John Mayer

John Mayer has come a long way since his student-baiting appearance in the back of the dearly-departed Corner location of Plan 9 a decade or whatever ago – multi-platinum albums, hopping from one paparazzi-fodder girlfriend to the next, etc. And yeah, he has a cornball schmaltzy side; "Say" is already pretty grating even before you realize it was written for The Bucket List, and the ol' standby body-as-amusement-park metaphor is probably the all-time leader when it comes to facilitating frat-house seductions. But consider the acoustic version of "Neon" or the solo-guitar cover of Radiohead's "Kid A" on Heavier Things – the guy can seriously play, even if he doesn't seem to be able to open his mouth without saying something epically stupid. Is that reason enough to look past everything else in the package? You gotta make your own call there, but either way, at least socially conscious hip hop poet Michael Franti and his acclaimed 90's funk and soul band Spearhead will also be on hand to keep him in line, possibly, barely.