Released: July 1, 2008

Recorded: December 7, 2007

Label: Sony BMG

Producer: John Mayer & Steve Jordan

Director: Danny Clinch

Special Features: Slow Dancing on Mullholland Drive, Who Did You Think I Was- Steve Jordan & Pino Palladino Multi-angle Cam

Musician, John Mayer has released his first live recording since “The Village Sessions“ and it’s called “Where The Light Is,” directed by Danny Clinch. This DVD features Mayer performing a live acoustic set, a John Mayer Trio set and a touring band set live in concert at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. The concert DVD has been released in three formats: 2 Audio CDs, DVD, and Blu-ray disc.

As I watched this amazing concert a few things truly stood out: The first is that the cinematography and picture quality was perfect for this style of show because they really captured the intimacy that a John Mayer concert brings but also the energy of his different styles of music. The second thing is it blended a lot of cool behind the scenes stuff with John talking about his career, life and music. One part was really cool where he got really nervous after one set and was breaking before the next one. He kept thinking that people weren’t going to like the different styles clashing…it was really neat to see a guy like him get nervous.

Other highlights of this DVD concert is the set list and the fact it has his 3 different styles of music spanning his career. The opening segment focused on his acoustic stuff where he played the opening song “Neon” solo and followed that with a really cool version of “Daughters” and an awesome version of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin” with his band guitarist Rocky McIntosh. This set was a great beginning to the show but my personal favorite part was the Blues rock session that followed with the John Mayer Trio featuring bassist, Pino Palladino and drummer, Steve Jordan. This is arguably the best blues/rock/funk trio since Cream and it is interesting that there are similarities between the two groups. Palladino complements Mayer’s outstanding blues rifts with matched beat and bass that is eerily reminiscent of rock bassist legend John Entwistle (who Palladino replaced on the Who’s last tour and album). Steve Jordan is a one of a kind drummer and with his jazz style he can really match the improvisation of Palladino and Mayer with his quick timing and ability to extend to outrageous beats. He reminds me of great drummers like Ginger Baker, who also came from a jazz background and brought that same style to Cream. This was truly my favorite part of the show and makes this alone worth buying the DVD.

Finally the last set featured John’s touring band and a combination of new and old songs such as “Waiting on the World to Change” and “Why Georgia.” The coolest part of this set was towards the end where his touring band and the “Trio” members join and they all play “Gravity”, “I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)”, “Belief”, “I’m Gonna Find Another You” together. This was great because you had 2 bassists playing different sections and notes, 2 drummers at the same time, 3 guitarists, a piano player, and some wind instrument accompaniment. This was just so neat to see everyone on timing and the sound was incredible not just here but the whole concert.

This is a DVD that even if you are not a Mayer fan you should pickup simply to appreciate good music that takes the past blues and rock styles and blends it with Mayer’s creativity, genius and guitar skill making it a show that in today’s pop culture world is one of kind. I thought it was a truly remarkable DVD.