then and now

status check - reflective
background ambiance - s.o., s.o.

during our pre-sellout (his, not mine) interview, john mayer discussed concert taping and distribution. he was all for it as a manner of being able to introduce people to his music, but said that a recording never captures the true essence of being at the performance.

"you can burn a show," he said, "but you can't burn the experience of being there."

he was right, but he didn't get into the sensation of listening to a show you attended years ago. and how it takes all the details that have rubbed away over time and makes them nice and fresh again.

almost three years ago (two years, eleven months, three weeks exactly - not that i can remember dates or anything), i made my first musical trip to northampton. i stood in line for hours (as the start time was delayed) to enter the iron horse music hall for my first howie day headlining show outside of college coffeehouse performances (not that i've ever attached too much significance to a concert or anything).

while i've been able to get copies of every other non-smc hd performance i've attended, the iron horse show would never wind up in my collection. according to the rumor moving down the waiting line before the show began, howie's set was being professionally recorded so the management (this was way pre-epic, after all) could release it as hd's much-clamored-for first live album. unofficial recording was strictly verboten.

after just a couple of songs, though, i knew i wouldn't even be able to buy a copy, as hd wasn't producing a release-calibar performance. it was fun and good, but he messed up a couple of notes and lyrics, goofed around and was otherwise focused on having fun with it. and he turned "lover, you should've come over" - the one cover i desperately wanted to hear - into a peppy ditty.

anyway. pretty much resigned myself to remembering the show - never hearing it again. that is, until last night, when i found it in the live archives.

!!!!!

i didn't realize how much about it i'd forgotten - and what a great show it really was. even the "lover" cover - which pissed me off at the time - comes off as fun. the older songs i've missed were in fine form - crazy how i was never enthusiastic about "slow down" but would love to hear it now - and the other ones now considered old - madrigals, after you, etc. - were brand new.

a listener who wasn't at the show might not be ridiculously impressed by the recording, but for those of us who stood for six hours straight, knees buckling by the end - this is a fantastic surprise.

makes me remember being able to go to a small club to see him perform, back when a band was the farthest thing from everyone's minds. and makes me want to see his solo set in boston in august (performing with oar and matty nay).

and i should note, in order of bringing this portion of the post full-circle, howie's opener that night, rebecca lord, had recently broken up with a musician ... one mr. john mayer.

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in our rufus celebratory portion of the post, i downloaded "waiting for a want" from itunes - while not an itunes enthusiast whatsoever, i decided it was worth it to get to hear the latest ("the art teacher," "gay messiah," "this love affair," "waiting for a dream").

download them. fantastic. almost as brilliant as the video for "april fools," which i'd never seen before.