Mayer Hawthorne

A snow day in DC didn't stop the show from going on at the 9:30 Club on March 3, 2014. After trekking through the freezing cold weather, the audience was welcomed into the venue with beats provided by DJ Kurse who was spinning an eclectic mix of funky grooves to start the night off right with Mos Def, Common, The Roots, Dennis Edwards, Mary Jane Girls, 2Pac and more. Mayer Hawthorne has the perfect combination of fans to bring out a hugely diverse crowd, filled with a range of ethnicities, styles, and ages, from people watching alone to couples, pairs and groups of friends. He came on asking the audience if we were ready to have the "greatest night of our entire life" and kicked it off with "Backseat Lover" followed by "Reach Out Richard." With a stage set reminiscent of a 90s Prom, people were GETTING IT & dancing nonstop everywhere I looked, from the floor to the balcony. "Wine Glass Woman" & "Designer Drug" came next, which, combined with the heavy drum sequences and a seamless mashup of the latter with BBD's "Poison," definitely made the show feel like an awesomely fun rave party. Mayer Hawthorne then took it back to some of his older jams with "No Strings" and "Green Eyed Love." Bringing it back to his most recent album, the band gave us a little tease of the beat behind Bob Marley's "Get Up Stand Up" before transitioning to "Allie Jones." Next came one of my favorites, "Crime," before he slowed it down with "Get To Know You." Then Mayer Hawthorne took a set break for "Picture Time" where he took a picture with everyone in the audience and then struck some hilariously crazy poses for us to capture! After giving us a dedicated time to snap photos of him, he then declared that "Picture Time is officially over" and told us to put our electronics away so we could actually experience the show through our own eyes and not our camera lenses. Clearly it was only a matter of minutes before myself and the rest of the audience members disobeyed him -- we couldn't resist our phones! Next he introduced the band (who's electric guitarist was crazy good) with "Do It," officially confirming that there is truth to the rumors about Mayer Hawthorne also secretly being behind the incognito band Tuxedo. Then came another great mashup of "Walk This Way," leading into "The Walk." The pre-encore set wrapped up with two of my personal favorites, "The Stars Are Ours" and "Corsican Rose." After a brief break from the stage, Mayer Hawthorne returned for his encore with yet another wonderful mashup leading with Barry White's "Playing Your Game" and finally ending with "Her Favorite Song." With his unique combination of funk, soul, pop, and rock that gave the audience a brief escape to dance the night away, this show was definitely worth venturing out into the Winter Storm for!

We love The Neptune Theater! What a great venue.

The concert was both a rant and a rave.

The rant part was the show openers.

There was no host to announce the acts, so we had a DJ to start things out, who was anonymous to us. He did a credible job for about 20-30 minutes, then it went on too long. He went over an hour, and the crowd by then was bored, and ignoring him. Finally, he was told to wrap it up. Then a solo Hispanic performer came on, again anonymously since no one introduced him. He had the poor fortune to walk on with a crowd who was fed up, and his performance was interesting but lackluster, yet he too went on for almost an hour.

Ultimately, Mayer Hawthorne walked on stage over 2 hours past the scheduled show start time. He kicked ass! His show was perfect. Tightly timed, no muss, no fuss, he and his combo went from one song to the next. He kicked the show into overdrive and only stopped after three encores. Finally, we got what we really come to see, and it was worth the wait.

Californian multi-instrumentalist Mayer Hawthorne is bringing the 60s and 70s into the modern day with his neo-soul music. Interested in a whole variety of music genres, his live show is suitably varied and feels like a real opportunity for Mayer to indulge in his enjoyments as he moves between instruments with an obvious elation.

The crowd simply watch on as he moves guitars and lines up 60s swing with 70s pop all within a flamboyant flourish. He recently toured the UK as support for Bruno Mars and it was such a brilliant match as both musicians are huge fans of the retro synth sounds of the 70s and use it within their modern soul. Hawthorne is equally as charismatic and captivates the large room with the help of his impressive live band. It is a showcase of his best material in a relatively short time frame so therefore he throws himself into exaggerated performances of 'Back Seat Lover' and 'The Stars are Ours'. By the finale it would appear Mayer has won over more converts to his fast expanding fanbase.

I think last night's Mayer Hawthorne gig at the Brooklyn Bowl in London was one of the most fun gigs I've ever been to. Every single person was dancing. He owned the entire room. Total pro. Original hits all sounded amazing, he has a great rapport with he crowd and he covers at the end were brilliant too.

Awesome night ! Mayer is a real showman and his musicians are all so good, they killed it. The show is getting better and better over the years, I highly recommend attending it, even if you're not that big of a fan. Little plus : the crew is super, super nice, had great talks with them.

Missed some great songs on the playlist, but tbf: his discography has grown and with that much quality it's actually a compliment saying this. 2 hours of pure music, enjoyed every minute of it.

I see a lot of live music and I just have to say that this was in my top 10 for sure. The music was so good and great to dance to. Revolution Hall was the perfect venue

The show was simply amazing the band and Mayer did an awesome job I am just so sad the concert had to end. But it filled my heart with joy seeing him live