UWM Post fringe

Mayer’s Shot at Forgiveness

In recent months, John Mayer has become one of the most elusive musicians of our times, but in 2006 things were different. Mayer’s third album, Continuum was a stony, groove-heavy album that blurred genres as a reverb-thick batch of hook-laden tunes. Mayer even had the balls to cover “Bold As Love” with real taste. Because of its audacity, anything set to follow would inevitably pale in comparison.

With the release of Battle Studies in November, many fans and critics agreed – including Mayer himself, who admitted in his February Rolling Stone interview, “John Mayer’s Dirty Mind & Lonely Heart,” that considering the album his best was simply “bullshit.”

That Rolling Stone interview has also quietly launched a series of controversy, as Mayer also (and to some, rather inappropriately) discussed his sexuality, ex-girlfriends, and bowel movements with an attention to detail that deeply disturbed the media. Prior to the release of Battle Studies, it’s easy to forget the rough times Mayer experienced – a tumultuous break-up with Jennifer Aniston, the divorce of his parents this past summer…the list goes on. Despite the response from his interview with Rolling Stone, he more or less shrugged off his overly-candid comments.

Then on February 10^th, 2010, Mayer conducted an interview with Playboy Magazine, which launched the current controversy surrounding his name. In the eye-opening course of events, the jazzy troubadour discusses pornography, the transition from musician to celebrity, and having a “n***** pass,” among other things.

He discussed his third-life crisis with moving candor, but made it hard to ignore his colorful comments, especially those that sought to explain what “being black” was like. In an attempt to intellectualize his racial slurs, he sounded downright foolish. What followed later that day was a tearful apology onstage at his concert in Nashville, TN. In many ways, though, the damage has already been done. Red-flagged as a racist, a misogynist, and other things, it’s been a slow bounce back to his job as a musician over the last couple of weeks.

Perhaps Monday night marks a chance for Mayer to make amends by bringing his “Battle Studies” world tour to the Bradley Center downtown. It is important to separate Mayer’s public and private identities in preparation for the gig, particularly in relation to his new album. The same “Split Screen Sadness” is there on Battle Studies, but he’s in a different headspace these days. The Battle Studies material builds more slowly, subtly, unpredictably.  It also does not beg for the extended soloing and live reworking that his other material has. Few have been ready for this change, but it will surely make his performance all the more interesting.

Mayer Shredding Blues Guitar Solo

- Graham Marlowe