John Mayer made me do it.

(In honor of the new CD release, here is something I wrote a few months back.)

I think John Mayer is responsible for my entire relationship. Judge if you will, but before you do, listen to a live set and tell me you don’t think he is talented if not brilliant. It was 2001 and Napster was still illegal and we used the hell out of it. The first week of college was a contest between the four roommates to see who could download the most songs/movies and graphic pictures as possible. (Congrats go to Randy Clark, sorry to put you on blast but I was just so darn proud of you.) Within the first week of dating, Jessica brought over a burned CD of live John Mayer songs and said she thought I might enjoy. We sat in separate chairs holding hands in no way touching inappropriately and started listening. I was already a huge fan of singer songwriters and admittedly struggled at first with Mayer’s breathy tone but enjoyed the lyrics and the guitar. By the end of the CD we were engaged. (Don’t take that the wrong way, sickos.)

It became a regular staple in the truck CD player (before Ipods. Well, before I had an Ipod) and in the dorm. We knew all the words and couldn’t wait to see him in concert. Our first out of town trip together was to Kansas City to see John Mayer and Guster. We made it a group outing and hopped in my best friends Durango without tickets and headed to KC. Mayer hadn’t hit the national spotlight just yet and you could tell by the semi-small crowd gathered in the City Market. City Market is a lovely outdoor venue in the heart of KC surrounded by restaurants and shops and as the name says is a huge farmers market. We arrived on site and began looking for free tickets. A radio station was set up out front and as it turns out if you are a fifteen year old girl with jean shorts and a tank top with any degree of glitter, you get a much better response from obese radio disc jockeys. Sure we failed, but worse case scenario, we stand outside or in one of the bars and get to hear the concert right? Not us my friend.

We found a major flaw in the hand-stamp-gate-pass set up for the show. All we had to do was walk in the front of a bar that had access to the inside of the City Market square, rub a stamp on our hand from somebody already in the concert area and walk back out and around. This worked to perfection.

I am aware that at this point in the story we have stolen illegal music online and failed to pay for a concert ticket, sorry John. It was completely worth the little work it took to beat the system. As the sun faded away, a muggy evening broke way to a cool breezy night of all the songs we had grown to love. In an added bonus they were shooting the live segments for the “Your Body is a Wonderland” music video. We walked away life long fans. For all of those artists out there that think that pirated music is hurting your pocket books I should let it be known that we have purchased each and every John Mayer album and DVD since, not to mention T-shirts and concert tickets to 6 more shows over these last 8 years of our marriage. One special concert was the central focus of our brief honeymoon to Chicago in June of 2003.

After having an enormous wedding (300+ people, and we knew most of them) and both still enrolled in college we knew we couldn’t do something to big and elaborate. It was then that I started looking for a concert we could attend within reach of Tulsa, OK. Neither of us had ever been to Chicago and a short 12 hour drive seemed perfect. As soon as I purchased the tickets I began researching online about contacts surrounding John and his team. Between his website and management page I found a wonderful woman who emailed me back. I asked a simple question would it be possible for us to meet Mr. Mayer. I explained we were driving up for our honeymoon and would love to meet the man behind the music. Weeks passed and she replied with ‘keep following up with me’ and so I did. A week before the show she emailed me saying there would be two fan passes waiting for us at the gate with our will call tickets and please enjoy the show. Proof that if you don’t ask you will never receive. We arrived in Chicago and made a few great stops. Uno’s pizza, Shed’s Aquarium and the Sears Tower were among the wonderful city highlights.

On the day of the concert we arrived early at the Tweeter Center and as promised our passes were at will call. Before the show we joined a small group of fans for a meet and greet.(those damn girls in short shorts and glitter again.) We brought along our copy of “Any Given Thursday” his first concert DVD and he signed it, we took a picture and got to chat for just a brief moment. He wished us luck on marriage and was very friendly. We were both excited for the show and headed to our seats. Luckily we saw him before the show because upon finding our seats we realized they were perfectly placed behind a concrete pillar. The music made it worth it and the awesome older couple beside us buying us beer didn’t hurt either.

As his music matured and grew so did our relationship. We made trips to Dallas and saw him in our own back yard at OKC and Tulsa. We joined the fan club and have had front ten-row tickets at most shows. As an Oklahoma boy, Garth Brooks is the only artist that takes up more space on my Ipod. When Preston was born we introduced him to John’s music almost immediately after returning home (possibly in the car on the way home from the hospital). It was only natural that seven short years later we would plan a trip to see John back in the same place it all started, Kansas City. This time we paid for all four tickets (my little sister is a huge fan also) and loaded up for a road trip for Preston’s first concert. (I remember my first concert, Boys 2 Men with Brandy opening, terrible audio, amazing performance, I was ten.)

Times had changed and John wasn’t playing a small outdoor venue in front of 1500 people, instead he was headlining to a sold out crowd at the Sprint Center in downtown KC. Our seats were perfect. Far enough back for comfortable audio levels and straight back from the stage. Preston stood on the back of the chair in front of me for most of the show and sang along to the ones he knew. Jessica and I couldn’t stop smiling at our little creation enjoying music we dated to, got married to and vacationed to. It was a fun experience that brought us full circle on our journey of Mayer. I am sure we will enjoy many more concerts and albums but this will always be our first concert as a family. We await the next album and tour, come out and join us, but only if you love guitars, melodies and musical mastery.

-- I wrote this a while back and now we have to wait no longer. His new album came out yesterday and we have been enjoying it via itunes. (Paid for them all ever since, promise!)