thoughts about things

So I went and saw John Mayer perform at the Rod Laver Arena on Monday, in the lovely city of Melbourne.

He played awesomely, sung very well, played a good number of his tunes that I enjoy, and topped it off with some amusing banter. And yet I wasn’t moved.

I didn’t get any shivers, though I got excited when I heard a song starting that I recognised - for a laugh.

A group of younger guys behind us were totally in to him, which actually increased mine and my friend’s enjoyment that night - their enthusiasm was both cute and infectious. 

But I didn’t really feel anything during those two hours, that moved along surprisingly quickly. OH SHIT! PASSION FRUIT AND YOGHURT! AWESOME THINKING DANIEL!! BRB!

I’m back. And for some reason I expected the yoghurt to taste at least a little like ice-cream - perhaps next time.

So anyway. There’s a reason I excitedly purchased tickets early and forked out over one hundred bucks to get my arse to his only Victorian show, right?? Right!

I was in love with his music, and I’d watched a shite tonne of his live stuff on YouTube. And I really loved that. I blogged a tonne of it on this blog! So going to see him in concert was the next logical step! But….. What was the deal? Why didn’t I get drawn into the magic of the music?

The seats we had were “half good” (half way between the stage and the back of the arena), the sound was great (though I was distracted by the fact that I forgot my custom ear plugs… So I’ve got a theory, and my theory is this: 

I’d already had my live performance. I’d already seen him play live. And it was better!

Those times I’d watched him on YouTube? Those were the first times I’d seen him play his tunes with an extended solo or a totally unexpected extra jam session in the middle - that I thought were just insanely awesome.

On those YouTube clips I’d seen the wonderful and beautiful improvised flourishes of melody, and those doughy-eyed looks into the audience of salivating girls;

The unnatural mouth (and tongue) movements that I reckon give him that particular wonderful tone - I’d seen it all on my computer. The thing is, on my laptop screen I could see him much better than I could from where I was seated at Rod Laver Arena, plus I was in the uninhibited comfort of my own room (free to do my own drooling).

In my room when I watched those YouTube clips, I had the audience screaming for him - in my headphones - therefore in my head.. I’d already had my gushy live experiences. And perhaps this night I was too far away from the stage; he seemed no more real and ‘there’ that night than he did when he was on my computer screen, to some degree. You know what I mean?

And so that’s my theory.

Having had this experience… Would I hesitate to buy an expensive ticket like this in the future? I think I’d have to know how close I’d be.. I think that’d be my decision breaker. But I wonder where the point of “Do buy!” and “Mmmnah, maybe not” is - fifty meters? Five meters? I think perhaps that’s a whole other conversation. :)

Have you had an experience like mine?