MAYER HAWTHORNE AND THE COUNTY IN CONCERT

(Photo from MH's Twitter page. Check the slick red suit!)

Last week, I braved knowing I'd be out late on a work night with the double whammy of already having a cold to catch Mayer Hawthorne And The County stop through my town. After a little medicine got the sniffles under control, I headed out to catch my friend Kyle (part of DJ duo Twinpeaks) do an opening DJ duties to set the mood before the Mudkids provided some local hip hop fare to get the juices flowing, too.

After a slightly later than expected start, Mayer Hawthorne And The County stepped on stage to the famous James Brown intro commonly referred to as “Are You Ready For Star Time?” While this hasn't been Hawthorne and crew's first venture on the road, it was nice to see him bring his band (minus a horn section) to really give a live (figuratively and literally) element to the show. The easy route would have been to have a pre-recorded instrumental while he sang over top of the music. However, he took the high road, and the show was that much better for it. This also allowed him later on to go on some ad libs with the band that were quite entertaining.

The major thing that surprised me was how comfortable Mayer seemed being the front man. While I'm aware that he's been in bands prior to his breakout record, this is the first time he's had all eyes on him. I've seen numerous front men not embrace the role (Dave Matthews, anyone?) with such vigor and professionalism and look so natural at it. Hawthorne was funny and witty while providing great segues, perhaps a show of his DJ prowess of knowing how to move the crowd from song to song.

His bread and butter falsetto was largely abandoned for the show, in part my guess is to keep his voice intact for the length of the tour as well as to have a stronger vocal presence. While it did sneak in occasionally, it was more often than not in the range of songs such as “When I Said Goodbye.” The crowd didn't seem to mind much, though, as nearly everyone at the packed show sang along to every word, aside from one jackass heckler after the first song. (People, if you're at a show, don't be THAT guy. You deserve whatever embarrassment comes your way with that kind of behavior, drunk or not.)

Performing nine of the twelve songs from A Strange Arrangement as well as two b-sides took up a majority of the set list (see below), but he and the band managed to sneak in a few covers such as ELO's “Mr. Blue Sky” (of which you can view a KCRW performance here) as well as a rocked out version of NERD's “Fly Or Die,” where the band got in touch with their inner-headbangers. They also got to show off their performance chops with a few extended takes on songs such as “Green Eyed Love” that lasted well past their album length.

In addition, guitarist Topher Mohr graced us with a nice pop-funk treat in an original of his entitled “Ruthless” (check his MySpace page for a listen). The song has real potential to become a radio hit if given the push. I'm working on getting an interview set up with Topher for a separate piece at a later date.

After the show, the full band (Mayer included) stopped by the merch booth for a lengthy meet-n-greet that was well-received by the appreciative crowd. I got a chance to catch up with Mayer, Quincy (keyboards), Topher (guitar), and Joe (bass) – (Quentin, on drums, was in teardown mode) at the meet-n-greet to discuss how the tour was going. All were pleased with the energy of the crowds night to night and haven't yet hit the proverbial wall during their long tour, which only gets longer with an impending European tour starting in May.

As an aside, I did get an answer to a question I had been wondering about for a while regarding the “Love Is Alright” cover found on the bonus disc of the album. Mayer's version is patterned after the Jesse James take (who is the original writer of the song) instead of the more popular version by Cliff Nobles, whose instrumental version is more well-known as “The Horse.” He explained it was simply that he liked the James version better, in part because it's such a simple and fun song with an incredibly easy one-note bass line as much of the riff.

Set list:

Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin'
Make Her Mine
Maybe So, Maybe No (New Holidays cover)
Shiny And New
I Wish It Would Rain
Ruthless (by Topher Mohr)
One Track Mind
Mr. Blue Sky (ELO cover)
Fly Or Die (NERD cover)
Green Eyed Love
Just A Friend (Biz Markie cover)
Just Ain't Gonna Work Out
Love Is Alright (Jesse James cover)
The Ills

Encore:
When I Said Goodbye
Work To Do (Isley Brothers cover)