A Grave Matter

A Grave Matter

Gravity is working against me
And gravity wants to bring me down

John Mayer, Grammy nominated singer and songwriter, nails my sentiments these days. Indeed, Gravity is bringing my body down both physically and mentally. It’s gravity that causes my knee joints to ache, my shoulder to twinge every time I throw a ball, my stomach to give up and hang lifelessly over my belt, and my pectoral muscles to turn in to faux breasts.

Gravity gets me in my head, too. As I’ve grown older, serious issues gravitate to my mind and coalesce there. Seemingly comfortable with their warm, synoptic surroundings, these unwanted, disruptive neighbors do their best to ruin my thoughts and my life. Through the course of my life, I’ve invested in all manner of schemes and devices to move these grave neighbors from my mind, but they remain firmly rooted and tragically happy.

Combating gravity can be a full time job. Of late, I’ve attacked gravity physically by standing up to it, face to face; pushing through the physical pains. The gravity that attacks the mind is much harder to address though. I have tried to both reduce my stress levels by blowing off certain onerous tasks, staying busy with different challenging activities, writing almost every day, and tapping in to youth. It’s all a grand life experiment. That’s one reason why I wanted to go see John Mayer last night at the Roanoke Civic Center.

Two weeks ago, I had accompanied my daughter, her two friends, and my wife to Charlottesville to see Red Hot Chili Peppers. Late last year, I realized a dream in getting to see songwriting legend, Richard Thompson. Last summer, I managed tickets to Floyd Fest where I got to see my great big idol, David Bromberg. My opportunity to see John Mayer last night was not something I wanted to turn down.

My wife has been a John Mayer fan for some time now, and I really haven’t paid much attention to his career. He sort of existed in the periphery of my grave thoughts. When I found out that he was bringing his show to Roanoke, I snatched up tickets. I figured that even if I weren’t his greatest fan, my wife would certainly love the show. Yet over the past few months since I bought the tickets, I’ve studied his music and found that I very much appreciate and enjoy his work.

Mayer, first and foremost, is a gifted rock guitarist. He stylishly slides around the frets with the kind of ease that only masters exude. He reminds me of a combination of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Dave Matthews. Mayer has a unique, raspy voice somewhat in the Rod Stewart vein but much more melodic and soft. His compositions are well conceived, original, and personal. Seemingly, most important to the largely teenaged female crowd was the 29 year-old man, himself. Mayer is about six feet tall, rock star trim and toned with curly brown locks and a happy smile. The girls all scream in response to his every comment and move.

Mayer wowed the strong crowd last night with every move he made and word he uttered. His band was focused and tight. He seemed to play about every song his dedicated fans expected from him. Unlike the cold Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mayer stopped between songs and spoke with the crowd. His way was easy and unforced. I would say that everyone there last night felt that seeing John Mayer in Roanoke was a special event because John Mayer made us all feel that he was pleased to be there and that he was eager to perform for us. The Chili Peppers never spoke to the crowd at all; we seemed to be observers who were allowed the privilege of watching them play.

Unfortunately, I’ve never been one to remember names of songs, but I have the knack for understanding compositions at some different level. Mayer played for about 90 minutes. My main gripe about his playing was that he didn’t explore the compositions as much as he could have. Instead, he stuck closely to the popular recorded versions. I wish he would have ripped off on guitar explorations more frequently.

The one song that surpassed all others in my opinion was “Gravity.”

Gravity

By John Mayer

Gravity is working against me
And gravity wants to bring me down

Oh I'll never know what makes this man
With all the love that his heart can stand
Dream of ways to throw it all away

Oh Gravity is working against me
And gravity wants to bring me down

Oh twice as much ain’t twice as good
And can't sustain like a one half could
It's wanting more
That's gonna send me to my knees
[repeat]

Oh gravity, stay the hell away from me
And gravity has taken better men than me (Now how can that be?)

Just keep me where the light is
Just keep me where the light is
Keep you all where the light is
Just keep us where the light is
Ohh.. where the light is! [repeat]

Mayer decided to end his pre-encore set with this song. He performed it with an intense passion and inspiring guitar breaks. When he finished it, I exhaled, so caught up was I in the power and emotion he transmitted through his voice and guitar.

Recent entertainment gossip news has John Mayer linked with America’s Idol, Jessica Simpson. After watching Mayer up close, my first impression of him suggests that he won’t be linked with her for very long. He has much too much going on upstairs, and I suspect he will soon tire of Jessica’s [rumor has it] enhanced breasts. It’s like he said at the concert when referring to the show American Idol, “I don’t need to watch that stuff, because I already got what they want.” (Yes, John was admittedly being arrogant last night).

John Mayer and his talented band gave concertgoers in Roanoke an excellent show last night. This Dave Matthews of his generation will no doubt continue to have a most successful career. For me, the question I grapple with every day is when will gravity finally bring me down?

“We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.”

~Wernher Von Braun