John Mayer, Ben Folds, James Morrisson Play the Verizon Center

July 25, Verizon Center, Washington D.C.

While Ben Folds is arguably as big a deal in music as John Mayer, (in my opinion, even more so) the sound quality was feeble until headliner Mayer took the stage. Both Folds and brilliant Brit newcomer James Morrisson, who preceded him, truly got the shaft on sound quality.

Folds, however, rose to the occasion, playing a fantastic (if short) set spanning his various albums. He opted to play "Underground" instead of his more frequent choice, "Philosophy," from his debut Ben Folds Five album. Also of note, Folds performed a lively and creative cover of "Such Great Heights," a song originally recorded by the Postal Service.

Mayer and his band appeared after a leisurely 45 minute break following Folds's set. Ironically, I expected to be annoyed by the thousands of screaming 13-year-old girls but, instead, the annoyance came from an older (probably pushing 60) very drunk and obnoxious redneck couple a few seats away who both yelled constantly and always at inappropriate times.

Mayer's sweet-smoky voice filled the arena as he rolled through a well-selected 100-minute setlist. Amazingly, his somewhat overplayed debut single "No Such Thing" still sounded fresh and impressive. The highlight, for me, was the encore, in part because the redneck couple finally left in the middle of it. Mayer sang two songs acoustic, surrounded by some of his bandmates who accompanied him on acoustic guitars. He then finally whipped out some of his blues for the final song, all plugged in, for the rollicking tune, "Crossroads."