Melanie Love

If I didn’t believe Rolling Stone before, I do now: John Mayer is a rock god. Playing a sold-out, two-plus hour show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, California, Mayer blew through a crammed-full setlist of already-classic cuts off of 2006’s Continuum, catchy, folk-pop hits from earlier in his career, a surprisingly wide selection of covers, two encores, as well as the debut of a promising brand new song. “The set list is so right on and so packed that I was told not to trade story time for song time tonight,” Mayer announced at the beginning of the…

I’m not really one for guilty pleasures. I like what I like, whether it’s a weepy Coldplay ballad, driving along to old Backstreet Boys hits, or in this case, George Michael. But though he’s more associated with the bubblegum choruses and short-shorts of his Wham! days, over the years Michael has proven himself as a more than competent songwriter and cemented his chops as a tremendous singer. And there’s no better evidence of that than seeing him live on his Twenty-Five Live tour, which has him delving through his rich back catalogue for the first time in fifteen years (and…

Who knew that John Mayer would ever have street cred? Or that lovably nerdy opening act Ben Folds would ever jump up onto his piano in the middle of his set and shake his ass before launching into his hilariously uncharacteristic cover of Dr. Dre’s “Bitches Ain’t Shit?” Along with a fantastic rendition of Whatever and Ever Amen’s quietly gorgeous “Brick” and Folds pausing before his next song to inform the audience, kindergarten teacher-style, about what a synthesizer is (as well as noting that at a certain decibel, it would make you “shart”), his Elton John-esque jangling piano-pop intro was…

From June to August, instead of traveling or working or just being productive in general, I’ve been trying to jam as many concerts as I can into the spare time I have before being forced back into SAT prep and the perils of U.S. history and trigonometry. And so, I’ve braved pot smoke (seriously, what is it about concerts that equals being blazed anyway?) and rampaging crowds and some, let’s just say, interesting opening bands just to bring you a few of the best acts from the past couple of months.Keane – Henry Fonda Theater – June 21st, 2006 I…