And the Next John Mayer Is...

Last week, I went to see John Mayer at the Boston Garden - it's been a long time since I've gone to a show that large... an "arena show" - in fact, I think the last one I saw was about 15 years ago. It was Dave Matthews, ironically, also at the Boston Garden. Most of the music I catch live these days is at much smaller venues, which I tend to enjoy much more.

But the Mayer show was great. He is a fanastic guitar player and song writer. I have a bunch of his CDs but it didn't really hit me until he was cranking through his set list that I realized just how many hit songs the guy has. The band was great - Steve Jordan on drums was a particular highlight - I love his drumming.

One of the special highlights of the evening, though, was a comment that Mayer made to the crowd. For all the trouble his mouth has gotten him into lately, he was very humble at this performance, repeatedly thanking fans for giving him the chance to make music for a living and how fortunate he believes he is to have that opportunity. Having spent some time in Boston while attending Berkeley, he talked about how Boston was a place of dreams. Looking out over the crowd of nearly 20,000, he said that there was one person out there in the crowd that would eventually replace him on the stage. One person who would take his spot in the music industry - it's just a matter of time. And the he pointed out how he was "ok with that."

It was actually a pretty accurate comment on two fronts: one, that only a very few people can actually break through the clutter and become as successful a musician as Mayer (it was interesting to gaze across the sold out area and to think that really only one person would emerge from this crowd and experience the same level of success - but it is true); and two, that no matter how successful a musician may be at any point in time, the moment in the spotlight only lasts for a finite amount of time until the next big star comes along.

So in addition to some great tunes, there was that single, poignant and thought-provoking moment in the middle of it all. For everyone in the crowd who hopes to be the one person to succeed Mayer, the best of luck...