews. In the meantime, I figure I’ll post past interviews with some bands I’ve covered and will hopefully get those up on the blog soon. If anyone knows of any good concerts or suggestions for this blog please let me know!

-Annie