Customer Reviews
Can it ever get any better? - By: M. J. McCabe, 15 Oct 2008 
I am no stranger to reviewing material by John Mayer & I know that sometimes I can come over as evangelicalin my praise, but how else can you describe such an immense talent?
The SRV analogies are bound to resonate through other reviews, & I'm sure the talented Mr M would not baulk at the comparison. However, when a 'white man plays the blues', these analogies are all too easy to use & this takes away from the originality of John Mayer's skills as a songwriter. 'Stop This Train' is the most powerful song with the most simple delivery that I have heard, & is a song which,in its live format, I often find I'm too sensitive to listen to. I am fortunate to have seen him live on two occasions, but have only seen him perform this song on the first. I almost didn't want him to do it - it feels too personal to share with thousands of others (like having your mind read by perfect strangers) & his delivery on this album moves me to tears. Quite how he can get through it, baring his soul, I do not know. But I'm very grateful that he does.
This is essentially three live sets for the price of one. His accoustic set is sheer virtuosity, the Trio is, well, The Trio & the band set gives you all that you expect when you think John Mayer. He seems to have no specific genre - how can you compare a song like 'Neon' to 'Slow Dancing In a Burning Room' & then throwin interpretations of the likes of 'I Don't Need No Doctor'? His appeal is so broad as to attract fawning girl fans & middle-aged male guitar afficianados alike (I fall somewherein between!). I had considered Continuum to be his magnum opus, & couldn't imagine that he could make a better-sounding cd. Happily, I was wrong, & he continues to push my buttons (all of them). Long may it continue.
Excellent - By: Zuronix, 18 Jul 2008 This is a truly excellent album. THe acoustic sets are superb & show John Mayer off as the brilliant guitarist that he is. The trio sets &in deed some of the full band songs sound very much like Jimmie Vaughan. It is excellent, the songs are his best, from all previous album, but live. The small twiddly bits between/ leading into songs are very good & original. I would definitely recommend this any day to anyone who like rock, blues or jazz.(I mostly listen to metal by Mayer is the Jazz man that I like, he is a shinning example for all thosein his genre) *****. Buy it.
Hyde Park miss - By: P. J. Ellis, 11 Jul 2008 
The rest of my family had a day outin central London & ended upin Hyde Park where the Clapton concert was on with John Mayer playing at the time they were there. Apparently my 8 year old said 'that sounds like daddy playing guitar.' Which proves that even John mayer can have a bad day...
The acoustic songs aren't amazing & the trio stuff, whilst incredibly well played, sounds more like an SRV tribute than an artist with his own voice. Still, all of disk 2 gives you John with his full band & a great live set it is too & its had me thinking about buying the dvd.
The John Mayer back catalogue is quite varied & not allin the vein of the modern blues/rock you get here. Be interesting to see what he does next.
Not just for the blues buff - By: Big Jim, 07 Jul 2008 This is the first I have heard of John Mayer & I am very impressed indeed. An advantage of such live albums is that you get a sense of immediacy which, with a singer/songwriter working mainly at the blues end of the spectrum, can often be lostin the confines of a studio. In this case Mayer clearly connects well with his audience & by splitting his perfomance into three distinct styles he shows off a wide repertoire of skills.
The first section is solo acoustic, very muchin the style of a typical singer songwriter, with songs on the folk/blues borderline typified by a version of Tom Petty's Freefalling which is really rather good. Mayer's husky voice & exemplary guitar playing remind me a bit of Kelly Joe Phelps without the slide guitar.
The second section of disc one is performed as a trio, & allows Mayer to rock out a bit, very muchin the style of Hendrix (there are a couple of covers) this is still rootedin the blues with a hint of jazz thrown in.
The whole of the second disc is performed by the John Mayer band & is not the rock wig out I was expecting. Covering a variety of styles & songs my immediate thought was that it was most like John Hiatt overall, with a hint of brass here & there, a mellow fuzzy guitar style & a fair bit of funk & gentle soul. For me the standout track of this disc & indeed the album is Slow dancingin a burning room, which is a Thin Lizzyesque ballad which is ended by a couple of minutes of twin guitar soaring & tumbling, very muchin the manner of Gorham & Robertson.
Overall a fine introduction to this artist which has encouraged me to seek out the back catalogue.
