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Mayer Hawthorne at Santa Monica Pier's Twilight Concert 7/7/16. Photo by Derrick K. Lee, Esq. (@Methodman13)

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Earlier this year, Mayer Hawthorne release his album “Man About Town”; an album that focused more on the retro soul vibes of his first two albums rather than his Steely Dan-esque album “Where Does This Door Go”. The modern day croon master was back, and I was excited to see him take the stage.

Mayer Hawthorne at Santa Monica Pier's Twilight Concert 7/7/16. SetlistAs if invoking the soul spirits of the 60s and 70s, Mayer took the stage by first cooly walking to a table upstage, sitting himself down, and pouring himself a glass of what I think was either cognac or whiskey. He slowly lifted the glass to his lips and took a large sip from the glass before straightening himself up, and walking to the mic downstage where he proceeded to entertain the crowd with a solid, 19 song setlist.

In light of the recent tragedies around the country, Mayer took a moment after his opening song, “Breakfast In Bed”, to give his two cents on the matter. He announced, “135 black people have been shot this year. Talk to your kids. Stop the violence.” It was a short statement, but it was just a reminder that even with the fun to come, there are just certain things that we all need to keep on our minds.

Playing with a full band, he touched on repertoire from all of his solo albums, including one Tuxedo song, and it all sounded very on point. Harmonies were in tune, grooves never stuttered, and even subtle, synchronized dance moves with his bandmates were executed with the kind of precision you’d expect from a well-oiled machine.

After sets of songs, Mayer let his band jam though instrumental grooves as he hurriedly rushed off stage for costume changes. Black blazer with a fedora, maroon leather jacket, simple cotton henley, his slight alterations in wardrobe added to the sense that he was progressively getting looser as his performance went on. Knowing of his meticulous attention to detail, it wouldn’t surprise me if these wardrobe changes were to visually, subtextually, get the audience to loosen up with him throughout the performance.

“I see what you want Santa Monica… You want the old school Mayer, but I’ve got a lot of songs I want to get through.” -Mayer Hawthorne

I am personally more partial to Mayer’s older catalogue. I was hoping that he would perform “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” but all was made solid in my book when he performed “I Wish It Would Rain”. I also thought a particularly, unexpected, refreshing moment of his set was when her performed the theme song to “Family Ties”.

“That song is way underrated” – Mayer Hawthorne on the Family Ties theme song.

The only odd moment for me was when he covered Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” as the prelude to “The Walk”. It was only one verse and one chorus, but for some reason it just didn’t feel right to me. I wasn’t able to see the crowd’s reaction, so my personal opinion could be totally contrary to how the audience reacted.

There was time enough for an encore, and Mayer performed a surprisingly solid cover of Tears for Fear’s “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”. Given that he had just successfully entertained over 20,000, I’d say that the song selection was definitely appropriate.

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