The “Wednesday-before-Thanksgiving Day spirit” was evident everywhere across Grand Rapids on Wednesday night, from Van Andel Arena to packed nightclubs. (Photos/video)
Pre-Thanksgiving Revelry and Rap: DJ Grandmaster Flash had The Pyramid Scheme really hopping on Wednesday. (Photo/Anthony Norkus Photography)
Renowned Grand Haven audio whiz Bill Chrysler has served as guitarist-singer John Mayer’s right-hand soundman for years – and he’s thrilled to be back on the road with the star who was forced to cancel 2012 shows due to throat surgery.
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It’s easy to see why: Mayer’s fall tour – leaning toward many of the rootsy, Americana-hued tunes from 2012’s “Born and Raise” and 2013’s “Paradise Valley” albums – seems to have the guitar god relishing his return to the stage.
John Mayer at Van Andel Arena (Photo/Paul Jendrasiak courtesy of GRNow.com)
“John is in a great mood,” Chrysler told Local Spins, noting Mayer and his band have performed more than 60 shows so far this year, including stops in South America and Europe. “Most of the shows have been sellouts and several of the festivals hit between 35,000 and 85,000 people. His playing is excellent.”
That certainly was the case at Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena on Wednesday night – the alleged busiest bar night of the year – as ebullient fans reveled not only in Mayer and opener Phillip Phillips of “American Idol” fame, but also in the knowledge that it was the beginning of a four-day holiday weekend.
‘NEW, THEN DUMB, NOW RETRO’
Although the arena was about two-thirds full, those on hand gave Phillips’ eclectic, Dave Matthews-styled, jam-band-oriented set (where he weaved in cover snippets of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eminem and Marvin Gaye before finishing with his hit single, “Home”) a rousing ovation, then stayed standing for much of Mayer’s performance, which kicked off with “Queen of California” from “Born and Raised” and “Wildfire” from “Paradise Valley.”
With an impressive, ever-morphing Western sky backdrop and two large video screens flanking the stage, Mayer showed off a fair amount of his prodigious, versatile guitar-playing. And he didn’t ignore his pop hits, performing “Waiting on the World to Change” and a solo acoustic rendition of the female fan fave, “Your Body is a Wonderland,” which Mayer joked was “a song about making out with a girl,” released in 2002, “before thing got hectic, before things got weird. … It was new, then it was dumb, now it’s retro.”
The JetBeats had The Tip Top Deluxe rocking on Wednesday night. (Photo/Local Spins)
Speaking of retro, just three blocks away, the iconic DJ Grandmaster Flash – the 55-year-old regarded as true pioneer in the hip-hop/DJ world – was pumping up a big crowd at The Pyramid Scheme, integrating everything from Nirvana to Michael Jackson to old-school hip-hop into his performance.
“He was real chatty with the crowd during his set and got people to raise their hands and scream,” says Local Spins photographer Anthony Norkus. “Everyone was having a blast.”
So much so, that Stella’s Lounge across the street was at capacity and turning revelers away after the show, along with likely a few other downtown watering holes. (It seemed like bars weren’t overly packed early in the evening, but to more crowded as the night wore on.)
Folks also were “having a blast” watching An Dro at One Trick Pony and on the West Side, where the Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill was elbow-to-elbow with an upbeat, dance-happy crowd cheering on Grand Rapids’ The JetBeats’ 60s-styled rock and The Law’s gritty, rollicking country strains.
All of it added to what Mayer described as “that Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day spirit” and gave live music mavens in West Michigan a real reason to be thankful.
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music
