ANY GIVEN THURSDAY |

Personnel: John Mayer (vocals, guitar); Michael Chaves (guitar, background vocals); David Labruyere (bass); Stephen Chopek (drums).
Recorded live at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater, Birmingham, Alabama on September 12, 2002.
It would be easy to dismiss John Mayer as just another pretty boy with an acoustic guitar, until you pay attention to the rich voice and equally solid batch of songs that make the in-concert ANY GIVEN THURSDAY a worthy sophomore set following his smash debut ROOM FOR SQUARES. Taken from a September 2002 show recorded in Birmingham, Alabama, this two-CD set finds the young heartthrob singing his way through the intermittent cries of screaming female fans. Among the rich versions of favorites like the soulful "City Love," seductive "Your Body Is A Wonderland," (complete with crowd accompaniment), and his Dave Matthews-meets-Steely Dan hit "No Such Thing."
Most impressive is the medley of "Lenny/Man On The Side," which finds guitarist Michael Chaves's instrumental intro giving way to Mayer's aching testimony peppered with plenty of the vocalist's own acoustic guitar work. Although "83," a paean to a discarded lunch box, is equally as confounding in a live setting as it is in the recorded version, Mayer makes up for it with a breathy take on The Police's "Message In a Bottle." Die-hard fans also get rewarded with DVD extras including concert footage and interview material.

• Released: 2003-02-11
• Genre: Rock
• Format: CD