I mentioned a few posts ago that I've been really inspired lately.

Some of that inspiration needs to be attributed to the Ben Folds/John Mayer concert I saw in Chicago last month. I've been meaning to do a quick recap of the show, but haven't, and also can't think of viable excuse as of yet.

Now is the time.

First of all, the opening act, Brett Dennen was great. I was impressed with his music and he did a great job. You should all check him out here. I've seen his name around, and more lately with the momentum he's gaining from the John Mayer tour. On a side note, he was on my favorite Sirius Radio--Coffee House channel on tv the other night. Yes, I am one of the few in the American population who occasionally sits alone in front of the TV and surfs the "radio" tv stations. Those stations are the best thing on television. Video did not kill the radio star for me, yet.

Ben Folds was technically the "special guest", which felt weird, since I've only seen him as the headliner in the past. I wonder what that was like for John Mayer, who often gives credit to Ben Folds for being significant inspiration to him when he started his music career. Anyway, Ben Folds' set was great--it was different than the other sets I've heard him play because he played a LOT of old songs, which was a ton of fun to hear him play. Here's a pic of him playing a maraca and the piano...

During his set was an incredible sunset. Here are some shots of that...

First it was golden...

And then red....

And then it started getting dark...

Apparently John Mayer got a shot of the sunset from backstage...I stole this from his photo blog. Sorry, John.

John Mayer was fantastic as well, and it was extra great because it was the first time I had seen and heard him live. The best part of the show was easily the encore. He played three songs, but at the moment I'm only remembering two: Covered in Rain and Your Body is a Wonderland. The encore was an acoustic trio made up of him, one of his guitar players whose name I don't know (sorry), and David Ryan Harris. Ah, the soul....the emotion. It was awesome. Here's a quick shot of that:

Covered in Rain was beautiful. According to the two girls behind me who seemed to know and discuss every waking detail about John Mayer's music and personal life (and who I eavesdropped on continuously), Covered in Rain is a sequel of sorts to City Love. Either way, it was brilliant.
If someone were to tell me that Your Body Is A Wonderland was going to be one of my favorite songs at the show, I wouldn't have believed it. Sure, the song is fun and actually really poetic, it just doesn't stick out to me as one of my favorites from John Mayer. The song started and it was great, but then the song got fabulous when John Mayer stopped singing it and David Ryan Harris took over. I think this is the same kind of "cardinal sin" that I refered to before about liking John Mayer's cover of Bold as Love more than the Hendrix original....well, the score is even, because David Ryan Harris singing Wonderland was phenomenal. Kudos to that man.
Here's a good screen-shot from the show that I'm sure you'll enjoy...