photo credit: weworemasks

Anytime Mayer Hawthorne comes to town, I do my best to drop what I’m doing and make it out. Having seen him a handful of times since the release of his debut album, 2009’s A Strange Arrangement – I know better. Along with his revolving band, The County, Mayer’s won over the hearts and feet of Fitzgerald’s and SXSW crowds before my eyes, and with a new album, Where Does This Door Go, having been recently released, I was ready for a new wave of Hawthorne.

Hit the jump for the review.

-grizzly

photo credit: weworemasks

The last time Mayer Hawthorne was in town, he played to a half-full (for the optimists) Fitzgeralds, which was surprising after commercial success for his sophomore album, How Do You Do. He made full note of that, as this time around, the walls were much closer to being sold out. And the crowd was much more diverse and enthusiastic this time around, despite it falling on a humid Monday night in Houston.

The set was definitely more in favor for his newest LP, Where Does this Door Go, which dropped back in mid-July. And that’s no problem, because the instrumentally-driven album did wonders through its performances of tracks like set-starter “Back Seat Lover” and “Allie Jones,” and even with bonus tracks like “Designer Drug.” Sprinkled in throughout were gems of yesteryear, including crowd pleasers “A Long Time” and “No Strings.” And this isn’t a knock by any means, but the professionalism and precision of Mayer’s live shows never falter, which is odd when you’re seeing him for the fifth time. His introductory banter before tracks like the aforementioned “No Strings” or “Henny & Ginger Ale” (where a charitable Mayer offers up a few members of the audience a freshly poured libation) definitely loses its luster when you’re seeing it for the third time, but that’s not the worst thing in the world. And as always, he did manage to take the self-assertive “thumbs up crowd picture” he loves to take at each gig (pictured below).

photo credit: MC, weworemasks

Houston’s very warm reception of Mayer Hawthorne was more than welcomed by me. For a city that tends to have its share of assholes who talk through quieter songs (it still happened – but only once in the encore), folks were engaged, danced plenty and sang a long to all of the tracks, which was great considering Hawthorne and the County jived the stage for nearly an hour and forty five minutes. We may have gotten a few extra songs and along with a few other cities, an opportunity to appear in his currently ‘in-progress of filming’ music video for the Pharrell-produced “Reach Out Richard.” A 360 degree contraption of GoPro cams engulfed Mayer, as he stood in the middle, guitar in hand and performed the song naturally and as professionally as you would expect.

photo credit: mayer hawthorne

[SETLIST]

Physicality
Back Seat Lover
A Long Time
Henny & Gingerale
Designer Drug
Love In Motion
No Strings
The Innocent
Green Eyed Love
Allie Jones
Crime
Get To Know You
I Wish It Would Rain
The Stars Are Ours
Corsican Rose
Her Favorite Song
I Can’t Go For That (Hall and Oates Cover)
The Walk
Wine Glass Woman
Where Does This Door Go
–
May I Come In? (Nancy Wilson Cover)
Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out
Music Video Taping of Reach Out Richard

[ed note: I’m gonna get more and more impatient by the day to see how “Reach Out Richard” turns out. The contraption I mentioned was pretty cool. See below.]