I continue to underestimate the size of fan bases for certain artists I see in concert nowadays. I had already seen Mayer at Outside Lands this year to a screaming and obsessive crowd but I wasn’t sure on the magnitude of that crowd. Well they sold out Bimbo’s 365 and some even sported the same wardrobe as the man of the hour (one kid looked exactly like him with the Buddy Holly glasses, three-piece suit, and pale skin). But with one album out and a second long in the works, would the crowd eat it up?

Warming up was the dance-funk act Gordon Voidwell with their very heavy Prince influence. Gordon’s ability to hype up the crowd was quite impressive though. It didn’t take long for him to get a majority of the front crowd to start dancing to almost every song he played that night. “This isn’t a concert motherfuckers, this is a dance party!“, he yelled just before he burst into another funked up beat. The entire set was tied together by a common sound, with instantly recognizable beats, synths and an indistinguishable attitude. I can’t say I became a fan but I was entertained.

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[mp3] Gordon Voidwell – Ivy League Circus from Ivy League Circus (2010)

Clean cut and smooth as ever, Mayer Hawthorne busted in with Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin and kept the party that Gordan started rolling right along. He explained how this was no concert and if you’re not going to dance, sit in the back. Well no one in the front made a dash for the back, instead they utilized the dance floor and danced right along to the soulful Make Her Mine and my personal favorite, Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out.

He told a short story about how he was on the airplane and was mistaken for Toby McGuire (“Dude I totally loved you in Spiderman!”), which prompted the crowd favorite Maybe So, Maybe No. Later on Mayer ended up playing some new material off his new untitled record, to which he announced was almost done and will be released early next year. The show got more interactive with Mayer having the audience do a “Detroit dance move” called the Earl Flin; which requires the person to look at the front of their hand and then look at the back of their hand to the beat. Well, lets just say you could tell there were a lot of white people with zero rhythm in the crowd that night based on the awkward hand motions and the eventual clapping along that just descended into offbeat hell. Nevertheless, it was a decent show from this talented and charming individual. I think it’s time now to see if he can ride this wave and expand his sound a bit. I’m looking forward to the results.

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[mp3] Mayer Hawthorne – Thin Moon (James Pants Cover) from Mayer Hawthorne / James Pants – Split (2010)

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