Smile On

Last night, Lil E and I made our pilgrimage to Summerfest, the biggest music festival on earth. We didn't go for Summerfest itself, but to see John Mayer at the Marcus Amphitheatre. We took the freeway flyer. It's funny, because I haven't been to Summerfest in a few years and the last time I took the flyer, I recall it only being $3, but now it is $6. Times have changed. You have to have exact change to take it. I really think there should be a sign posted at the bus stop - $6, EXACT CHANGE ONLY! I couldn't believe how many people got on with a 10 or 20 dollar bill and said, that's all I have!!

When we got to Summerfest, we entered through the main gate, just to walk through the festival and experience it all. There was a severe thunderstorm watch and tornado watch last night, so we were really taking our chances with the weather by going at all. Luckily, we had awesome seats (thanks, Dad!) under the roof with a clear shot of John Mayer.

The opening act was Ben Folds (described as geek-chic indie rock by the NYT). According to Lil E, he attended Juliard, so has a phenomenal music background. He played with the Boston Pops recently also. Pretty impressive, alright. He is a great performer and was an excellent pianist. (Some guy actually played before him, but we missed it.)

As usual, the crowd itself can be entertaining. I decided I was about the average age person there. Lots of teenagers and lots of middle agers as well. We had a couple "mom and dad" age couples in front of us. We couldn't tell if one lady was stoned or drunk. Hmmm, mom stoned at the concert, what would her kids say?

John Mayer was a great show. I have no pictures. I should've asked the 14 year old girls, or 17 year old guys around us to email me their pictures. I think they saw more of the show through their camera display than their own eyeballs. Nonetheless, I have to say that John Mayer is much better live than on his cds. Don't get me wrong I love his cds, but they just don't do justice to his guitar abilities. They were fantastic!

I just looked up his future concert dates and he is in Chicago today and tomorrow. It looks like today's show was free at Taste of Chicago and has the support band of Rodrigo y Gabriela. I discovered these 2 at Barnes and Noble. Excellent flemenco guitar.