I remember back in early 2001, one of my friends asked me - have y0u heard of John Mayer?

No, I have not - I responded.

Man - he said - check out this live show - he's playing at a Sorority Party at the University of Oklahoma, and he's a really amazing singer-songwriter.

I put in the show, listened and loved it - here was an amazingly talented guitar player with obvious Blues influences who was also working in some Sting (and the Police) for good measure. And the boy could sing. (Speaking of this show, I'll pull it out one of these days and post it.)

In 2006 its easy to look at the uber-popular Mayer and dismiss him as a Top 40 golden child, producing music for the masses - but I tell you, I show him 5 times in 3 years, and the popularity he gained was directly attributable to his talent.

2001 - Contintal Club (300 people)
2002 - Numbers (1200 people)
2002 - Verizon Wireless Theate (2000 people)
2003 - Houston Rodeo (10s of thousands of people)
2004 - Woodlands Pavillion (14k people)

I tell this story, because listening to Matt Wertz reminds me of those first few Mayer shows - a guy and his guitar, singing his heart out, with a bunch of really cute girls singing along. He even reminds me of Mayer a little bit - though the songs as a whole are definitely happier.

I haven't actually seen any articles that talk about Matt being a Christian, but the crowd at this show was definitely focused on Jesus as Christ and Lord. A LOT of Younglife shirts around - and I think Matt even commented on a Younglife group coming out to see him.

Whatever the religious focus - these kids could sing. When mixing this show I tried to crank up all the sections with sing alongs. Check out Red Meets Blue for a particularly spectular audience participation moment - I've never heard a crowd be as in key as this one.

Beautiful show - Houston lucked out - Matt was actually on tour opening for Jars of Clay, had a night off, and played in Houston. So rather then a 45 minute opening set, Houston got a near hour and a half headlining one.

This was one of the few shows from the last several months that my girlfriend did not come to. When I played it for her she started moaning about how could I let her miss it. Don't make the same mistake she did - Matt's on tour for the next few months, be sure to check him out if he's coming near you.

Live Dates:
Wed 01/24/07 College Park, MD Santa Fe Cafe
Thu 01/25/07 Providence, RI Century Lounge
Fri 01/26/07 Boston, MA Boston University
Sat 01/27/07 Worcester, MA College Of The Holy Cross
Tue 01/30/07 Pittsburgh, PA Club Cafe
Wed 01/31/07 Cleveland, OH House Of Blues
Thu 02/01/07 Ann Arbor, MI The Ark
Fri 02/02/07 Madison, WI Majestic Theatre
Sat 02/03/07 Saint Paul, MN O'Shaughnessy Aud.
Mon 02/05/07 Ames, IA Maintenance Shop
Tue 02/06/07 Saint Louis, MO Blueberry Hill's Duck Room
Wed 02/07/07 Lawrence, KS Granada Theatre
Thu 02/08/07 Boulder, CO Fox Theatre
Sat 03/24/07 Athens, GA University Of Georgia
Sat 04/14/07 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
Wed 04/25/07 Conway, AR The Burrow

Live MP3s:
Intro
Come Away
Everything's Right
The Way I Feel
Intro to...
Heartbreaker
Counting to 100
Sweetness in Starlight
Carolina
519
Capitol City
Wesley, Why
Marianne
Over You
Wandering Eyes
Like the Last Time
Matt on Ringtones
Matt on Mocha Club
With You Tonight
Matt on Hect
That For You
Into to...
Red Meets Blue - One - Red Meets Blue
Outro

Labels: concerts, houston, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, warehouse live